IO Salt mix

[mabbus]

I am adding live rock and sand to my 55 gallon tank. So I mixed up 26G of Instant Ocean into a 32 gallon container (added the salt to the water), threw in a power head and two aeration stones for good measure, then left for around 14 hours. Salinity was about 1.023.

Anyway went to add the water to the tank before setting off to get my live sand and rock,, added about 5-6 inches and it's completely murky? I don't have anything in the tank as yet, so it can't be that.

The salt mix was in a sealed plastic bag but was a solid block rather then loose crystals, so I have to break it up to put it in.

Does this mean I should throw this stuff away, I can't see that the water is meant to be this murky

 

[Zissou]

Murky, as in literally dirty and brown, or white and milky?

Give it time to settle and test the salinity again, if it's white and milky. Might just be that the salt hasn't dissolved yet. :faint:

If it's dirty and brownish, then I'd question the container you mixed it in.

 

[mabbus]

Kevin,

It's not brown murky but not milky white, it's kind of white with a tinge of green. It looks worse looking through the glass, but seems clearer looking though the top down. I have also noticed that there are undissolved crystals in the the bottom of the tank.

What I don't want to do is put more in and find it doesn't clear. I was wondering if I would be better ditching it and buying a different brand? But it it has a chance of clearing then I will wait.

Peter

 

[coolhandgoose]

I'd almost suggest getting new salt. I don't think it's good if the salt is in a clump like that. It means moisture has gotten into the salt and could compromise the composition of it. Do you know how old it is?

 

[mabbus]

Thanks for the reply,

Problem is I moved from the UK to Brunei with work, and there isn't a great deal of choice, in fact only one shop that sells saltwater fish.

You can see that a lot of the stuff has been on the shelves for a while, but I don't have a great deal of choice, importing stuff in isn't an option as it usually costs more in shipping then the item itself.

Having said that, it wasn't so much clumpy, rather one large clump, which when broken down broke down into fine crystals, so I'm guessing that it's just been stored for a long time.

I have looked for more articles on IO, and it seems a lot of people say it can take several days to disolve. My only othe choice of salt is Red Sea. or to by it from the saltwater shop pre-mixed, but that's $5 (Bruneian) gallon, so quite expensive. So my 55 gallon + 20g sump would work out $307 US.

I might leave it a day or so and see if it clears, if not I will have to dump it and get some Red Sea and try that

Thanks
Peter

 

[coolhandgoose]

Hmmm, I'm wondering if it would be worth importing new stuff though. Can you see if your fish store will bring a new shipment in for you? I'd get the IO reef crystals if you get a choice.

 

[mabbus]

There are a few other shops, but they deal in mostly freshwater, but have saltwater products. So I will take a look in those shops and see if I can find the reef crystals.

Thanks again for your help
Peter

 

[Zissou]

Might want to look into oceanic as well. I use their salt and it dissolves nearly instantly. It's not *completely* clear for a few hours, but there's never anything left on the bottom of the bucket.

Can't go wrong with IO though, probably the number 1 used salt on the planet. Sucks that you don't have much choice.

 

[little_fish]

The clumped salt isnt bad, but the batch could have been bad before them. I would let it keep mixing and see what happens.