Mixing salt

[fernalfer]

I'm starting up a new 120 gallon tank. I will be doing a fish less cycle with Marco Key Largo Dry Rock and either live or dry sand. Do I have to mix salt in a separate Rubbermaid tub or can I just mix the salt right in the tank with RODI water. Seems like it just skips a step from making it in the tub then just to transfer to tank anyways. Any thoughts?

A couple powerheads to mix up the salt in tank......

 

[ckozma]

Well if I was going to mix it in the tank, I would just add the live sand after the salinity is correct. It might not be necessary for that particular bacteria to survive but I wouldn't risk it. If you were going to use dry sand it would make no difference. It will also make no difference for dry rock.

 

[R_C]

If there is no sand I don't see why not

 

[thewbell]

I mixed in the tank for my 120 but I used dry sand. I did not want to fill the tank and leak test all of the plumbing and then drain it again to mix sand outside the tank. Also, with about 140-150 gallons of water volume that would have added days to the process to remake and mix all of the RODI and salt. I filled the tank with dry sand and RODI then turned on the pump and after a day of circulating (just to ensure no leaks) I started adding sand to my drain area in the sump. This way I did not have to worry about any salt settling on the sandbed.

 

[fernalfer]

So would it be OK to fill the entire 120 with RODI water and throw in 2 powerheads circulating the water for a day. Get the salinity and water temp correct. Then throw in my dry rock and then throw in the sand. Would that be a good order of doing it?

 

[thewbell]

That is basically what I did, but you will have to drain some water to add the rocks. Also, I would not put all of the rock in before the sand, just the first layer. Otherwise you might end up covering your rocks in any fines that are in the sand. I have not used live sand before but I know with my dry sand even rinsed several times this would have been an issue. I drained about 25 gallons of mixed salt water when I added the rock and sand to make things easier and keep from overflowing. Once the rock and sand were in I pumped almost all of the water back in to get my water level right where I wanted it in the sump. In the end I had a few gallons of SW left over that I ended up using later on anyway.

 

[fernalfer]

everyone says ou should add rock before sand especially if getting borrowing shrimp or gobies. So i guess i will fill tank with RODI water then put in salt. Add powerheads and heater to mix salt. Then Aquasquape my rocks on bare bottom and then add the sand last. Just trying to minimize the sandstorm as much as possible. Also i'm undecisive on whether to go dry or live sand.

 

[aaron23]

theres no reason to do it outside of the tank since it's all going into the tank lol. just cure the rock in the display.

 

[jamie callard Verified Sponsor]

So would it be OK to fill the entire 120 with RODI water and throw in 2 powerheads circulating the water for a day. Get the salinity and water temp correct. Then throw in my dry rock and then throw in the sand. Would that be a good order of doing it?

I think that it would work.
Also plastic eggcrate on the glass were rock will be is a good tip to help it from possibly moving on you

 

[redfishbluefish]

Your plan sounds just fine. When you go to add the sand, use a piece of pipe that is slightly longer than the depth of your tank. I'd suggest a diameter of at least 1 1/2 inches for the pipe. Using a wide mouth funnel, and the pipe in your tank on the bottom, fill the pipe with sand. Slightly lift the pipe while moving about the tank. This way you can distribute the sand while minimizing the sand storm. Hope this helps.

 

[sbash]

With my 220 G, I ran an RODI line into the tank as soon as the tanks was in place. The day after, when I purchased the sand, I added it. The water was cloudy for a while (probably a full day), but it took almost three days to fill the tank, so it was not an issue for me. Once the water level was appropriate, I added a couple power heads and started heating the water (I get better results if I mix the salt at 70+ degrees). With the water temperature raised, I started dumping the salt in. Once I got a stable result, I added my live rock.

I doubt it really matters which way you do it. I have read about people doing it the way I did and some of the salt did not dissolve consistently so they ended up getting spikes in salinity. I use Instant Ocean Reef Crystals and did not have any issues. Just make sure you do not add anything live to the fresh water, and test the salinity regularly when you start mixing.

 

[fernalfer]

Your plan sounds just fine. When you go to add the sand, use a piece of pipe that is slightly longer than the depth of your tank. I'd suggest a diameter of at least 1 1/2 inches for the pipe. Using a wide mouth funnel, and the pipe in your tank on the bottom, fill the pipe with sand. Slightly lift the pipe while moving about the tank. This way you can distribute the sand while minimizing the sand storm. Hope this helps.

Trying to picture in my head what your describing for adding the sand. Also i have Marco Key Largo dryrock that they say is pre-cured. Because this is going into a new tank is it necessary to cure the rock in a seperate tub with RODI wtaer, salt and a heater for up to a month? Or can i just add rock right in to the tank without this process?

 

[redfishbluefish]

I'll try again. You're already going to have at least the base rock in your tank along with saltwater, with the tank almost filled....somewhere around say %80, to pick a number. Let's assume your tank is 20 inches deep. You take an 1 1/2 piece of pipe that's somewhere around 24 inches long and put it in your tank vertically with the one end of the pipe on the bottom of your tank. Put a funnel in the top of the pipe and fill it up with sand. Take the funnel off the pipe (so you don't knock it off when moving the pipe). Now slightly lift the pipe off the bottom of the tank. Sand will start to flow out of the bottom of the pipe. Move the pipe around to distribute the sand. Stop and refill the pipe as needed. You'll have to do this a whole bunch of times.

By adding the sand at the bottom of the tank, this method minimizes a sand storm in the tank. Oh, and turn off the powerheads while doing this sand addition.

Hope this makes better sense.

 

[fernalfer]

I'll try again. You're already going to have at least the base rock in your tank along with saltwater, with the tank almost filled....somewhere around say %80, to pick a number. Let's assume your tank is 20 inches deep. You take an 1 1/2 piece of pipe that's somewhere around 24 inches long and put it in your tank vertically with the one end of the pipe on the bottom of your tank. Put a funnel in the top of the pipe and fill it up with sand. Take the funnel off the pipe (so you don't knock it off when moving the pipe). Now slightly lift the pipe off the bottom of the tank. Sand will start to flow out of the bottom of the pipe. Move the pipe around to distribute the sand. Stop and refill the pipe as needed. You'll have to do this a whole bunch of times.

By adding the sand at the bottom of the tank, this method minimizes a sand storm in the tank. Oh, and turn off the powerheads while doing this sand addition.

Hope this makes better sense.

Much better. I fully understand now and like that idea and believe i'll give it a try.