batch water mixing???
 

I was wondering if anyone mixes large batches of water for their changes and store it. I have a 10g nano which I do a 1 gallon change every week.I mixed 5 gallons of ro/di and crystal sea salt, have a heater and power head in it for circulation. After about a 2 weeks the water went brown. What did I do wrong? Mixing up only gallon of salt water per week is hard to get the ratio right. :redface: Any suggestions?

I get the same sort of issue, its ok so long as I do not add salt, but the moment I add salt I have to use it in about 2 days otherwise the Nitrates start going up.

Where would the nitrates be coming from? Never tested mine before dumping it.

I get a film on the inside of my rubbermaid container when I store RO/DI water for longer than a week, I think its some sort of biofilm. My theory is that when you add salt it gives them all they need to really thrive and a biproduct of that could be the nitrates that you are seeing.

Christy :)

I quess i should get a scale and mix a gallon up at a time.

A scale, what for?? Hydrometer might be the way to go. Once you make one batch, just add the same amount of salt next time, super easy.
Dave

Have you ever tried to mix 1 gallon

No I have not. I mix 30, 60 0r 90gal at a time.

Dave

Mixing that quantity, 1tps doesn't change your SG from 1.019 to 1.027 :biggrin:

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Do you keep it in a cool dark place with a lid on it? If you don't heat the water it should prolong it's shelf life a bit more. Plus with a lid on it and no O2 it will last even longer. It wouldn't take long to heat and ariate (sp) 1 gallon of water at a time.

Or you could just slowly measure what it takes to make 1gal . I've done it for 5gal.. I just quickly add it and it is always bang on.

Takes some patience at first but easy enough to do.

1 tsp changes your SG of 1 gallon from 1.019 to 1.027?
Is that what your saying?
Sounds like a pretty big swing for one little tsp.
I suspect one of your hydrometer readings was erroneous.
I suggest you try again.
Like some other members are saying here, it can't be that difficult to figure out. Just keep adding small amounts of salt, and recording how much you add, until you get the SG you want. Then, whenever you make a new batch just add the amount that you determined is required for 1 gallon.
I'm sorry, but I just don't understand the problem here. :confused:

Cheers,

Are you rinsing your hydrometer thoroughly in freshwater before every reading you take?

Borrow or buy a refractometer. If someone nearby has one, calibrate your hydrometer with their refracto because you'll probably find that its off by quite a bit. Friend of mine had 3 and all her hydrometers were pieces of cr@p that ended up crashing her tank :evil: Now she's got a refractometer like mine. Works great & worth the investment ($65 at J&L or OA).

JMO & JME,

Anthony

Yes I rinse out the hydrometer. I 'm not saying I can't do it, it would just be easier to batch mix the water, and dip into it as needed. As my post asked, does anyone do this( with success)
I have not tried putting a lid on the bucket, and I also keep it at 78deg with a power head to mix. So i'll try to get a lid and not heat it. The whole idea was to be able to quickly dip into a pail and have a consistant SG, and temp.

Re: batch water mixing???
 

Sorry. I'm lost. I'm not sure what you want. :confused:

you can do it for a few days.. but I don't see it being worth using after about 1 week.

I think I'm going to have to agree with you Chad. Back to mixing 1g at a time.

annyone have a mixing ratio for salt? would be easier to mix..i'm mixing up a 5 g bucket of RO right now...using reef crystals

I think it depends on the salt brand you use and the end result you want.
Does the packaging on your salt say?
Instant Ocean recommends 1.5 lbs per 5 gal. to yield 1.022 SG.

Cheers,

premixing water
 

I keep premixed saltwater all the time. I have a 33g reef and always have about 3-5 gallons mixed on hand. I use the 5 gallon white buckets from the fish stores that have a small 3 inch cap to seal it in with.

I add the salt, shake the container a few times every day or so and then only airate it for an hour or two (plus heat) before adding to the tank. The bucket gets some brown residue on the bottom after about 15-20 gallons without rinsing but with the cap on, nitrates have never been a problem for me.

You can buys these buckets at the fish stores for $5. (Got mine at big al's)

That's what I would recommend.

Re: premixing water
 

Measure the nitrates and tell me what ya got after its been sitting around for a week, so long as salt has been added

I'm curious to see what you get

Just tested mine that has been in a 5 gal sealed container, the square cube jug you get when you buy a pail Red Sea salt, that was made up little over 2 1/2 weeks nitrates 0

Well, I have RO/DI water, zero airation, zero heat.. sealed.. using Kent salt.. and there are nitrates after about 3 days.

Mine did read "some" nitrates enough to move it off zero but not enough to move to the next number, which I think is 20

I mix my water in a garbage can, I mix about 15gals at one time.
I used IO salt and tap water over 3 weeks ago. It has a powerhead and a heater running all the time. I keep it sealed and monitor the SG.

