mix saltwater in tank for first time?

[nottheone]

Is it ok to mix saltwater in tank for first time set up. i was thinking it might be ok. i wont run pumps or skimmer till next day.

[mikenpam]

Yes you can. You will want to run a powerhead to help mix the salt. Remember in the future to always mix your saltwater 24hrs in advance as you should not add salt directly into the tank once you have live stuff inside.

[bertoni]

[welcome]

If you have sand or some other substrate in the tank, I'd mix the water separately. Other than that, no problem.

[yodawagon]

why not just get a cheap plastic storage bin and mix it in there.

[Scuba_Dave]

I set up my 125 & ran the output from the RO/DI right to the tank & left it running. As the tank filled I SLOWLY added salt to bring up the salinity
Always add the salt to the water - and let it dissolve fully.
Test the salinity, wait at least 12 hours, and test again

When adding salt to an existing system, always mix 1st, wait 24 hours then add. Unless it's an emergency, I've had to do a water change only once with fresh salt

In addition I keep a powerhead going in the mix until I use it/add it to the main system. My basement usually stays at 70, so I do not add a heater

[TekCat]

I did the same thing, I filled tank with water dumped salt, with powerheads and heater I let it mix for 24 hours, then adjusted the salinity (was a bit low). After that, I always premix salt in a small trashcan. With heater and two powerheads mixing/aerating it usually takes about an 30 minutes for salt to completely disolve, and another 30 minutes to stabilize. But of course, I do 5 - 10 gallons at a time, so one hour is plenty. If you, however, prepare 50 gallons, than you may need several hours for it to mix properly. Anyways, after an hour I check salinity, adjust it, mix for another 30 minutes, then check again... until I get desired salinity.

[bonsai-boy]

Originally posted by nottheone
Is it ok to mix saltwater in tank for first time set up. i was thinking it might be ok. i wont run pumps or skimmer till next day.


It will be fine and I'd run the pumps and heater to get your salinity right.


Just don't get used to mixing in the tank

[Paintbug]

i filled my tank first as well. i also already had the sand in the tank. i filled it up and had the heater, sump and 2 powerheads all going. i just made sure to spread the salt fairly evenly over the entire tank, may have been overkill :D. i left the SG alittle low then the next day it was pretty close to 1.025 and i adjusted from there. i waited 3-4 days before i added some LR as well.

[nottheone]

Thanks everyone. Its a 180 tank so i am just trying to make my life a bit easier for intitial filling. I'm going to add water, mix it with salt and then once it has stablized completely I will purchase live rock, then add sand. Oh yeah, just to save some people responding....I dont plan on filling it all the way up and then add rock and sand due to the displaceement it would cause.

thanks again

kev