How long can water sit?

[Spicer]

Heres my plan....

Sit the water in a bucket with the salt, mix every hour or so, with an airstone in it as well.

 

Boil a put of the water, and put it into the bucket, untill its 80F.

 

Test salinity, add salt till its good, 1.025, then leave the airstone in the bucket.

 

How long can I let the water sit? With a top on it, and an airstone in the bucket?

 

I wont be heating the water, I just want to be able to prepair water for both my tanks at the same time.

 

I will heat the water right before putting it in the tank though.

 

Obvious reason for heating the water before, is to have the correct salinity @ the correct temp.

[jeffblly]

Your plan sounds complicated. You could just use a heater with powerhead and keep the mixed salt in a bucket until you need it. I would probably use it within a week or two. I usually mix my salt for several hours and then dump it into my tank.

[Spicer]

Your plan sounds complicated. You could just use a heater with powerhead and keep the mixed salt in a bucket until you need it. I would probably use it within a week or two. I usually mix my salt for several hours and then dump it into my tank.

 

Ah ok, so I can just leave the water in the bucket without the air stone.

 

I was told you would need to keep it circulating or bubbles or something.

[fishieCJ]

I would keep the airstone in there just to keep it from going stagnant bt yeah get a power head and small heater it is much more efficeint than what you are planning

[OClownsandNanos]

If you mix saltwater you should try to use it within a few days or else microbes, etc may thrive. If you are going to keep it longer than a few days, make sure it is in total darkness and completely covered. It can go bad pretty fast otherwise. There are too many nutrients in it. You can keep RO water for quite a while, however, as long as it is covered.

 

And he said use a powerhead with heater. It needs to be circulating.

 

I would not boil mixed saltwater unless using it to kill aiptasia or something.

[Spicer]

If you mix saltwater you should try to use it within a few days or else microbes, etc may thrive. If you are going to keep it longer than a few days, make sure it is in total darkness and completely covered. It can go bad pretty fast otherwise. There are too many nutrients in it. You can keep RO water for quite a while, however, as long as it is covered.

 

And he said use a powerhead with heater. It needs to be circulating.

 

I would not boil mixed saltwater unless using it to kill aiptasia or something.

.

Was hoping the airstone would illiminate the need for a powerhead... I wont have an extra powerhead till I change the one in my JBJ for the maxi900. Sigh.

Im only boiling it to heat it to the desired temp to test the salinity.

Either way, I figured you guys would veto that idea lol, so this mornign I rummaged through the crap, and found an old 100w pre-set heater, that should do the trick for now, plugged it in this am...

Ill make sure to airstone it a bit before doing my water change...

To be completly honest, I havent been airstoning for any other water change, Ive been pouring the water into my skimmer. ^_^

 

Hahaha.

[Pickle010]

I make my salt water once a month.

 

I use a 50 gallon rubbermade tub with a lid - 2 koralia 4 power heads and heater.

 

I add the fresh RO/Di / salt and adjust then salinity to taste. Then just siphon out what I need every week.

 

As long as you have flow - it's covered and your temp is close to tank temps - you'll be fine.

[cruiZe]

+1.

 

I do a weekly w/c then add more salt and RO to the bucket and it is always mixing and ready. It will be much more clear if you let it mix overnight. There shouldn't be anything alive in the new salt mix and it will be fine mixing for a while. Powerhead and heater for me. the $25-30 bucks is really worth it to always have fresh saltwater ready.

[bad ed]

i have a 55g covered drum in the garage with premix salt,power head & a heater. It usually last me about 2 1/2 months before i have to refill

[neanderthalman]

i have a 55g covered drum in the garage with premix salt,power head & a heater. It usually last me about 2 1/2 months before i have to refill

 

As do I. Though I keep mine in the basement and don't bother with the heater.

 

 

Pro Tip - if your tank is at 80, and your ambient temps (and thus water change water) are at about 70, a 10% water change will only make your temperature dip to about 79. No big deal.

[escaudio]

Always wondered about this myself. What about leaving the water in one of those sealed 5g jugs from the lfs in the garage for a week till I need it?

[Maddevil1]

Always wondered about this myself. What about leaving the water in one of those sealed 5g jugs from the lfs in the garage for a week till I need it?

 

Your fine. I usually leave mine in a closet in my house for 2-3 weeks.

[Pickle010]

If it's salt - I say mix it well before you do the change. My first year I purchased all my water - salt and fresh. I only went to the store for refills every 2 - 3 weeks. I kept all of it stored in those 5 gallon jugs with a lid. No problems at all.

[ajmckay]

Wow, lots of posts here... But I'll add my $.02 anyways...

 

I really like having water ready at all times in-case of an emergency. So I mix water in a 25g rubbermaid that I fitted with a spigot. I add in the water and salt according to the directions and then I stick a pump in there, cover it (so no light or dust gets in to foul the water) and leave it until I need it. It will keep for a month or more in my experience. It may smell slightly musty, but if you aerate it an hour before you use it it will be fine. I think it's the bucket that smells musty more than the water itself.

 

Another tip: after a few days the pump itself will heat the water some. I use a Quietone pump and it heats the water perfectly to 78 degrees without the use of a heater. The ability of your pump to do this probably relies on it's size and power draw.

[neanderthalman]

The ability of your pump to do this probably relies on it's size and power draw.

 

and the ambient temperature of your house, and the size, shape, material, and thickness of the container.

[Spicer]

So I purchased the 25gal box.

I use a 6gal transport bucket, so Ill have to go back/forth to fill it 4 times.

 

Come to think of it, I could just buy another 6gal bucket. Haha.

 

Is there much evap in a covered container?

[neanderthalman]

Is there much evap in a covered container?[/b]

 

virtually zero