Diluting saltwater? Is that ok?

[Kaitlyn]

Just curious but is it ok to make saltwater extra extra salty and then dilute it to have exact control over salt levels in a tank? If I add prime to all the fresh water could I mix half extra salty water and half fresh to get a specific salinity? Sorry if this is a dumb question, I just wanna know if this would have any negative effects on my water and fish. I don't have enough equipment to make enough salt water for my two tanks and my quarantine tank.  (A few of my fish are sick and I have one tank for the sick dudes, one for my inverts, and my main tank still has my eels. Since they are sick i'm doing water changes like crazy)

 

[jenkinscrew]

I don't think that would be an issue...if you wanted to do half and half, I guess you would have to mix your salt water at 2.05 so when it is diluted​ in half it would be 1.025 Never tried it myself but the logic seems right. Maybe some others will chime in with experiences.

 

[melev]

I believe - and I may be incorrect - that making it too salty can affect how alkalinity and calcium respond and possibly either settle out or collapse. I try to always mix my water to 1.026sg, but normally in a hospital tank we run salinity quite a bit lower.  For example, hyposalinity is 1.009sg, so you'd have to add more water to dilute it down or use less salt when mixing up a batch. 

 

[jccaclimber]

I assume (yeah, I know), that if reef salt could be kept highly concentrated in one container that ESV's liquid salt wouldn't be in two separate containers.

 

[Opus]

Unless as Marc stated and you get precipitation then it should be ok.  I'm not sure why you would want to do it this way.  Why not just mix the dry salt as needed?

 

[Kaitlyn]

I didn't have enough equitment to make all of the saltwater i was needing to prepare. To avoid making it extra salty and diluting it i was using several buckets, it was very time consuming. I had a few fish get sick (they're better now!) and was keeping them in a 30g isolation tank. I needed to do frequent water changes on both my tanks.Im getting ready to set up a 125 reef tank and once I do i'll also get a better system set up for making saltwater

 

[segooey]

I use a 44 gallon Rubbermaid trash can on wheels for mixing my salt water and roll it to my tank to pump in during water changes. It changed my life!

 

[Opus]

I guess my brain isn't working right on this one.  I don't see how having a high solution saltwater mixed would be any help.   You just pour water in your bucket, but the right amount of salt in and then let it mix for 20 minutes are so and pour it in your tank.  I'm assuming the temps are close on tank and new water in this example.  I have 5 gallon buckets that I use.   I fill them up with my tank water, dump it, put RO water in them, mix for 20 minutes are so and then pour in my tank.

 

[segooey]

A lot of people mix their new salt water for several hours or even a full day (me included). Mixing and heating lots of buckets is a real pain.

 

[melev]

If you have a 30g hospital tank running, it would be ideal if you could use a clean saltwater-0nly trashcan to hold mixed saltwater.  Assuming you used a 33g trashcan, you mix up saltwater and keep it circulating continuously, maybe adding a heater if it needs it.  Then each day, do a 10% water change on the 30g tank.  If the trashcan holds 30g of liquid, you'd have 10 days worth.

 

[Kaitlyn]

Thats exactly what im going to start doing. The only reason I havent started it up yet is because im moving in three weeks. Ive got a nice location to keep the large mixer in at my new place. From there I will only need saltwater for my display tank and my quarantine tank. And yeah I mix my saltwater over night. Usually 6 hours at minimum. That may be excessive but I was under the impression that doing it that way was best for the fish.  

 

[melev]

I actually mix up a massive amount of saltwater (250g) at at time. A circulation pump keeps it moving in a sealed container, and it usually lasts me about 3 months until I have to make a new batch.Getting the trashcan or cans will help with your upcoming move. You can use one to hold all fish in a barrel filled with about 15g of water (with an air pump to provide oxygen. Use it until you start driving, then as soon as you arrive at the destination plug in the air pump again while you're busy setting  up the tank.  A second trashcan can hold all the live rock, submerged in water.  The nice thing about those trashcans is two people can carry them via the handles on the sides.Just don't fill them more than 1/3 full so you can lift it.