Stirring salt before adding to water?

[ronsonb]

Reading through another thread I saw someone mention they stir their salt before mixing with water for settling issues. It never dawned on me to do that and aside from salinity I’ve never tested the parameters of my freshly made salt water (probably will start now.)

So is that a common practice and necessary step I’ve been overlooking?

 

[crazyfishmom]

Reading through another thread I saw someone mention they stir their salt before mixing with water for settling issues. It never dawned on me to do that and aside from salinity I’ve never tested the parameters of my freshly made salt water (probably will start now.)

So is that a common practice and necessary step I’ve been overlooking?

I had an issue with reef crystals a while ago where the top of the bucket gave me a dkh of around 10.5 fresh made while the bottom was at around 9 dkh. Read through the threads and others recommended stirring the salt. Started doing that and never saw it happen again.

I’ve switched to a different salt mix and rarely do water changes so can’t say whether this is a consistent phenomenon but it can’t hurt to mix it a bit before making the batch as this is not a single compound that we are adding in but several different salts together.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

You mean they stir the bucket of salt? I don't get it, sorry if I misunderstand.

Just keep the water change simple, no need to complicate it.

 

[ronsonb]

You mean they stir the bucket of salt? I don't get it, sorry if I misunderstand.

Just keep the water change simple, no need to complicate it.

Yes the bucket, or in my case the 200g bag before adding to the water. Wondering if that is necessary as I do not currently do that. I just scoop and test salinity as you said… keep it simple.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Yes the bucket, or in my case the 200g bag before adding to the water. Wondering if that is necessary as I do not currently do that. I just scoop and test salinity as you said… keep it simple.

I don't know, but I haven't done it in my 17ish years in the hobby, don't know anyone that does that, and there's no reason to, unless the salt is clumped and stuck together, thats different.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Yes, some folks mix the dry salt. It can settle during shipping. If you use most or all of a bucket, it won’t matter, but if you make up batches much smaller than the container size, then it makes more sense.

 

[ronsonb]

I make between 30-50g at a time so I will mix the dry salt from now on. I’ll have to check the parameters next batch I make and see if it’s all in line.

The settling makes sense, just never really crossed my mind. Up until recently I just assumed it was all the same salt crystals

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The settling makes sense, just never really crossed my mind. Up until recently I just assumed it was all the same salt crystals

Salt is a dry mix of more than a dozen different ingredients.

Even getting it mixed evenly at the plant before putting it into buckets is not easy.

 

[ackshee]

I guess I gotta start mixing my salt now

 

[exnisstech]

IO / RC user here. Buckets I roll around before I open them. Bags I dump into buckets and consider that mixing. It just makes sense to me that some settling could occur. I don't test my fresh salt water so I don't know if it matters but I figure I can't hurt.