How to mix salt?

[mporange]

I have just set up my 20 Gallon tank.
and was wondering how to mix the salt.

should I fill the tank with freshwater and then mix the salt in when the tempeture is right? and then turn on my powerheads.

or should I mix freshwater and salt in large buckets and then fill the tank?



i allready got my live sand but still waiting for det salt to be delivered.

can my live sand survive in freshwater until i get my salt?

[seawillow]

Hi mporange..!! As far as mixing salt, I usually do mine in a bucket. I first throw a heater in the water and bring it to the right temperature, then add the correct amount of salt and mix it with a powerhead. You could mix it in the tank, I suppose, if you have no sand in it. If you had sand in it, you'd get a major sand storm! I'm not sure of the answer to your question about the sand being in fresh water...but I know I've had sand in a bucket for a couple of days with only a small amount of water and it's still been okay. Probably any longer than that and it would start to get pretty stinky from die-off. I hope I've been of some help....and BTW...Welcome!!

[cannon2222]

Hi there mporange! Let me be one of the first to welcome you to 3REEF. [smiley=beer.gif] To answer you question, if you have the space you can use a medium size plastic trash can (their fairly cheap ) to mix your s/w. I use one that's for the kitchen. Put in the water with the right amount of salt, drop in a powerhead and let it mix over night. Works great. HTH


phil

[reefman_MC]

I usually do a trash can, but instead of adding the salt then turning on the powerhead I usually slowly add the salt until I get the salinity where it needs to be. No, your live sand will die in freshwater. It must be in saltwater to live. Also, welcome to 3reef! You are now part of our little reef family. Let us know if you have any more questions.

[omard]

Salt mixes better when temp up...make sure to "age" a bit after mixing and before adding to tank...I drop both a powerhead and air pump line into trash can and let go for day or so before using water...

PS: have also "learned" always do one last salinity check before using...depending on water source, other tests you have have on hand not a bad idea...

Good Luck!

ScottD

[fletch]

[move][glow=red,2,300]
HI mporange, Welcome to 3reef *
[smiley=beer.gif] [smiley=wave.gif] * [/glow] [/move]
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[img]http://www.showmetoronto.com/shezam/images/FIREWORKS_5.gif
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1st I agree with omard that the salt mixes better with the temp up.

I think that you will be fine mixing your salt in the tank before you put your sand in as seawillow sated. put in your water and your heater and power heads and let the water come up to temp 76-83 should be fine. And little by little add your salt until you come up to the correct salinity around 35ppt or a sg=1.026

If your live sand is packaged it should have an use by date on it and it will be fine as long as you use it by that date.

And as reefman_MC said Your live sand will die in fresh water.

And one more thing and in my opinion is very important *I would only use reverse osmosis de-ionized *RO/DI *Water

................................................ *John

[karlas]

what kind of sand are you using dry or live?
you can fill your tank with fresh and let it run a few days then add salt to your tank but get a salinity tester to test as you add. once you get it in the desired range 1.021-1.025 let it circulate for a day or 2.

if its dry sand you can soak it in a bucket real good and when its good and soaked put it in a small container and slowly pour it out toward the bottom of the tank, you can do this if you are using live sand. it will still be cloudy but it wont be as bad as if you just poured in your sand. i did this with both live and dry sand and the cloudyness cleared up within a day, i also ran a filter to help clear the water.

[karlas]

i forgot to mention this is the only time that you can mix salt directly in your tank after it is on its way cycling and or you have critters in it you should mix it seperatly in a bucket or other container, mixing salt in the tank can burn fish and corals.