downbythesea Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Quick question. I just got my RO/Di system and have a 100 gallon storage tank that I will keep topped off. Question is it better to go ahead and mix the salt water and keep it circulated or mix as needed? Also how long will RO water last just sitting? Well for that matter how long will salt water last in a contianer? Link to comment
mmelnick Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 I believe the only thing you will have to worry about with your RO water sitting would be if the container it is in could leach silicates into the water. Like if you stored it in some type of cheap plastic container that might not be suited to storing water and maintaininig it's purity. But for the salt water I think the best practice is to mix it a day before and let it sit for 12 hours or so and add a heater to get it up to tank temp and a powerhead to circulate and allow for some oxegenation and gas excahange. This will stabilize the PH. If you mix it too soon it will have a low PH, and if you wait to long it can become stale. But I'm not sure how long until that happens. Link to comment
sam91 Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 I would be inclined to mix as needed just to keep it fresh. As was already stated the only reasons I can see for the RO/DI water to go "bad" is leaching from a cheap container (as long as its food safe your fine) or I read somewhere that if it is exposed to air for to long it can absorb contaminants from there. Link to comment
mmelnick Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 or I read somewhere that if it is exposed to air for to long it can absorb contaminants from there. Then the same would be true of our tanks anyway. So I still wouldn't worry. I would store as much RO as you want and mix as needed. Link to comment
MitchReef Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 Then the same would be true of our tanks anyway. So I still wouldn't worry. I would store as much RO as you want and mix as needed. The difference in our tanks and RO/DI water is that our tanks have a massively high tonicity, thus the water comes much closer to being saturated with disolved impurities. I have also heard that the incredible purity of RO/DI water makes it more like a sponge soaking up impurities. Link to comment
AZDesertRat Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 As long as it is protected from the elements in covered storage or capped jugs it lasts almost indefinitely. I keep 23 gallons in my topoff reservoir and another 25 gallons in 5G drinking water jugs at all times. I don't mix new saltwater until I need it though as it does go bad without circulation in a short period of time. Link to comment
SaltineSage Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 As long as it is protected from the elements in covered storage or capped jugs it lasts almost indefinitely. I keep 23 gallons in my topoff reservoir and another 25 gallons in 5G drinking water jugs at all times. I don't mix new saltwater until I need it though as it does go bad without circulation in a short period of time. How short of a period does saltwater go bad? I've had a HD Bucket of Salt sitting for about a week waiting for time to do a WC? And will re-circulating it bring it back? Link to comment
mmelnick Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 How short of a period does saltwater go bad? I've had a HD Bucket of Salt sitting for about a week waiting for time to do a WC? And will re-circulating it bring it back? Bump for the same question. I've always wondered this myself. Link to comment
AZDesertRat Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 After a week or so my premixed saltwater starts smelling rank, I don't keep it around more than a few days mixed and then try to keep a powerhead in it for movement. Link to comment
SaltineSage Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 After a week or so my premixed saltwater starts smelling rank, I don't keep it around more than a few days mixed and then try to keep a powerhead in it for movement. Just checked my salt water, after 5 days it started to smell damn nasty sitting in the sealed HD bucket. Going to just start a fresh batch. But is this just a case of low oxygination, much like stored RO water? Give it a good bit of aeration for a bit and it'll stop smelling? Or is there something about the salt that makes the water turn toxic? Link to comment
downbythesea Posted February 21, 2010 Author Share Posted February 21, 2010 I was curiuos as well about the boxed water from like petco or petsmart. I have a couple of boxes from like 4 or 5 yrs ago that never got used. Guess I need to go open one and see. Link to comment
stmhon Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 Anyone have any opinions on this? If mixed saltwater get's aerated continuously in a clean tank/container, will it go "bad"? Maybe it starts to cycle? Any thoughts? Call me lazy, but I find mixing, heating, testing, 4 g of water every week for a water change kind of buggering. Can I mix 10g and use it for 2 weeks of h2o changes? Thoughts? Thanks! Just checked my salt water, after 5 days it started to smell damn nasty sitting in the sealed HD bucket. Going to just start a fresh batch. But is this just a case of low oxygination, much like stored RO water? Give it a good bit of aeration for a bit and it'll stop smelling? Or is there something about the salt that makes the water turn toxic? Link to comment
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