Salt (blue bucket) mixing time

[LetItReef]

Hello,

I will be mixing this with RODI, power head and a heater on a 5g bucket. How long should I mix this? Is 4 hours good enough or longer?

Thanks!

 

[Rob Lion]

takes me just over an hour when water is at 25 oC for 1.026 salinity using a 25L (5g) bucket.

Don't mix for too long, they recommend not to as precipitation will occur.

 

[LetItReef]

Wow that's fast! I'm using Instant Ocean and I mix it overnight.

 

[shadow1013]

With the Red Sea Coral Pro I have a heater and power head. An hour later I'm doing my water change.

 

[jason2459]

takes me just over an hour when water is at 25 oC for 1.026 salinity using a 25L (5g) bucket.

Don't mix for too long, they recommend not to as precipitation will occur.

Precipitation of what? And why? How long is to long? Unless you have a heat source that could drive the precipitation anything that will precipitate out should do so after adding all the saltmix.

A small powerhead accidently left on overnight or all day mixing shouldn't precipitate out anything major.

Am I missing something?

@Randy Holmes-Farley?
@JimWelsh?

 

[Lonely reefer's]

30minute for me,but i only mix 1-2 gal

 

[chefjpaul]

10G. Per hour

 

[fab]

Mixing on the cool side is better than mixing on the warm side. Too warm and precipitation starts occurring.

 

[chefjpaul]

I've never heated for a regular/ scheduled water change.

 

[jason2459]

If doing larger water changes I would heat up to tank temp just before the change. Otherwise I do small daily ~1% water changes and never heat up my water. I have a smallish pump running at the bottom of my brute can that I store the new saltmix in that runs for a couple hours and then is shutoff until I need to mix again. If I use muriatic acid to lower alk I'll let it run over night.

 

[jason2459]

FWIW in my saltmix parameters thread I haven't come accross a saltmix yet that hasn't had alkalinity stabilized by 45 minutes after adding the last bit of salt to 2 gallons of water which I do over a good 60 minute period. Which once that's stabilized you're good to go.

 

[LetItReef]

Ok. So no heater and about an hour of mixing is good?

 

[CJBuckeyes]

From what I've read, the precipitation issues are with the Coral Pro version only. Redsea commented on another forum that the blue bucket should not have this concern.

 

[Rob Lion]

Precipitation of what? And why? How long is to long? Unless you have a heat source that could drive the precipitation anything that will precipitate out should do so after adding all the saltmix.

A small powerhead accidently left on overnight or all day mixing shouldn't precipitate out anything major.

Am I missing something?

yes, you are missing out on Red Sea's instructions....

 

[jason2459]

yes, you are missing out on Red Sea's instructions....

Doesn't really answer anything other then that little pump is generating quite a bit of heat in that very small volume of water. He didn't say what the temp of that water was just if the water is significantly higher then 24C it could cause precipitation. I agree a large pump that generates a lot of heat or a heater in the water will cause some precipitation. I also agree mixing beyond what's needed isn't necessary unless the saltmix contains organics of some kind.

But circulating the water continuously with out significant temp increase should not cause precipitation. If it did everyone's tanks would be a white cloud all the time.

 

[USMC4Life]

I mix in a 33 gallon drum and I mix it at least 24h.

 

[Rob Lion]

But circulating the water continuously with out significant temp increase should not cause precipitation. If it did everyone's tanks would be a white cloud all the time.

it doesn't take a big heat difference to do it , ANY heat difference can cause precipitation, a small increase of heat will LOWER the salinity and lower the pH, and a small decrease will increase them, that little change is all that's needed. Bigger temp changes have bigger effects, that's why many peoples heaters, pump motors and even water lines (where heat exchange with the air) create and retain precipitation.

 

[CJBuckeyes]

I just want to point out again that the OP was asking about standard (blue bucket, see the title) redsea salt. Not redsea coral pro. Redsea coral pro has elevated levels of the big 3, so there is a precipitation risk. The standard salt in the blue bucket doesn't have this issue.

Hello,

I will be mixing this with RODI, power head and a heater on a 5g bucket. How long should I mix this? Is 4 hours good enough or longer?

Thanks!

To answer the original question, the mix time minimum is as long as it takes for ph to stabilize and for the water to become sufficiently oxygenated. A few hours with a strong powerhead should be plenty. There is no maximum time for mixing with the blue bucket salt. You also don't have to worry about heat causing precipitation.

 

[jason2459]

I just want to point out again that the OP was asking about standard (blue bucket, see the title) redsea salt. Not redsea coral pro. Redsea coral pro has elevated levels of the big 3, so there is a precipitation risk. The standard salt in the blue bucket doesn't have this issue.
...

Understood but it's still a curious oddity that mixing for longer then that 20 minutes with out a significant increase of temp could cause precipitation like shown in that video. Plus the Coral Pro version's parameters aren't that drastic. Around 470 Calcium and 1400 Mg could be expected (see sig). The elevated Mg should help balance the higher Calcium.

Continuous mixing of a salt should not cause precipitation(beyond anything initially as the salt is added) if the temp stays with in reason (like the video states 24-26C or lower.) I don't see it happening or why it would happen.

Edit: and yes I understand preciptation on say a pump shaft could happen. But not a full tank snow storm.

To answer the original question, the mix time minimum is as long as it takes for ph to stabilize and for the water to become sufficiently oxygenated. A few hours with a strong powerhead should be plenty. There is no maximum time for mixing with the blue bucket salt. You also don't have to worry about heat causing precipitation.

Any salt mix is susceptible to a precipitation event especially if temperature is increased.


http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-07/rhf/

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

it doesn't take a big heat difference to do it , ANY heat difference can cause precipitation, a small increase of heat will LOWER the salinity and lower the pH, and a small decrease will increase them, that little change is all that's needed. Bigger temp changes have bigger effects, that's why many peoples heaters, pump motors and even water lines (where heat exchange with the air) create and retain precipitation.

Heat lowers the solubility of calcium carbonate, but salinity and pH lowering are not the reason. pH lowering would make it more soluble anyway.