New to salt. Just how bad did I mess up?!

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biggins82786

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Apr 8, 2012
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I bought my 75 gallon originally for goldfish. Goldfish are slightly boring and I have always wanted a reef tank. I cleaned the tank from having the goldfish in it, added my Caribsea live sand, and filled with tap water last Friday. I then received a call from my mother stating that my uncle had passed and immediately left the house. Seeing that it is now Thursday, almost a full week later, and I still haven't added the salt due to viewings, funeral, etc, how bad have I messed up? Is there still any life left in my sand? Should I go ahead and add the salt today and leave the sand in or clean the sand out and start over? :uhoh:
 

TL1000RSquid

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Apr 6, 2011
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Freshwater killed anything that was living in there, which probably wasn't much with prebagged 'live sand'. You don't add salt to the water in the tank, you premix it then add the saltwater so drain the tank.
 

greech

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May 13, 2009
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not an issue and no reason to clean the sand. The bacteria (what little there was to start with) in the LS died but that will just serve as more fuel to kick start the cycle. The only concern is whether any of the salt you add now will settle on the sand and not mix consistently. I don't see that as an issue though either unless you dump all of the salt in at once (don't do that BTW :)). While the initial fill with tap isn't a huge issue, this would be a good excuse to drain the tap and refill with RO/DI water. If you did that you could just mix the salt in a large tub or two and pump it into the tank (suppose you you could still do that with the tap in the tank now if you wanted). Not sure what you were planning on mixing the salt with in the tank, but don't use your nice new powerheads to do this.

For future reference 9and you may know this), this is the ONLY time you should add salt mix to the tank. All other water should be premixed.
 

biggins82786

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For future reference 9and you may know this), this is the ONLY time you should add salt mix to the tank. All other water should be premixed.
That's the only reason I was going to add it in the tank was because it is a fresh start. No fish for months until I know the tank is fully cycled, stable, and ready to go.
 

biggins82786

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Would it be better to take out 5-10 gallons from the tank, mix the salt in buckets, then pour it back into the tank? Seems that would keep it from sitting, undissolved, on the surface of my sand.
 

greech

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May 13, 2009
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You can do that. You would have 18.75 cups of salt in each 5 gallon bucket (assuming you used 2 buckets and mixed to 1.025). I would just mix it in the tank (add it slowly).
 

biggins82786

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I don't have any powerheads or anything in there right now. Just sand and water. I was gonna wait till I get the sump to set up the heater and other equipment.

Sent from my Thunderbolt using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 

greech

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So what will you be using to mix the salt?
 

biggins82786

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That's why I asked about the buckets. I can find something to mix it in the buckets easier than in the tank. I have an old drill setup made for mixing buckets of paint (not used in paint, of course) that I can use with the buckets.
 

greech

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That would be fairly labor intensive and likely not very effective. You don't have any pumps?
 
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