Curiosity, has anyone analyzed salt creep?

[A_Blind_Reefer]

Just a curiosity. I was wondering what all is in, or not in , salt creep? Is it strictly a sodium or are there other elements that get bound in the evaporation process? Was wondering if anyone has collected salt creep, mixed it back into rodi to 35ppt, and sent it out for ICP just for craps and giggles? I tried searching the web but wasn’t successful. Not trying to fix a problem that doesn’t exist or anything here, just a random question of the day.

Edit. Although thinking about it anything in it would most likely be below the detection capabilities of icp

 

[shakacuz]

following.

i just began having the same curiosity as you. when cleaning my sump i sometimes knock over the salt creep back into the water and wondered if it affected the tank in anyway. i see it a just recycling what has collected, lol..

 

[KrisReef]

I wipe up small samples with my index finger and my Chinchilla enjoys licking it. If it gets dirty (garage tank) he sometimes isn't interested. It should (in theory) contain all the elements found in the aquarium water + whatever gets blown in with the dust around the tank? I"ll ask my chinchilla what my phosphates are at and if he is close, ...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I expect that both salt creep and salty dust from popping bubbles contains everything in the salt water in nearly the same proportions, but as different forms based on the known minerals that precipitate as seawater evaporates.

It is possible that some of the most soluble ions creep back down into the water and escape, but unless the salt creep is not extending far from the water line, I’d guess that is a minor process.

 

[Dan_P]

I expect that both salt creep and salty dust from popping bubbles contains everything in the salt water in nearly the same proportions, but as different forms based on the known minerals that precipitate as seawater evaporates.

It is possible that some of the most soluble ions creep back down into the water and escape, but unless the salt creep is not extending far from the water line, I’d guess that is a minor process.

Has the process for salt creep been described, explaining how it gets so far from the water’s edge?

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

Has the process for salt creep been described, explaining how it gets so far from the water’s edge?

Ive been considering looking into this, idk what it is, but my smaller tanks with tight fitting glass lids get an absurd amount of creep on top. I also wonder how much this contributes to my salinity dropping. I skim dry and still have to use about 2 cups of saltwater every 10 days or so to adjust the salinity back up.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Has the process for salt creep been described, explaining how it gets so far from the water’s edge?

Capillary action and related phenomena move water through the existing salt crystals to the surface where evaporation takes place, leaving the salts behind and growing the deposits.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aax1853

 

[Dan_P]

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aax1853

Excellent! Fascinating. Thank you.

While waiting for your response, I checked with ChatGZpT and obtained what felt like an answer geared for a general audience. I tried rewording the question with terms that I thought might help get the AI out of it’s optimized answer energy well with little luck. I will run more experiments with terms I learned in this article and see if I can get a better answer.

 

[Dan_P]

Excellent! Fascinating. Thank you.

While waiting for your response, I checked with ChatGZpT and obtained what felt like an answer geared for a general audience. I tried rewording the question with terms that I thought might help get the AI out of it’s optimized answer energy well with little luck. I will run more experiments with terms I learned in this article and see if I can get a better answer.

@Randy Holmes-Farley , it has been frustratingly slow process to nudge ChatGZpT towards providing an answer about salt creep that remotely resembled the description in the paper that you referenced. I got ChatGZpT out of its local minimum answer of describing the mechanism of salt creep as a result of splashing with the key words “solid liquid interface”. This is not unlike working with Google to find specific information. For some, maybe all subjects, certain search words open up a treasure trove of information.