How long should mixed saltwater aerate before using?

[gidenski]

I have found that alk drops around 0.5 dKH every couple of days. This is with regular Instant Ocean stirred with a powerhead. I mix larger batches than I need for a single WC and so I dose alk to match my tank params before I do the WC. I would suspect other trace elements precipitate as well. Probably why folks recommend using ASAP.

I've had bad luck on dosing the same day as water changes with Red Sea Pro running so high on the elements. I dose the day after WC.

 

[jolt]

I've had bad luck on dosing the same day as water changes with Red Sea Pro running so high on the elements. I dose the day after WC.

Just to be clear - I am not talking about dosing the tank. I'm talking about dosing the new water to bring it up to match my tank parameters. I measure both the tank and the new water first. I only dose the new water if the new water is lower than the tank water. Of course, before I add it to the tank and I give it a couple of hours to settle before adding to the tank. It works well for me.

 

[gidenski]

Ahh, makes much more sense now. Was reading too fast. I'll give that a try to see if that gets me further benefits to my existing routine. Thanks!

 

[mcarroll]

There is no benefit to letting it sit any longer than an hour or so. Any good salt will dissolve almost immediately and the pH will stabilize right away. FutureDoc did several studies a few years ago with many different salts and RO/DI water using very expensive instruments and data loggers and found this to be true. The old days of mixing overnight or whatever are long gone.
I mix and use my new saltwater as soon as the pH, temperaure and salinity approximate the the display. Usually less than an hour unless I need to warm it morein winter months.

+1 - five minutes is all it takes me and I do nothing fancy.

Many salts used to be ground much more coarsely than these days. Makes a big difference.

I can attest (living in a winter zone) that the heating is positively unnecessary as well unless your water is extremely cold. Storing water indoors should be all the heating one needs.

Just to be clear - I am not talking about dosing the tank. I'm talking about dosing the new water to bring it up to match my tank parameters. I measure both the tank and the new water first. I only dose the new water if the new water is lower than the tank water. Of course, before I add it to the tank and I give it a couple of hours to settle before adding to the tank. It works well for me.

If your salt is that far off from your tank parameters, it'd be recommended to either adjust the tank to permanently match the salt or switch to a salt that matches the parameters you prefer.

 

[jolt]

+1 - five minutes is all it takes me and I do nothing fancy.

Many salts used to be ground much more coarsely than these days. Makes a big difference.

I can attest (living in a winter zone) that the heating is positively unnecessary as well unless your water is extremely cold. Storing water indoors should be all the heating one needs.



If your salt is that far off from your tank parameters, it'd be recommended to either adjust the tank to permanently match the salt or switch to a salt that matches the parameters you prefer.

As I said in my earlier post, I mix larger batches of water than I can use for 1 water change, this is because I do bi-weekly tiny changes on a 32 gallon tank. I believe there is benefit to this approach (more stability for the tank, less work for me), but I have to dose the new water towards the end of the life of a batch to adjust for the alk drifting down. I don't let a batch last longer than two weeks. I'm not advocating that others take this approach, and I'm not criticizing your inputs/feedback.

 

[mcarroll]

All good! You might be interested in checking out my old "Water Change A Day" thread. That's how I did water changes last time I had time for them - could be some ideas to steal. From setup to cleanup each water change took 10 minutes or less - NO b.s. steps are taken. They'd be even easier on a system 1/3 the size - about a gallon each? - but I dunno how much quicker they could get. Maybe find a way to scoop out the gallon to eliminate the need for a siphon hose? Videos are included.

 

[Pete polyp]

I have always mixed until I can't see any salt in the bottom of the bucket, pulled the powerhead out just enough to where it draws air and dump it in. Depending on the size of the batch it takes anywhere from 1-5 minutes.

 

[BryanD]

Everything I've read recommends overnight, only use as soon as its mixed in an emergency. I don't aerate but mix in bucket, let sit for a couple hours, then throw in a powerhead until the next day. Toss in a heater until temperature matches, then change water. Of course like most things in this hobby there isn't a hard fast way to do it. I'd say the only way you could mess up your tank with a water change (as long as your SG is correct) is not waiting until the salt is totally dissolved and/or not matching temps.