premix and age water or not

dyereefer · #1 01-13-2004, 04:34 AM

Should i premix and age my salt water before doing water changes, If so how long should I age the water?

BCOrchidGuy · #2 01-13-2004, 04:41 AM

When I had my 90 gallon set up I would fill a 10 gallon tank with DI water, I'd add 4 cups of Kent salt and turn on the 301 power head, 24 hours later I'd draw off 10 gallons from my sump (which was shut down of course) and I'd drain the water from the 10 gallon in. Some people say mix it as a brine and then dilute it, I figure, 10 gallons/4 cups of salt worked perfect for me why mess with it.
The 24 hours was enough to bring the water up to temp and let the salt mix in properly. Oh, and of course I'd use a water conditioner, Prime or Novaqua.

Doug

dyereefer · #3 01-13-2004, 04:44 AM

What is the conditioner for?

BCOrchidGuy · #4 01-13-2004, 04:48 AM

Chlorine/chloramine remover, Novaqua also binds heavy metals, IE copper and Iron. I use DI water, but I use the conditioner mostly out of habit I guess.

Doug

dyereefer · #5 01-13-2004, 04:49 AM

I see thank you .

BCOrchidGuy · #6 01-13-2004, 04:56 AM

Make sure you read labels, when your buying a water conditioner etc, some conditioners remove chloramines ( chlorine and ammonia bonded) others simply release the bond and then you have to deal wtih chlorine and ammonia on their own. I like SeaChem Prime or Kordons Amquel or Novaqua. I don't like the Hagel stuff, or most of the others that I've tried. One of the biggest draws for me to the SeaChem stuff is it's concentration. It works out to about 5 times more concentrated than some conditioners and more concentrated than others.
Read labels, compare labels, ask questions and then read the labels again...

Doug

ldzielak · #7 01-13-2004, 06:52 AM

Brine is a risk, since you could possibly not get all the mineral into solution properly. Some could be come super saturated and precipitate out.

For best results, you should mix the salt in quickly (good pump or mixer) and into warm (Pre heated water). The salt is engineered to dissolve correctly, but it is possible to screw it up.

I also use the cup method, but I check with a hydrometer every time before adding to the tank. Hydrometers are not super accurate, but they shoudl be repeatable, so as long as tank and new water match, you should be fine.

Lee