Mixing saltwater

[Livmb]

I’m not sure if I’m exactly doing this right 😂 but anyway I can’t seem to mix my saltwater to get it just right. Any tips?? I’ve been trying for days and am about ready to just give up now lol

[BioCube Newb]

measure water and salt, mix, test, repeat until correct

[BioCube Newb]

all joking aside, write it down, any and all adjustments you make write it all down.  Also make sure your test equipment is calibrated

[mcarroll]

You aren't too specific about what problems you were having so I don't know for sure this will help.

 

But here are two videos I made of the two best ways I came up with to make salt water in the best and fastest way possible.

 

At the time I was doing 5 gallon water changes every single day (for almost a year) and the typical ways of mixing prove to be very frustrating and in adequate, wasting a lot of time. So I had to come up with something better.

 

After a lot of tries using everything from air pumps to water pumps to my bare hand I think I literally tried every possible method.

 

Here are the two best: 

 

The next one is my personal fav...still use it even though I'm doing 50-gallon water changes now.  (Not every day!)

 

[MrObscura]

Usually, for most salts a half cup per gallon of water will give you a salinity of 1.026. But you almost always have to make some adjustments, either adding more salt and/or water to get it just right.

[Spencer88]

i just measure out how many gallons of water I need. then use the directions on the salt container ( mine is half a cup per each gallon). I mix mine for at least 24hrs then check it. 

[Clown79]

I add heater and pump(some salts require this after a duration of time)

 

I add salt and mix with spatula, test sg. Add more as needed.

 

For me its 2 aquaforest cups to 4g of water(give or take)

[Tired]

If you're mixing for a pico, fill a jug with as much water as you can comfortably lift and shake, add the salt according to directions, screw the lid on real tight, and mess with it. Shake, swirl, as much energy as you can put into the thing. A lot of salt mixes can be fully mixed pretty quickly. There's no harm in mixing for longer, though, or just letting it sit there. It'll mix itself. Heck, I've poured salt into jugs of still water, left it like that, and had it slowly dissolve. It takes much longer, but salt is inclined to dissolve, and solutions generally shift until they're even throughout. 

[Livmb]

Thanks everyone for the tips! I got it the right level yesterday (tested multiple times throughout the day) then go to test it again today and it’s high again???? Not sure what’s up

[banasophia]

16 minutes ago, Livmb said:

Thanks everyone for the tips! I got it the right level yesterday (tested multiple times throughout the day) then go to test it again today and it’s high again???? Not sure what’s up

What are you using to check the salinity?

 

Also, hello and welcome! I see you’re brand new.

[Livmb]

23 minutes ago, banasophia said:

What are you using to check the salinity?

 

Also, hello and welcome! I see you’re brand new.

Hello! I’m using a new hydrometer. I’ve made sure to rinse it well in between tests and even let it soak to make sure there was no salt stuck in there 

[banasophia]

3 minutes ago, Livmb said:

Hello! I’m using a new hydrometer. I’ve made sure to rinse it well in between tests and even let it soak to make sure there was no salt stuck in there 

I’ve never used a hydrometer myself, but of course people always recommend using a refractometer for better accuracy. I wasn’t crazy about the manual refractometer I started out with and upgraded to a Milwaukee digital salinity refractometer and find it has been one of my favorite investments... worth every penny as it’s easy to test/retest. Plus you calibrate with distilled water that comes with it, but once it runs out you can easily/cheaply replace with distilled water from the grocery store. 

 

Milwaukee MA887 Digital Salinity Refractometer with Automatic Temperature Compensation, Yellow LED, 0 to 50 PSU, +/-2 PSU Accuracy, 1 PSU Resolution https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007Z4ITWU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_p7SLDbGF3MJ22

 

 

 

 

[Clown79]

2 hours ago, Livmb said:

Thanks everyone for the tips! I got it the right level yesterday (tested multiple times throughout the day) then go to test it again today and it’s high again???? Not sure what’s up

Are you mixing it in a bucket and the next day the salinity has changed?

Are you keeping the bucket sealed closed eith a lid?

Are you keeping the pump in for 24hrs?

If there is no lid or the pump is left on 24hrs it could be evaporation changes the salinity.

 

Or it's the hydrometer, they aren't the most accurate besides the glass one used in labs.

 

I found a refractometer much easier to use  and very accurate.

[mcarroll]

On 10/3/2019 at 11:56 PM, Livmb said:

Thanks everyone for the tips! I got it the right level yesterday (tested multiple times throughout the day) then go to test it again today and it’s high again???? Not sure what’s up

If you aren't measuring wrong (just means not the same every time) then the only way for that to happen is for there to be undissoved salt in the container that dissolved "while you were out".

 

If this was the case, it means you need a better way of mixing.

 

The usual methods are known for doing this.

 

I was dong daily water changes for about a year, so I had to find a better way than "typical".

 

If you use a pump for mixing, you really have to set it up this way to avoid salt settling (which extends mixing time A LOT).

