Salt water go bad?

[ryans.salty.crew]

I have a friend that makes my salt water, he's a professional and has salt water and fresh water reservoir containers. I take about 4g from him every 2 weeks to do a water change but I want to increase it to once a week. He doesn't live very close so I would still like to pick the water up every other week. My plan is to just do a smaller water change every week to try and keep it consistent but I'm not sure if the salt water will hold up well in a lowes 5g bucket.

 

How long can salt water store in bucket with a lid? Will it make it with enough salinity and keep the same nutrients in the water toward the second week?

 

I can't really find a good answer on this, feel free to share your experiences or tests as well.

 

Thanks! 

[M. Tournesol]

I will direct you to this guide https://www.thebeginnersreef.com/how-long-can-mixed-saltwater-be-stored/.

16 minutes ago, 10g4Me said:

 Will it make it with enough salinity and keep the same nutrients in the water toward the second week?

When you are speaking of nutrients, are you thinking of a Probiotic salt (salt mix with nutrients added)? If yes, I would think that in one-week bacteria would have grown in your bucket and consumed them.

[jservedio]

Theoretically it should last indefinitely, but in practice bacteria will grow inside the container and produce carbonic acid which reduces the pH and consequently the alkalinity. If you are storing saltwater for a long time in a sealed container, it's a good idea to oxygenate the water for a few hours in an open-top bucket or trash can with a powerhead and heater before you do the water change. If it's been a really long time, you might want to test the water and adjust anything that needs it (after you oxygenate the water!). As long as the container is sealed, your salinity will not decrease over weeks or months.

[ryans.salty.crew]

I would not keep it longer than 2 weeks (14 days, I'm super consistent) and it would only be about a 20% water change. If oxygenated for a few hours before doing the water, your advice would say that it's alright?

 

Note that the water is kept inside my house in a bucket. Stays at room temp 68-70 degrees.

[jservedio]

16 minutes ago, 10g4Me said:

I would not keep it longer than 2 weeks (14 days, I'm super consistent) and it would only be about a 20% water change. If oxygenated for a few hours before doing the water, your advice would say that it's alright?

 

Note that the water is kept inside my house in a bucket. Stays at room temp 68-70 degrees.

Yep - totally fine.

 

Where a lot of people go wrong is they test their stored water that's been in an airtight container, see the alkalinity is lower than it should be and then they dose to correct it right away not realizing it's low due to being a bit anoxic. Once the water goes into the tank, it's oxygenated and the pH and alkalinity go back up and they get a small alkalinity spike.

 

That said, it's basically impossible to mess this up. Even if you just dumped water you had stored for months right into your tank, unless it was like a 50% water change into a tank full of acros that were already going downhill, you probably wouldn't ever notice any problems.

[ryans.salty.crew]

4 hours ago, M. Tournesol said:

I will direct you to this guide https://www.thebeginnersreef.com/how-long-can-mixed-saltwater-be-stored/.

When you are speaking of nutrients, are you thinking of a Probiotic salt (salt mix with nutrients added)? If yes, I would think that in one-week bacteria would have grown in your bucket and consumed them.

Great article, thank you!

 

Is a paint bucket considered a food-grade container.... 😂 jk