Salt dispenser in mixing station

george7523 · Nov 9, 2023

Hi,
I'm planning on automating dispensing salt in the mixing station. From what I've read salt stored dry will inevitably clump up making dispensing it in dry form not practical. My idea to overcome this is mix salt with rodi in high concentration( ~4x regular) and use a pump to dispense it. I use redsea blue bucket. For normal 1.026 salinity I would use 1/2 cup for every 1 gallon. To make a high concentration salt reservoir source I was thinking of 2 cups per gallon (4 times regular amount) Then I can program a pump to dispense however much is needed to mix however much rodi I want to mix at a time to achieve 1.026 salinity. My question is, what is the effect of storing salt in rodi mixed liquid form for a few months ? BRS conducted a 3 weeks experiment and concluded that alkinity will drop around 0.5 and calcium drop is negligible. Will the drop be any different if I store it in 4x higher concentration form ? Also are there other changes that will take place other then alkalintiy and calcium ?

Thank you for any suggestions.

Maybe @Mr. Randy Holmes-Farley can shed some light on this

MnFish1 · Nov 9, 2023

george7523 said:
Hi,
I'm planning on automating dispensing salt in the mixing station. From what I've read salt stored dry will inevitably clump up making dispensing it in dry form not practical. My idea to overcome this is mix salt with rodi in high concentration( ~4x regular) and use a pump to dispense it. I use redsea blue bucket. For normal 1.026 salinity I would use 1/2 cup for every 1 gallon. To make a high concentration salt reservoir source I was thinking of 2 cups per gallon (4 times regular amount) Then I can program a pump to dispense however much is needed to mix however much rodi I want to mix at a time to achieve 1.026 salinity. My question is, what is the effect of storing salt in rodi mixed liquid form for a few months ? BRS conducted a 3 weeks experiment and concluded that alkinity will drop around 0.5 and calcium drop is negligible. Will the drop be any different if I store it in 4x higher concentration form ? Also are there other changes that will take place other then alkalintiy and calcium ?

Thank you for any suggestions.

Maybe @Mr. Randy Holmes-Farley can shed some light on this

There is a fair likelihood of precipitation - which is why it's recommended to add the salt to the water as compared to adding water to salt.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Nov 14, 2023

Yes, hypersaline seawater risks calcium carbonate precipitation. Like ordinary salinity, the effect is worse for high alk mixes. My expectation is 4x will not be stable, but it is easy enough to try.

MnFish1 · Nov 14, 2023

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Yes, hypersaline seawater risks calcium carbonate precipitation. Like ordinary salinity, the effect is worse for high alk mixes. My expectation is 4x will not be stable, but it is easy enough to try.

How would one determine if it was working. just curious - to me this is a simple chemistry problem - and no salt manufacturer recommends adding water to salt. I think this could be very poor information - for no reasons - He can just mix salt like everyone else/. Or?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Nov 16, 2023

MnFish1 said:
How would one determine if it was working. just curious - to me this is a simple chemistry problem - and no salt manufacturer recommends adding water to salt. I think this could be very poor information - for no reasons - He can just mix salt like everyone else/. Or?

To determine if it is working, just try to make it hypersaline, see if it ever goes clear, and then see it it clouds/precipitates again as it waits to be used.

It's not rocket science. What happens when seawater is steadily evaporated and precipitates as it becomes more saline is accepted science fact.

This from an old thread of mine:

There is a very well understood order of which things precipitate from seawater as it is dried. Among the first is calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate. That is also why one cannot readily make extra saline seawater for use in, say, salinity control methods for reef tanks.

Later the precipitates include calcium sulfate (first hydrated then anhydrous), sodium chloride, sodium calcium sulfate, polyhalite (which is K2MgCa2(SO4)4)), epsom salt (which is hydrated magnesium sulfate) , hexahydrite (a different form of hydrated magneisum sulfate), kieserite (another form of hydrated magnesium sulfate), potassium magnesium chloride, and finally magnesium chloride. Many of these are overlapping in when the precipitate.

when saltwater water evaporates, what all is left behind?

Fellow nerds, Say I take a pan of water out of my saltwater tank and set it in the sun until the water evaporates completely away. I would now be looking at chunks of solid minerals left behind by the evaporated water. But what becomes of everything else? Can the water vapor carry anything off...

www.reef2reef.com

MnFish1 · Nov 16, 2023

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
To determine if it is working, just try to make it hypersaline, see if it ever goes clear, and then see it it clouds/precipitates again as it waits to be used.

It's not rocket science. What happens when seawater is steadily evaporated and precipitates as it becomes more saline is accepted science fact.

This from an old thread of mine:

There is a very well understood order of which things precipitate from seawater as it is dried. Among the first is calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate. That is also why one cannot readily make extra saline seawater for use in, say, salinity control methods for reef tanks.

Later the precipitates include calcium sulfate (first hydrated then anhydrous), sodium chloride, sodium calcium sulfate, polyhalite (which is K2MgCa2(SO4)4)), epsom salt (which is hydrated magnesium sulfate) , hexahydrite (a different form of hydrated magneisum sulfate), kieserite (another form of hydrated magnesium sulfate), potassium magnesium chloride, and finally magnesium chloride. Many of these are overlapping in when the precipitate.

when saltwater water evaporates, what all is left behind?

Fellow nerds, Say I take a pan of water out of my saltwater tank and set it in the sun until the water evaporates completely away. I would now be looking at chunks of solid minerals left behind by the evaporated water. But what becomes of everything else? Can the water vapor carry anything off...

www.reef2reef.com