? for oceanic salt users

[TroyPham]

i mixed 2 buckets up for a water change and the water is very cloudy. its been sitting with a mixing pump in it for 4 hrs and looks like i just added the salt to it. i never had this problem with other salt brands.

should i dump it and try mixing another bucket or let it sit over night with out the pump to see if it clears?

all other salts i've used clear up in about 30 mins of adding salt and mixing pump.

[captexas]

Something doesn't sound right. Oceanic usually dissolves very quickly, that's one of things people like so much about it. If it hasn't done anything in 4 hours like you said, I wouldn't expect it to get any better overnight. Did your salt come in the small bags or did you open up a 200g bucket? If it is from a bucket, it may have been tampered with. I'm not sure what else it could be. Maybe someone else can think of another possibility though.

[TroyPham]

it's a 200g bucket. the seal wasn't broken when. i opened it.

[don-n-sa]

Did you happen to add buffer to the water also...if you did that would explain it, if you didn't then I am stumped because when I do my water changes with Oceanic it is clear within 15-20 minutes.

[JimD]

Try heavily aerating the mix, sometimes that helps.

[alexwolf]

yeah Oceanic usually clears up within minutes for me. Maybe a bad bucket?

[TroyPham]

no buffer

i'm gonna dump it and mix another batch to see if it clears up.

[NaCl_H2O]

RO water or Tap? Oceanic always clears up very quickly for me!

[jaded]

I use reg water and it always clears very quickly

[TroyPham]

using ro/di water.

[StephenA]

The only time I get cloudy water is when I add buffer. Other than that it is crystal clear in around 60 sec.

[GaryP]

The only time I get cloudy water is when I add buffer. Other than that it is crystal clear in around 60 sec.

Its cloudy because you are precipitating calcium carbonate (scale). Its better to add the buffer slowly to the tank after the water change.

[TexasTodd]

Ditto on the questions "did you add the salt to the water, or water to a pile of salt"?

It makes a BIG difference.

TT

[captexas]

Doesn't make a difference for me. I have a 30g tub I put the salt in first and then pour the water in over it, helps mix it up some before I put the mixing pump in. Mine still clears up within a few minutes, never had any problems.

[Ram_Puppy]

is this the first batch out of the bucket?

One thing I do when I get a new bucket of salt, before i open it, is shake it up, roll it around, and generally treat it like a can of soda I intend to give to someone I want to play a trick on. It only makes sense that different components of the salt mix are different sizes, and settle slightly during shipping.

a word of advice though, let it sit for a few minutes before you open it after you have gone 'a shakin' as when you peel that top off, there will be a fine salt dust plume... probably don't want to inhale that.

[TroyPham]

i don't think it makes a diff. if i at salt to water or water to salt. i mixed 2 6 gal. buckets up. one i mixed salt to water, the other i mixed water to salt. both were the same. it eventualy did clear up. it just took over night. not sure why it stayed cloudy for so long. i tested everything and it looked good( as well as i could at home).

Ram, thats a good idea. i didn't think of that.. i'm gonna shake this bucket up to see if it mixes clear in the next batch.

[J_G]

Did you add water to the salt or salt to the water? I dunno if it makes a difference in clarity, but mine clears almost instantly when I slowly add cups of salt to the water while it's already being circulated with a powerhead.



you never want to add the water to the salt because this will cause a spike in the calcium level causing the calcium to fall to the bottom kinda like raining thus reducing the calcium level in the mixture.

[Polkster13]

I used a Mag 9.5 once in a 35 gallon trash can to mix up my salt mix one time and it stayed cloudy until I pulled the Mag out of the water. Putting in a smaller PH, the water cleared up in a matter of minutes. I did not see any particulate in the bottom and it didn't seem to affect the water. I used it for my water change and had no ill effects. Anyone else experience this?

What were you using to stir the water with?