Saltwater mixing time

shoelaceike · Mar 31, 2016

Do I really need to mix my water for 24 hours? My water seems clear very quickly.......I use Seachem salt. Thanks

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 31, 2016

shoelaceike said:
Do I really need to mix my water for 24 hours? My water seems clear very quickly.......I use Seachem salt. Thanks

If you mix vigorously enough to get adequate O2 and CO2 equilibrated, it can sometimes be mixed in 5 minutes.

How to Mix a Batch of Synthetic Seawater in Under Five Minutes
http://web.archive.org/web/20011217234403/www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1997/sep/bio/default.asp

shoelaceike · Mar 31, 2016

Good to know. Thank you! I used to mix only for a few hours until I read everywhere that it should be at least 24 hours so I started doing that....I guess now I can go back.

Gdk414 · Jan 1, 2017

But isn't it a lot less caustic if it's settled for a couple days? I burnt and eventually killed one of my metior showers by adding the water too quick. I used to mix it about a half hour or so but now I let it settle for a couple days. I just would rather be extra safe.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 2, 2017

I don't think there's an issue if the salt particles are dissolved and the water is aerated.

Ocelaris · Jan 2, 2017

If you have an old skimmer pump, try throwing that in with an airline out if the mixing container. I run my water changing pump and the skimmer to aerate for the first hour or so, and have done a 25% water change after that without issue. But it also probably depends on your total water volume.

The other issue is water temperature, my ro storage container is almost 30 gallons, so mixing and heating that up to temp can take longer than an hour.

jason2459 · Jan 2, 2017

I've found in my 55g brute that I can mix up a bag of IO in under 45 minutes with a basic pump in there that I think is around 600gph.

In a 5g bucket I've found I get clear water and consistent Alk readings from many different brands of salt by 45 minutes using a ~200gph pump.

I would say 45 minutes with decent mixing and you're good to go.

Txfish1 · Dec 5, 2018

I mixed some saltwater today and stuff came up - now can't use/do the water change til Friday or Saturday - any issues? Any way to still use it or should I throw it away?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 8, 2018

Txfish1 said:
I mixed some saltwater today and stuff came up - now can't use/do the water change til Friday or Saturday - any issues? Any way to still use it or should I throw it away?

It's fine.

I typically stored and used my salt water made from IO over a month or so of automatic water changes.