Water mixing

[aqua-ed]

How far ahead of time does everyone mix their saltwater? Is there a shelf-life? I do weekly (or bi-weekly) 5gal changes for my tank. I usually mix it up a day ahead and get it up to temp. Is it feasible to mix a month's supply (20g) at once and keep it cool until I need it? Will anything break down or lower the beneficial nutrients?

[andy]

I typically mix overnight, but in an emergency have no problems mixing for just an hour or so. Don't use a nasty, old, algae-encrusted powerhead to mix with... particularly if you have a heater in the bucket too.. even more particularly if you may end up leaving it to mix for almost a week. And if you do somehow end up doing this, make sure you notice that the new water is as cloudy as a Portland sky before adding it to the tank, or else you'll find yourself running a metric butt-load of carbon on the tank and mixing more new water in great haste. A *lot* of new water.

 

Or so I hear. Not that *I'd* ever do something like that. No way.

[impur]

I do weekly ~15gal WCs. I typically mix the water up a day beforehand. Sometimes i get busy with other things and don't get to the WC for another day or 2. For example I'll be doing my WC tonight, but i mixed the water up on saturday. Never had any problems doing this.

[pledosophy]

As long as the water is aerated there is no real shelf life. You can mix it weeks ahead. You might need to recheck the salinity for evaporation though .

[kriswaters]

I mix mine usually a day before a WC. I have left it for longer then 5 days with no problem. I just keep the power head running and the lid on (this prevents dog hair infestation)! As Dsoz states, just recheck SG for evap.

 

Kris

[dsoz]

Did I say something on this thread????

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

<-----Oh look, I broke 1000 posts! Not bad for a year a few months.

 

dsoz

[aqua-ed]

Did I say something on this thread????

 

Hehehe...looks like you've been misquoted. At least it wasn't something derogatory or harsh. (laugh)

[uhuru]

I've had some bad luck mixing mine too far ahead of time. 2 weeks no problem but when it goes on a month it seems to get contaminated somehow. I do have 4 dogs so my house is dirty all the time.