Saltwater prep

[Sregnar35]

I received my 200 gallon bucket of Instant ocean salt today and I'm getting ready to fill my 75 g. What do I need to do to prep the water. I know I can't just add water and stir with a big wooden spoon. I have a 10 gallon bucket i can use to mix it in, 1 batch at a time, but how long should it be mixed, and should I just drop one of my maxijet 1200's in to mix it? By the way, all of the reefers in my area use untouched tap water to fill their tanks, they tell me our area has great water! Also, i've heard a bit about people letting their water aerate, how long do you do this before adding it, or do you only do that when you do water changes?

 

[kreblak]

If you aren't dechlorinating your water, then you will need to let the water aerate some. I don't know how long, but you have to let the chlorine escape.

Anyway, to fill the tank, put in your substrate first. Then fill 'er up with water. Then add your heater(s) and set them to the temp you want your water at, and add your powerheads. Once you have your water circulating, your heater will get all of your water to an even temperature. Once your water reaches the desired temperature, begin adding salt. For your initial fill up, you can add salt directly to the tank. Add salt, wait for it to dissolve and circulate, and then test with a hydrometer. I give the tank 30 minutes to even out before I test after adding salt.

DO NOT do this when you have living critters in there! For water changes going forward, use the same procedure, but in a bucket, and then add the pre-mixed water to the tank slowly.

 

[Sregnar35]

Gotcha, so I guess i'll start filling up my 10g bucket and dropping the powerhead in there for at least 3 or 4 hours to help aerate the water, then I'll add that water to the tank and do it again til it's full, sounds like another busy weekend!

 

[kreblak]

You don't need to do this 10 gallons at a time! As long as there are no fish or inverts in the tank, just do the whole thing at once. It will take forever if you do 75 gallons in 10 gallon increments!

 

[OrionGirl]

Just a few quick pointers...Do not just pour the water straight onto the sand. This will result in the oh-so-unpopular "Southdown milkshake"--a sand storm that won't settle for a few days.

Easiest method I know is to use a siphon to fill the tank. Just run a siphon line from the bucket to the tank--this reduced volume won't stir up the sand. It will take a bit longer, but it's better than the sand storm.

Other methods: use a clean trash bag to cover the sand. You'll need to weight down the edges. Pour the water onto the bag. Once the tank is about 80% full, you can remove the paperbag, and place a large plate on the bottom--then pour the water onto the plate.

For the initial fill, don't worry about aerating the water first--it will have plenty of time to gas off chlorine in the tank, and since you don't have any bacteria, there's no concern for killing them off. Make sure you only have chlorine though--chloramines are a completely different game.

 

[Sregnar35]

Great, thanks for all the tips, I hope to set up this weekend! It's been 2 months waiting with a tank in my half-finished living room floor!