 

Using either of these methods it only takes 5 minutes.....you can see the water clear in the video.  That's when I would immediately use it for a 5% water change.  I'd be done with setup, the waterchange, and cleanup in 10 minutes.  Did that over 150 times. 

 

The second video is my preferred method -- using a mixing paddle, or your hand.  Actually works WAY better than any conventional pump mixing method, and just as good as my pump mixing method, only there's no pump to hook up and put away, so this is even a little bit faster.

 

Today I still use the paddle even though I'm mixing 50 gallons at once....it's still incredibly easy, but it takes longer than 5 minutes to mix that much water.  Maybe 10 minutes.

 

Without further ado....the better pump method....see how long the water takes to clear:

 

And the "hand mixing" method:

 

[Clown79]

4 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

If you aren't measuring wrong (just means not the same every time) then the only way for that to happen is for there to be undissoved salt in the container that dissolved "while you were out".

 

If this was the case, it means you need a better way of mixing.

 

The usual methods are known for doing this.

 

I was dong daily water changes for about a year, so I had to find a better way than "typical".

 

If you use a pump for mixing, you really have to set it up this way to avoid salt settling (which extends mixing time A LOT).

 

Using either of these methods it only takes 5 minutes.....you can see the water clear in the video.  That's when I would immediately use it for a 5% water change.  I'd be done with setup, the waterchange, and cleanup in 10 minutes.  Did that over 150 times. 

 

The second video is my preferred method -- using a mixing paddle, or your hand.  Actually works WAY better than any conventional pump mixing method, and just as good as my pump mixing method, only there's no pump to hook up and put away, so this is even a little bit faster.

 

Today I still use the paddle even though I'm mixing 50 gallons at once....it's still incredibly easy, but it takes longer than 5 minutes to mix that much water.  Maybe 10 minutes.

 

Without further ado....the better pump method....see how long the water takes to clear:

 

And the "hand mixing" method:

 

I do both. Lol 

 

Start with a spatula to mix then let the pump do the rest.

 

It's worked very well. 

[mcarroll]

I always did it one of the (no good) traditional ways before I went to that daily water change schedule that I mentioned. 

 

About Day #2 I was like HE77 NO there's a better way. 

 

For a several days I tried every kind of water pump I could find (Tunze 6045, Mag 7, Rio 900, pair of 6045s, etc), even airstones with a monster-size air pump before I threw in the towel and went old-school....like caveperson-oldschool. 😎
 

That pump method in the video rocks (downfacing from the top rim), but it's hinky and takes a LOT more time to set up than my hand and a mixing paddle. 

 

My hand doesn't even require a power outlet on most days, so it's flexible that way too.  🔌

 

😉 

[mcarroll]

OK....I tried three times to quote this into the above post and it glitched three different ways....so here:

4 hours ago, Clown79 said:

I do both. Lol 

 

Start with a spatula to mix then let the pump do the rest.

 

It's worked very well. 

Good thinking!

 

(Dunno if you'll get a Mitch Hedberg reference, but this was a "the tree is far away" moment for me now that I had to repeat after the fact what was supposed to be seen first.  What?)

[MrObscura]

If you got a little extra cash i highly reccomend the ice cap digital salinity pen. I hated trying to read refractometers. 

 

The pen you just turn on and stick in the water for a few seconds and you get salinity plus temp.

[mcarroll]

Someone else I know had a problem with those pens not holding their calibration.  Even their replacement seemed "loose".

 

If you haven't been checking the calibration on yours, I would start.  (Let me know either way.)

[MrObscura]

I haven't calibrated it but since I got it 1/2 cup of salt to a gallon of water has equalled 1.026 plus or minus a little salt/water for tweaking. So I figure its pretty accurate since it hasn't given me any crazy unexpected readings.

[Poison Dart Frog]

On 10/2/2019 at 6:09 PM, mcarroll said:

You aren't too specific about what problems you were having so I don't know for sure this will help.

 

But here are two videos I made of the two best ways I came up with to make salt water in the best and fastest way possible.

 

At the time I was doing 5 gallon water changes every single day (for almost a year) and the typical ways of mixing prove to be very frustrating and in adequate, wasting a lot of time. So I had to come up with something better.

 

After a lot of tries using everything from air pumps to water pumps to my bare hand I think I literally tried every possible method.

 

Here are the two best: 

 

The next one is my personal fav...still use it even though I'm doing 50-gallon water changes now.  (Not every day!)

 

I just started mixing Instant Ocean after using boxed Pacific ocean water since I started my tanks, and the neanderthal style of mixing has been my preferred method after watching these helpful videos. 

[Clown79]

On 10/23/2019 at 4:11 AM, mcarroll said:

Someone else I know had a problem with those pens not holding their calibration.  Even their replacement seemed "loose".

 

If you haven't been checking the calibration on yours, I would start.  (Let me know either way.)

The reviews on salinity pens aren't great, it's very specific on how you need to check the levels and they need calibrating too.

 

Apparently putting them in your tank isn't the most accurate way.