Blog Comments

I use Instant Ocean, and all I ever get is a little bit of white sediment in the bottom the barrel. Maybe a little white scale build up on the bottom if I really let it go. Are you using RO/DI water?

I've been using Red Sea Pro Coral salt for about a year plus, and just about every batch leaves quite a bit of white residue on my pump, heater, and bucket. I clean it out about once every two or three water changes. Mind you... this is easy for me as I have a 40Br display and only change about five gallons a week. Same thing every week: Mix up new salt water the day before, use a Koralia 3 (800+GPH) and an ebojaguer heater. Least it isn't the brown stuff I usually got with IO and later, RC.

Me too. Cool hiding place.

Hmm, I've always used IO and have only experienced a slight amount of whitish scale in the very bottom where I presume there was the least amount of water movement. I clean it once or twice a year. I bring the water up to temp before adding salt and then add the salt very slowly. This procedure will have to change some when I move to the 200g. I have seen a slight amount of a brown slim ring when water has been mixing for quite a while... ymmv

Might need a different brand of salt...

Instant Ocean does that same thing for me! Whether I mixed in the Roughneck garbage can or the 60 gallon food grade barrel. I just rinsed off every few batches and all was well. Or at least I think it was. It never killed anything. I guess.....

Well luckily I work at my LFS, so I have a leg up! Thanks! Muchos gracias (I'm practicing for my Spanish final)!

What brand of salt are you using? Definitely clean that all up before your next batch. Do you add the salt to the water, or do you pour water on top of pre-measured salt? What's the water temperature during the mixing phase typically?

I'm not sure, but that really surprised me when I saw them.

Thanks for the detailed post on the subject Marc. I get the scale & flakes Trido mentions in his post.

I can't prove it, but I have the impression that was the cause my Mg never got high in the distant past, when I'd let water sit in the mixing container for days or weeks.

I'll try to up some pictures of what the scale look like. The strange thing is that the same stuff doesn't happen in my tank. My pumps never get the buildup that the mixing reservoir pump gets. It is some form of calcification, because it dissolves in vinegar. Maybe it is the container I use, I dunno...

I've always let mine mix at least overnight. Typically I procrastinate and it ends up mixing for a week though.

Awesome. Are those chromis hiding in there?

The company is ReefGen.com - http://reefgen.com/about-us/

You would need to get your LFS to order from them as they don't sell directly to the public.

You should check with Joe, Justin Credible, Scott Fellmand and/or Laura Birenbaum. They have a new coral business, and I believe some of the corals are coming from that tank. It's a new name, but I can't remember off the top of my head what it's called. I'll try to find out for you.

Looking good! I've been going a little crazy for gorgonians lately, so I am very jealous you got those from Joe. I would kill for anything from that tank, I literally stared at it for at least three hours. My girlfriend was not too happy!

I already posted my fts in my post so I feel exempt from this!

I love that tank, but I can't wait for the 400 to go back up (as I'm sure you can't either!)!

I've also been doing WC's like this for years. My water typically sits for at least a week (up to a month) before I use it and my reservoir gets a build up of scale that ends up flaking off and falls to the bottom. The scale flake has enough weight that it stays in the reservoir during the water change. I've never had a problem with this method.

Plus 1 on the week or more of mixing. I have half a tank full of ready to use water for more than 4 months. What sucks is if you lose a bag while dumping salt (happened once) I had to fish out the plastic bag from the bottom of the tank.

That's how I've always done it, pretty much just like you Marc. Unless setting up a new tank or some kind of emergency, I've never used water that hadn't mixed for at least 24 hrs. Usually it's a week or month as I'll refill the holding container immediately after a water change, mix in some salt and let it mix, ready for the next change. Never seen any problems.

I'm glad you caught it before something serious happened! Any small fire can be quite dangerous in a wooden house...

I recall a sad fire incident a few years ago, told by a guy at reef central. He was doing great woodworking to conceal his tank inside a bookshelf, of which one of the sides was a door, kind of like scooby-doo style secret door. Super cool, I was following the thread, and all of a sudden the home burned down in a fire. Such a sad ending to a great project, and such a great loss to have your home burn down... everything seemed to indicate the fire started at the tank area. Sad....