I just tested for pH and nitrate. pH was spot on at 8.2 and the nitrates read 0.
After reading this I will probably mix my water in smaller batches, but I am still happy with my system.

When I first mixed my Instant Ocean in my tank a few months ago, I followed the directions exactly : 1/2 a cup to 1US gal. My SG was so high the needle was almost off the scale on my hydrometer.
So I just do the add salt wait, test, add wait test, add wait test method.
Kind of a pain.

I have heard, that since salt is hydroscopic, it will absorb moisture from the air, and this will alter its weight and volume. So mixing by methods such as weighing and pouring x amount of cups is very inaccurate. Is this true?

You asked about the reading I have: I have two batches ready, one heated, one not. Both read 0 nitrates. They have been mixed for about 5-6 days.

I am curious if this is strickly a Kent issue.. Tho I have no plans on switching salt. Its no bother to mix the day of or night before.

20 would be pretty high.. What kind of test kit are you using?

When I used Oceanic salt I had that problem too, now I use Kents. I use Rubbermaid bruit garbage cans (food grade plastic) with lid and powerhead, and it lasts for weeks.

I mix two Brute (sp?) garbage cans about 30g each and use Reef Crystals. I just tested both after about four days, one was heavily aerated and both had power heads running the whole time.
Both batches nitrates at zero. I do get a brown scum on my one can that I always have water mixing in.

I’ve used mixed aerated water that had been sitting around after four weeks…next time I do that I’ll measure nitrates.


That’s whacked… 0 and then 20 on your nitrate scale makes no sense. What is the measurement?

All this fuss on measuring, I don’t get. Take your water volume of make up water what ever it is, add your salt until you have the correct SG. Remember how much salt that was…repeat. Really simple! 1g or 100g whats the difference?

Dave

Aquarium Pharmaceuticals I haven't went looked at it if I remember it starts a zero and goes up in increments of 20 up to about 160 /ppm.
I'm at work so thats why I can't check :rolleyes:

I agree with monza... having makeup water is easy... fill the bucket, get the SG and temp right, keep it aerated, surface agitation , whatever you want.... remember how much salt you added to the bucket, and bam that's it ...

Heh.. for a tank 20g and less... not having makeup water isn't such a big deal , because it takes about 15 minutes max to make up a 5g bucket of saltwater!

Murm... that nitrate test kit is pretty weird... they usually don't go in sets of 20's do they? I think mine goe's by 5...

well, i never saw this post yet....i just filled up my 100 gallon waterchange tank with RO water and have a small power head in it for a tiny bit of circulation, no heat, and a lid on top, ...i'll do the nitrate test tomorrow and let you know what i get,

since i only have a 35 gallon perfect cube, my water changes arnt going to be very much, hence why i set up a large barrel to store my RO water

we'll i'll guess we'll see.... :eek:

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Space is a bit of an issue at my place so when I need to do more than the usual 5 gallons/week water change I just ask my Gal to fill a few buckets during the day. :mrgreen:

I don't understand where nitrate the nitrate would even come from.

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Over time even the smalles residual bacteria can start the nitrogen cycle. It could come from your hands or even airbound bacteria, like if you sneeze or something. If you mix the salt water before storing it sometimes there are nitrates in the salt.

I am having problems with the crystal sea mix. In the process of setting up a new 20g tank. I mixed the water to a SG of 1.023, mixed it overnight, it was still cloudy. Tested the Ph it was off the hagen scale (8.6 is their top reading). Took a sample of water to Pauls aquarium, he tested it to be 8.8. He gave me a new bag of salt. I mixed up a 5g batch, circulated over night. The water was clear PH still over 8.6, alk=2.6 meg/l which is on the low side. This could have been what lead to the brown water problem I was having with the batch mixing. I'll be going back to see him today with more water so he can test the calibration of my Sg reader, alk, and Ph. Didn't take a very large sample last time. Contacted Crystal Sea Robert Spellman will get back to me tomorrow. I'll let you know what he says.

I would be buying a new Nitrate kit. Go get a Salifert. Increments of 20 is unreal for a reef tank.

Hey, fun thread! Question is can you mix up a month or 2 worth of water change water to have on hand so you don't have to mix a gallon at a time? Sure, can't see why not. I've stored IO and Kent salt in 5g jugs for over a month, no problems at all. I regularly have a rubbermaid of SW made at any time, usually two weeks old anyway.
To store salt water, fill a jug, put the lid on it, and keep it in the dark until you need it. You shouldn't have any nitrates or brown water. This assumes you're using RO and quality salt. If either of these isn't the case, change it.
You should have no trouble keeping 10g of SW handy over a span of 2 months....