water changes

[gramma royale]

Hi all,

Got another question for you experts. When I'm doing water changes, I've just been adding premixed saltwater from my LFS and a little RO water to lower the SG (my LFS SG is 1.027). Is this OK to do? I haven't really thought about it until today. I've checked the SG and it's about 1.022.

[golfish]

I don't trust any kind of water I buy from my LFS. If you can I feel it would be better to make your own water.

Mark

[Reefland]

Welcome to Reefland!

Unless you really trust the LFS source, then mix your own. If your comfortable with the LFS source, calibrate your hydrometer/refractometer with theirs so when you dilute it your on the same level.

Adding your own fresh water to the pre-mixed isn't a problem as long as you closely watch the SG.

Scott

[gramma royale]

thanks for the info guys. I'll talk to some customers about the water at my LFS. As for mixing my own, I've had bad experiences with it . Basically, I attempted to keep a 10 gallon nano reef a while back. For this particular tank, I tried mixing my own seawater. I even got one of those cool fans to mix the water. three hours later, I finally got the SG up to 1.010 at 79 degrees. I've no idea why it took that long. I talked to some other people about it and they think I suck cause it took me that long to mix the water! For some reason, everyone manages to mix the water in 30 minutes or less. I'd like to know how!

[organicreefer]

first of all its best to let youre new seawater to sit for at least 24 hours ,to allow the ph to stabilize.you should (or at least i)use a powerhead and a heater in you mixing container(i use a rubbermaid trash can).mix youre own ,my lfs sells what they call 99% ro water

[Barry N.]

I guess we are lucky here in San Diego as we can go to Scripps pier and get NSW for free. I store it for about a week before using. My salinity says about 1.025. Never had any problems using NSW

Barry

[gramma royale]

Ahhhhh, San Diego. I actually just moved from there to the Bay Area. Lemme tell you something about the price difference. In San Diego, I could get a 10 gallon glass tank with hood and glass top for less than $8 at Clairemont Tropical. Here, a 10 gallon glass tank BY ITSELF is $15.