High heat and salt water?

[elysics]

So my question is whether i can pressure sterilize freshly mixed saltwater at around 120°C (for breeding phytoplankton), or whether that is going to precipitate anything out or make other chemical changes in the makeup of the water?

This would be easier for me than treating with bleach or other chemicals and waiting for them to subside.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Calcium carbonate becomes less soluble at higher temperatures. Whether that actually causes precipitation will depend on the alkalinity and pH as well, but it is a significant risk.

 

[elysics]

Calcium carbonate becomes less soluble at higher temperatures. Whether that actually causes precipitation will depend on the alkalinity and pH as well, but it is a significant risk.

Would probably be at 7.5-8° dKH, 7.8 pH.

But i guess i should just try. Besides calcium carbonate, there wouldn't be any other obvious issues that i might not see when looking at the water?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Would probably be at 7.5-8° dKH, 7.8 pH.

But i guess i should just try. Besides calcium carbonate, there wouldn't be any other obvious issues that i might not see when looking at the water?

Calcium carbonate may take other ions into it as it precipitates, but that the main concern, IMO.

I discuss the temperature effects here:

Chemistry and the Aquarium: Calcium

Randy discusses calcium and its role in helping maintain a healthy marine aquarium.

reefs.com

What do these values really mean? The following combinations of calcium and alkalinity have the same supersaturation in seawater:

1. Normal seawater at 80 °C
2. Seawater at 25 °C with calcium raised to 1300 ppm
3. Seawater at 25 °C with the alkalinity raised to 8.2 meq/L

 

[Rjramos]

I sterilize containers, in my case 2 liter bottles with bleach prior to starting phytoplankton cultures. I then use ro/di water with salt mix to around 1.019. Add some drops of phytogrow and then seal the containers tightly. The problem with phyto culture are small organisms that will eat it before it grows. Especially, rotifers. If you are also doing rotifers keep everything seperate. It seems to me, they jump out of a bottle and into another one, lol!