jolliolli Posted August 9, 2007 Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 sooo... i filled up my tank with fresh water yesterday added a powerhead, heater and skimmer. Today i decided to add the ASW to try and get the tank up to salinity for when the live rock and corals arrive tomorrow. I added the recommended dosage of around 6.5kgs for 180L of water, however the salt hasn't dissolved and the water is cloudy. about half way through adding it occurred to me that perhaps it should be dissolved in boiling water so i added hot water to the rest of the mix. Its been around 3 hours and its still cloudy and the salinity on the hydrometer is only at around 1.019 whereas i estimate it should be around 1.023ish, i think its low due to the undisolved salt. So does anyone have any suggestions as to what i have done wrong or what i should do next, do i need to start over (i really hope not). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drifty Posted August 9, 2007 Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 it will disolve give it time. Thge salintity will rise as it slowly disolves. Not sure if boiling the water would have helped at all. Should be clear by the morning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted August 9, 2007 Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 What Drifty said. Also, is that a floating hydrometer or a swing arm? If it's a floating one you may be able to check it for accuracy by trying it in pure water & see if it reads zero. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson Posted August 9, 2007 Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 mine took about 3 hours maybe because i kept mixing it and turning the power head so the curent goes right into the salt :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candy Posted August 9, 2007 Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 a good mix should help it along. I made mine in a tub with a air stone bubbling away... worked well, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted August 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 I checked this morning and still cloudy, if it hasn't cleared by this evening i'm tempted to ditch it and collect NSW instead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted August 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 What Drifty said. Also, is that a floating hydrometer or a swing arm? If it's a floating one you may be able to check it for accuracy by trying it in pure water & see if it reads zero. its a swing arm one and is still reading 1.019 which i don't really trust, but in saying that i can see some of the salt undisolved on the bottom of the tank. I think part of the problem is that i only have a very weak powerhead on the tank 400lph as its the only spare one i have until i get the rest of them with the tank that arrives on saturday. BTW if i collect NSW today is there anything in particular i need to know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockerpeller Posted August 9, 2007 Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 there are a few things that need to be done to it. will need to lower the salinity a bit and possibly raise a few things like calcium, mg, and alkalinity etc for a reef tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDM Posted August 9, 2007 Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 what temp is the water? this will affect the sg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted August 9, 2007 Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 sooo... i filled up my tank with fresh water yesterday added a powerhead, heater and skimmer. Today i decided to add the ASW to try and get the tank up to salinity for when the live rock and corals arrive tomorrow So you have just filled your tank with saltwater and you will be adding corals tomorrow? Not sure if that is a good idea putting in corals already. it is not like a freshwater tank. Things take time. Dont add corals for another 2-3 weeks so that you can get things going correctly. Most of the bacteria will die on the live rock anyway in transport. No big deal that the water is cloudy, just leave it. Is the water cold or at 25c? Cloudiness could be because of the calcium falling out of the water due to unbalance between kh and calcium. again just leave it. Big mistake in reef keeping to rush. Great tanks dont happpen overnight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted August 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 what temp is the water? this will affect the sg. Temp is 25.2 degrees So you have just filled your tank with saltwater and you will be adding corals tomorrow? Not sure if that is a good idea putting in corals already. it is not like a freshwater tank. Things take time. I'm collecting an existing reef setup tomorrow (not starting fresh with uncycled rock), layton is looking after my fish and shrimps for a week or so, and i'm transferring all the live rock and corals to my place on saturday and in to an interim tank (the tank i've just filled) until i can clean everything up. Do you think i should do it a different way? Need to house the corals somewhere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted August 9, 2007 Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 Not ideal to set up a tank in a day even with live rock. But i quess you have no choice, When you move the old tank i would get as much of the old water as you can and put it in the new tank. Before you add the corals and rock, remove about 30% of the new water into buckets and fill the tank up with the old water. Get a refractometer as the swing arm things are rubbish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted August 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 Ok thanks i was aiming to get around 50% of the existing water (200L), and add around 90L to the interim tank and keep the rest in some barrels with the additional live rock with powerheads and heaters until i'm ready to use it. yeah was planning on getting a refractometer in the future, might need it sooner rather than later Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted August 9, 2007 Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 Swing arms are nearly always wrong. IMO they should not be sold. Would pay to beg or borrow something else to check the salinity, it may be correct. One way to check your swing arm for accuracy would be against some NSW, which in NZ is normally 1.027 or 1.028. Wouldn't replace your salt mix with NSW at this stage, just work on getting the salinity right. Long as you do that some cloudiness will not be an issue. I think that as you have stated, the lack of flow may have been a factor. One thing to be aware of though, salt mix can take 24 hours or so after dissolving to be fully chemically stable, and so needs to be mixed a day or two in advance (as you have done). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted August 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 thanks for the info guys, i was quite suspicious of that swing arm, it came as part of the gear i bought, but hardly looked high quality :-? . Tried to find somewhere that sold refractometers today but seems like noone in chch stocks them, only available via order. I saw this here, http://www.reeflounge.com/showthread.php?t=16384 anyone tried mixing their salt this way? I have a brand new paint mixer here and was thinking about plugging it in to the drill and mixing it a bit more thorougly, any thoughts, good/bad etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 It will work, just don't use a metal one, use plastic or nylon or similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted August 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 hmm one i have has a plastic head but metal shaft.. so no go i guess? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drifty Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 I used to have a $50 via aqua pump mixing my saltwater, it was usually ready the next morning. As my tank is temp and I dont need my return pump I have a laguna 6 mixing it lol, now its ready in about 30 mins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 What Drifty said (again LOL) However as to the paint stirrer, it wouldn’t hurt for a few minutes although not so good longer term. If it's a metal shaft they are usually made of some kind of aluminium alloy which can have elements in that are not good for the reef. Might sound nit picky, but better safe than sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted August 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 ok thanks, tried it for a couple of minutes on a batch of fresh mix to see what it was like and it made it completely clear, much better than the cloudy stuff ive got at the mo, plus layton has kindly offered to test my salinity with his refractometer . Think i'll be indebted to him forever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 Big move tommorrow? Very exciting! You'll have to get a few pics of your corals and post them, plus your aquascaping etc. You'll have to try to get a sneaky one of Layton and post it too! There's a few of us want to know what the guy actually looks like :lol: Just kidding about that last bit better not do that :lol: :lol: But it would be great to see some pics of your set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 I can see the posters already wasp ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted August 11, 2007 Report Share Posted August 11, 2007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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