Hardened Salt

[Lee Hon Myung]

i forget to put back the lid on my instant ocean salt for a day and it now hardened unless i try to scrape it with a spoon.

can the salt still be used?

[DottyClown]

Your salt has hardened due to absorption of the moisture in the air, which caused a chemical reaction.  Likely the Calcium and Alkalinity parameters are now reduced.  Mix a batch and test all the parameters to see how much is affected.

[Lee Hon Myung]

okay, will run some checks thanks for the info!

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[tuajia]

On a related note, I bought some salt from a fellow reefer but I just noticed it has become contaminated with water and is now watery like slurpee. I mixed it anyway but the water seems to be quite cloudy even after 2 hours of mixing. Is this safe to use?

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[Ethan Lin]

For me, I have tried to use salt in this condition and it still works as per normal but I used red sea brand

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[Ethan Lin]

Try to mix it for a longer period of time and it will become less cloudy, but it will cloud your tank still, so you check your filter sock for small white particles after you have done your water change, it's safe.

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[finbir]

Hi tuajia,

IMO, if what u r keeping is worth more than the wetted salt,the best thing to do is to dump the lot.

[tuajia]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm going to try to sieve out the white stuff and use the unclouded parts. Luckily I'm doing wc for my softies tank so it shouldn't be too big an issue.

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[xiggie]

It has been said , when mixing saltmix it is best to add salt to the water instead of adding water to the salt ... Sounds same but totally different. When water is added to salt especially if poured slowly , the chances of over saturation is high and this may cause precipitation , the first thing to precipitate is calcium n magnesium, this will explain the cloudy water (case of the wet salt mix). 

As for the clumping of salt , it may be caused by moisture getting into the bucket but that should be minimal and if the salt mix well without cloudy water or overly excessive precipitate , then it would be ok to use.

[sharonleong]

May i know what the most recommend tester i should go for if i want to mix salt and tap water?

[xiggie]

2 hours ago, sharonleong said:

May i know what the most recommend tester i should go for if i want to mix salt and tap water?

You will need a calibrated refractometer or a calibrated hydrometer , but it is not recomended to use tap water (straight from the tap) , however if the tap water was treated with RODi or Seachem prime then it's good. Or you could just buy distilled water from the supermarket and so the mix.

[sherman]

Check your water tds before you use for salt mix.

I highly recomended this step

[tuajia]

Very useful advice. Thanks. Anyway it seems that the cloudiness has faded after my filter wool caught all the precipitate. Everything still looks fine but I threw out the remaining batch anyway. No use using salt already deprived of calcium and magnesium

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[Harlequinmania]

It is still safe to use but the parameter of the salt might have change when it become harden so best to test your water again after the water change

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[sharonleong]

21 hours ago, xiggie said:

You will need a calibrated refractometer or a calibrated hydrometer , but it is not recomended to use tap water (straight from the tap) , however if the tap water was treated with RODi or Seachem prime then it's good. Or you could just buy distilled water from the supermarket and so the mix.

I will be using Prime as RODI need to get replacement cartridges.  What are the brand to go for refractometer oh ya what the idea sanity level if i mix salt with water?

[Harlequinmania]

I will be using Prime as RODI need to get replacement cartridges.  What are the brand to go for refractometer oh ya what the idea sanity level if i mix salt with water?

Depending what you intent to keep? For fish only 1.018. For lps coral 1.022 to 1.025. For sps coral, at least 1.025 . Redsea or DD is a trusted refactometer brand I use

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[sharonleong]

Sure thank you 

21 hours ago, he said:

Depending what you intent to keep? For fish only 1.018. For lps coral 1.022 to 1.025. For sps coral, at least 1.025 . Redsea or DD is a trusted refactometer brand I use

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Do you premix your water a day before you do your water change? How fast is the responds on sanity when it to mixing salt and water?

[tuajia]

Er I don't know about other practices but I just mix before I do a water change. One full bucket with a 1000l/hr wavemaker churning the water takes me maybe 30 mins? As long the water is clear and the salinity is correct then I just use it. Some sediment might be left behind though, so I just discard that

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[DottyClown]

11 hours ago, sharonleong said:

Sure thank you 

Do you premix your water a day before you do your water change? How fast is the responds on sanity when it to mixing salt and water?

Usually the Salt will come with suggestion on how long to mix before adding to tank.  For mine it says may be added immediately once all dissolved, but also recommends to wait at least 12hrs to allow some parameters to stabilize.  I used to do over 12 hours, but nowadays I just add in after a few hours.

[sharonleong]

16 hours ago, tuajia said:

Er I don't know about other practices but I just mix before I do a water change. One full bucket with a 1000l/hr wavemaker churning the water takes me maybe 30 mins? As long the water is clear and the salinity is correct then I just use it. Some sediment might be left behind though, so I just discard that

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What kind of salt are you using? One full bucket how many liters you put in the salt base on the recommended dosage? What you use to measure salinity?

Btw premix salt water or farm sea water which one contain more mineral?

8 hours ago, DottyClown said:

Usually the Salt will come with suggestion on how long to mix before adding to tank.  For mine it says may be added immediately once all dissolved, but also recommends to wait at least 12hrs to allow some parameters to stabilize.  I used to do over 12 hours, but nowadays I just add in after a few hours.

What brand of sale are you using?

[DottyClown]

I'm using Skimz Pur Reef.

You can use a Refractometer to measure the Salinity.

How much water to how much salt, that you would have to find out yourself.  For a fixed known volume of water, measure the amount of salt, either by weighing scale or what most use is just a scoop/cup.  Gradually add in the salt to water, mix fully and use the Refractometer to check the salinity.  Continue the process until desired Salinity level is reached.  Remember the amount of water and amount of salt, so that next time it will be faster and less guess work.

[tuajia]

Agree with DottyClown. After a while you more or less can agar agar estimate how much salt ti put in. I use a standard red pail worth of water, add about 4 cups (the kind for scooping rice) worth of salt to get salinity of 1.023-1.025

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[xiggie]

Most salt will come with ratio of salt to water .. See picture below , do a bit of maths and you'll get the required amount of salt for the amount of water you want to mix. 

[sharonleong]

On 7/20/2016 at 7:04 PM, DottyClown said:

I'm using Skimz Pur Reef.

You can use a Refractometer to measure the Salinity.

How much water to how much salt, that you would have to find out yourself.  For a fixed known volume of water, measure the amount of salt, either by weighing scale or what most use is just a scoop/cup.  Gradually add in the salt to water, mix fully and use the Refractometer to check the salinity.  Continue the process until desired Salinity level is reached.  Remember the amount of water and amount of salt, so that next time it will be faster and less guess work.

 

1 hour ago, tuajia said:

Agree with DottyClown. After a while you more or less can agar agar estimate how much salt ti put in. I use a standard red pail worth of water, add about 4 cups (the kind for scooping rice) worth of salt to get salinity of 1.023-1.025

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1 hour ago, xiggie said:

Most salt will come with ratio of salt to water .. See picture below , do a bit of maths and you'll get the required amount of salt for the amount of water you want to mix. 

Ok noted thanks guys...

So next question farm sea water is better or mix salt? 

[DottyClown]

Farm sea water, we usually refer to NSW ( Natural Salt Water).

It is debatable whether NSW or SaltMix is better.  In my opinion, each has its own pros and cons.