Mixing salt in an aquascaped tank?

revhtree · Dec 26, 2016

I could fill my new tank up faster if I just filled it up with RO/DI water and mixed the salt after it was full. The problem or maybe no problem at all is the tank has sand and dry rock already aquascaped in it!

Do you see an issue with filling it up and mixing it after it's full?

chrfrancis · Dec 26, 2016

That is how I mixed my first batch up...no problem for me

leahfiish · Dec 26, 2016

With dry rock and dry (not live) sand it's totally fine.

Bluefish9 · Dec 26, 2016

Thats what I did, except I added it slowly to the filter sock chamber of my sump (w/o socks in of course). I also stuck a small korallia in there, along with a 24" length of pvc (for stirring). Worked great... all disolved before it even reached the return pump chamber.

nervousmonkey · Dec 26, 2016

not a problem at all, that's how I've done all of my new tanks.

revhtree · Dec 26, 2016

Well my new tank is filling!

thewbell · Dec 26, 2016

Bluefish9 said:
Thats what I did, except I added it slowly to the filter sock chamber of my sump (w/o socks in of course). I also stuck a small korallia in there, along with a 24" length of pvc (for stirring). Worked great... all disolved before it even reached the return pump chamber.

This is exactly what I just did when restarting my tank. Cranked the flow all the way up on my return pump and Wav's to make the overall system as turbulent as possible and it worked great.

kschweer · Dec 26, 2016

revhtree said:
Well my new tank is filling!

Is it full yet???

revhtree · Dec 26, 2016

kschweer said:
Is it full yet???

I hope not because I left it filling and went to eat!

Antics · Dec 26, 2016

Better knock on some wood.

I always use dry rock / dry sand so I've never premixed salt before adding water to a new aquarium. It's always RODI first and salt later.

lake985 · Dec 26, 2016

I imagine you couldn't use this method with live sand, correct?

prsnlty · Dec 26, 2016

lake985 said:
I imagine you couldn't use this method with live sand, correct?

No because the Rodi without salt will kill the live organisms that are in the live sand.

Atlantisdelux · Mar 14, 2017

I know this is an old thread, but one of the bags of sand I got had some sort of leak in it because it was basically dry by the time it was delivers to my door.
I was thinking of mixing my salt in my tank because I'm using all dry rock.
Is there enough bacteria worth keeping in 1 20 lbs bag of sand to justify mixing salt in individual buckets?
The system is +/-50 gallons with 40 lbs (partially) live sand and 45 lbs of dry rock, plan on seeding with live rock from my nano and some biospira (sp) after all the salt is leveled off.

Kyuss414 · Mar 14, 2017

If there's some wet live sand in it already and you fill it with straight water (to then mix the salt in the tank) you'll have some die-off from the sand. That said, if you didn't do anything with the dry rock there will be some dead organics there too regardless of how you fill the tank.

None of this is the end of the world as long as you monitor your levels (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) for a bit before adding any livestock. The Bio-spira should help accelerate the cycle (I've personally never used it) but it'll still be there til things reach equilibrium.

I'd rinse the bag of "live" sand that you received dry before adding it to the tank as there's no point in adding more dead organics though.

TritonsGarden · Mar 14, 2017

revhtree said:
I could fill my new tank up faster if I just filled it up with RO/DI water and mixed the salt after it was full. The problem or maybe no problem at all is the tank has sand and dry rock already aquascaped in it!

Do you see an issue with filling it up and mixing it after it's full?

I heard RODI is corrosive and will eat away the silicon seams.

Atlantisdelux · Mar 14, 2017

I was thinking more along the lines of the sand die off kick starting the cycle so I don't have to go buy table shrimp.
I don't see me getting much out of the Marco rocks just judging by the reviews Iv researched about their key largo dry rock.

I don't plan on adding live stock for a while so I could add salt to my sump slowly and constantly check the salinity until it levels out. I know there's a chance for salt to reach my return and get buried in the rocks but I'm planing on maxing out my power heads for the entire mixing day or 2 to help maximize mixing.

ahiggins · Mar 14, 2017

N

Kyuss414 said:
If there's some wet live sand in it already and you fill it with straight water (to then mix the salt in the tank) you'll have some die-off from the sand. That said, if you didn't do anything with the dry rock there will be some dead organics there too regardless of how you fill the tank.

None of this is the end of the world as long as you monitor your levels (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) for a bit before adding any livestock. The Bio-spira should help accelerate the cycle (I've personally never used it) but it'll still be there til things reach equilibrium.

I'd rinse the bag of "live" sand that you received dry before adding it to the tank as there's no point in adding more dead organics though.

hey! There you go, instant ammonia source to cycle the tank lol

Atlantisdelux · Mar 14, 2017

@ahiggins
I can't figure out if that's a sarcastic way of saying "don't be stupid"
Or a backdoor way of saying "its fine".........

This is why I don't do social media. I prefer to read peoples reactions. I suck at reading their words.......

ahiggins · Mar 14, 2017

Atlantisdelux said:
@ahiggins
I can't figure out if that's a sarcastic way of saying "don't be stupid"
Or a backdoor way of saying "its fine".........
This is why I don't do social media. I prefer to read peoples reactions. I suck at reading their words.......

lol Im never sarcastic unless I know you

Its actually a backdoor workaround to start the cycle in the tank if ya think about it. dead things=ammonia

Atlantisdelux · Mar 14, 2017

Then its settled,
I'll be filling the tank with my sand, adding ro water, and dosing the sump with salt while testing throughout the day. I figure I'll dose about a cup less than what calculations tell me too right off the bat, then test/add every hour until I'm around 1.020 then I'll let it run over night and see if it goes up from anything that was slow to dissolve.
I'll maintain 1.024/5/6 for a few days before adding the bio-spira and some of the LR from my nano.

Now if only this storm would magically end so I could run and get water today..........