3

32Bit_Fish

Guest
Hi all,

Currently I have one 5G bucket and one 10G tank (used to be my freshwater hospital tank). Can I use these two to store the salt water for w/c on my reef tank?

What would you people normally do to prepare the water for w/c? Do u even store the water? or just use them right out of the R.O unit?
 

drunktank

Advanced Reefer
Rating - 100%
13   0   0
normally i make my salt water the day i plan to do the water change and just pour it into the tank as soon as the salt is dissolved and at the right SG

What size is your tank?

IMO for a just buy the pre-made bottled salt water a few times and then reuse them to hold and store your water.
 
3

32Bit_Fish

Guest
Rating - 100%
13   0   0
normally i make my salt water the day i plan to do the water change and just pour it into the tank as soon as the salt is dissolved and at the right SG

What size is your tank?

IMO for a just buy the pre-made bottled salt water a few times and then reuse them to hold and store your water.

I have a 20g tank. What is pre-mad bottled salt water? what is it for?
 

drunktank

Advanced Reefer
Rating - 100%
13   0   0
I have a 20g tank. What is pre-mad bottled salt water? what is it for?

IMO, since you have a 20g tank. Just buy the pre-made salt water. It's called Catalina and you can find it at ur LFS. Its about 5-15 dollars for a 5g jug (unless they've changed prices). Pre-made salt water is just that. It's salt water for your tank, so you don't have to mix it and worry about salinity. Once you buy a few jugs, u'll have some empties which you can then fill with your own home made salt water for easy storage. Instead of worrying about buckets and tanks.

http://www.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx?R=1825&=&Nav=1&Ntt=catalina+water&sku=910058&familyID=11884&
 
Last edited:

Craig

120 Club Member
Location
Norwalk, CT
Rating - 100%
20   0   0
I used catalina water at the beginning. wasnt a huge fan

I reccomend making your own salt water using RODI a day in advance and let it aerate overnight with a powerheat and a heater. You can buy a good RODI unit for about $100

With a tank that size you should be doing weekly water changes. You'll recoup the cost of the RODI and the salt bucket very quickly.
 
3

32Bit_Fish

Guest
Rating - 100%
20   0   0
Yeah, I bought a R.O unit already.

I also did some research on the internet and articles stated that I should mix the water with salt and let it sit in a container for 24 hours before the w/c.

My question was is it ok to leave salt water in a plastic bucket or in a fish tank that I used to use it as a hospital tank.

Someone suggested that salt water may leach out the medication from the tank. possible?
 

digitalreefer

Senior Member
Rating - 100%
28   0   0
Don't put water in anything that had copper in it.
The bucket is usually ok as long as it's clean and never contained any chemicals... Here's a quick test... would you drink freshwater from the bucket?
 
3

32Bit_Fish

Guest
Rating - 100%
28   0   0
Don't put water in anything that had copper in it.
The bucket is usually ok as long as it's clean and never contained any chemicals... Here's a quick test... would you drink freshwater from the bucket?

Yeah, the bucket I'm using is safe and clean. I've been using it to store water for my freshwater tank for almost 3 years.

I don't recall I've used any copper in my 10g tank. Should I use the copper test kit to see whether or not the 10g contains copper?
 

digitalreefer

Senior Member
Rating - 100%
28   0   0
Copper is the big issue... I don't know what other chemicals could cause problems. You should have a qt tank set up for saltwater as well, so maybe use that for your qt and buy another bucket for water. For $10 it's just not worth the risk.
 
3

32Bit_Fish

Guest
Rating - 100%
14   0   0
10 g tanks are cheap enough at petland may as well buy a new one and be done with any potential problems or questions, I think they are like 15 bux for a new AGA tank.

I have a small home and dont want to see so many fish tanks laying around.

Please correct my logic here. I can test the salt water for copper while the water is in my 10g. The tank would be safe to use if the test result is negative.

I know a 10g tank is really cheap. Money is not an issue here. But what am I going to do with my old tank if I am getting a new one... :banghead:
 

nanoreefer22

Live Sale Pioneer
Staff member
Location
11756
Rating - 100%
345   0   0
Eric said it, the copper test kits most likely costs more than a new 10g tank and is probably not going to pick up on trace amounts of copper in the tank.

10g tanks are extremely cheap and you're better off being safe and getting a new one that using the old one and being sorry later.

Just throw out the old tank, its 3 years old. There's thousands more tanks just like that one ;) :D.
-Kris
 
3

32Bit_Fish

Guest
Rating - 100%
47   0   0
Man, the tank looks brand new, no scratches and no leak.

I would just use it to store fresh water for my tetra tank then.

The 5G bucket will be storing the salt water for my reef.

Also I don't think is a good idea to change so much water at once.

Change 10g water in a 20G tank all at once? No matter what you do, the parameters of the new water might still different than the water in the tank.

So I'm better off with the 5g bucket.
 

Deanos

Old School Reefer
Location
Bronx, NY 10475
Rating - 100%
194   0   0
Also I don't think is a good idea to change so much water at once.

If the pH, salinity and temperature are close, you can safely do a 50% water change.

Change 10g water in a 20G tank all at once? No matter what you do, the parameters of the new water might still different than the water in the tank.

Also, just because it's a 10g tank, doesn't mean you must fill it up during each water change. You could easily do a 2g change if that's what you wanted.
 
3

32Bit_Fish

Guest
Rating - 100%
194   0   0
My tap water PH is 7.0 and not sure the PH will change after going through the R.O unit.

I know some chemicals can alter the PH such as PH ups etc. but normally I dont like to use them...
 

Sponsor Reefs

We're a FREE website, and we exist because of hobbyists like YOU who help us run this community.

Click here to sponsor $10:


Top