mixing salt, how to make it non messy and in home safe

Hi,

I'm getting into SW and was wondering what containers you guys mix in salt in who have large tanks and how you store and keep everything in your home.

I have a 180 it will be set up in my bed room. My wife will flip if I have buckets of slat water sitting around. Just wondering what you guys do and how you store it ect...

Can it be mixed with in an hour or two of a water change? does it HAVE to be mixed for atleast 24 hours? I have well water so chlorine is no issue.

 

never used well water, so cannot comment from personal experience
although I do read some tales of caution for anything other than RODI with a reef set up

I mix my saltwater in a 20 gallon bucket with a lid, and have 5000 lph power head in bucket for mixing

I am only changing 10 gallons of water per week, so I use buckets, which I carry from the bathroom with the salt mix bucket in, to the tank ( not a major effort IMO)

With a decent lenght of hose and a decent sized water pump, I did try and pump it from the bathroom to the tank, but for 3 buckets of salt water it hardly seemed worth taking the time to set it up - additionally a 2nd person should have been a must, as hoses have a tendency to fly out of aquariums if they are not clamped or held , and the 1st gallon ends up over the floor LOL

the old rule of thumb about leaving salty mixes 24 hours was to give chlorine time to dissipate, these days I am happy enough to mix my water, 6 hours or so in advance of use, to ensure its all dissolved, hit correct temp and the SG is thus correct

Steve

 

I would recommend at least RO water and preferably ro/di water. When I had well water it was extremely hard water.

But that's not your question. I use a plastic 13 gallon tote and love it. For a larger tank like yours, I would use a large brute trash can. You can get a wheeled base for easy transport.


Sent from my Evo

 

I moved my reef sump to the basement just for this reason. It was a PIA pumping water up from the basement, and like Steve mentioned, it's really a two person operation, to a point.

Another good option for a mixing container is a 40 breeder from Petco. With the $1 per gallon sale, it's less money and more compact than a Brute container. If you need to move it around, then the Brute is a better option.

 

We either use a 150g drum or on the road we use 50g brute cans with a lg pump to mix saltwater. Anything that pumps 2k/h makes a great mixing pump.