Salt not dissolving in my ro/di water

[dangeroo]

Lately, my instant ocean salt has not been dissolving in my ro/di water. I heat the water and mix it with amaxijet in a 5 gallon bucket. I add one 1/2 cup of salt at a time and still get alot of salt at the bottom of the bucket. My salt is not sealed and tends to clump up, is this the problem, is the salt not dissolving a problem at all?

thanks for letting me ask this longwinded question!

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

If the salt is "clumped" then you had moisture hit the salt, this will cause the salt to precipitate and that is what you are seeing. It will dissolve eventually, just takes a lot longer.

Not sure what to recommend, but noticed this is a similar issue to why you don't add water to salt, rather salt to water.

[dangeroo]

so is the salt "bad" if moisture has hit it or is it ok? and while were on it, how long is salt good for?

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

I can't offer any solid answers, hopefully someone else will chime in..

While reading up on salt, I came across mention of salt not dissolving.. After about 72 hours it had mostly dissolved. I wouldn't trust the salt since the precipitate could be calcium.. But I'm not 100% sure on this.

How long have you had it stirring? Have you tried lifting the salt into the current?

Edit: Just to add, when I mixed up about 80Gal in my tank initially, there was a haze to the water for about 96Hrs (4 days). The top portion of the salt (IO also) was slightly clumped even tho it was brand new.

[dangeroo]

ive tried playing with the powerhead to drive the undesolved salt off the bottom and up into the water column. we're talking like 3 days and the salt still hasn't desolved!

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

If you are still seeing undissolved salt after 3 days, I would just toss the batch and try it again. If it happens again, then try picking up some new salt.

[dangeroo]

i think i'll take that advice

thanks!

[fareforce]

When salt draws moisture from the air it draws all the polutants with it. So what ever crap was in the air is now in your salt.

IMO if your salt gets moist, it is done. Pitch it and get new stuff. It's not worth risking a tank over.

[rbursek]

Do not toss it they are gooffs!!

[rbursek]

Randy, Tony chime in, where are you???

[TheFishGuy,LLC]

They're over in the Reef chemistry forum. The calcium has bonded with the carbonate portion of the salt. Nice little white grains of sand (calcium carbonate) is what you have left over. IO doesn't have a lot of calcium to begin with so I'll bet your tank is sitting at around 320ppm or less. You can still use this salt just be sure to test your tanks alkalinity, magnesium, and calcium and make the additions as needed. This can all be done very cheaply and raised accurately using any of the online reef chemistry calculators. Oh, and keep reading!

[demonsp]

Newbie Brand.

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11953147#post11953147 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rbursek
Do not toss it they are gooffs!!

Excuse me? Where did I say to toss the salt? I said to try another batch, if that doesn't work, then pick up some new salt. This hobby is worth more then saving 10$ using questionable salt.

[ArgonDreams]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11954195#post11954195 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by demonsp
Newbie Brand.

Sorry but this was inaccurate and largely unhelpful in my own opinion. Instant Ocean works fine for roughly half to 2/3rds of saltwater tanks. It's low in Calcium and Alk. However for non-calcerous tanks such as softies, FOWLR and FO tanks this is hardly a problem. In fact if it were a newbie salt why are so many reefers using it?

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=11821472

In short, it's a poor salt for Calcium and Alkalinity issues but look at the style of tank you want, do you have items that have calcium skeletons or want to promote coraline algae? If so then I recommend a higher base calcium salt to save in supplements.