How long can you use Salt water for

[firstfear]

Hey all,
I bought some R/O water and I had them add the salt to it for my start up. I have about 5-10 gallons left. Now I know I wont add salt r/o when I am topping off. It is sealed and in a container. How long is it usable for. Also do I want to do a ten percent water change while the tank is cycling or let it run its course and only do the first water change once the tank has finished cycling?
Thanks in advance...
Scott.

 

[gnashty]

RO water should be good for a long time as long as its sealed and cant get contaminated..

I would wait til you get a spike in Nitrates and your ammonia and nitrite reads 0 before any water changes..how long has it been cycling? No tank inhabitants, right?

 

[firstfear]

ok so three to four weeks. (I will test though) I did not think it would last that long or that it would grow algae in it. It is sealed and in the garage. I can put it in a dark closet or am ok just pouring it off and getting new for the water changes and not chancing it.

I have two small damsels that I will take out once it is cycled. (grandma and the three year old would freak if they couldnt have something in there). I have about 15-20 lbs of live rock at the moment and 60 lbs of live sand. T5 lighting and an eheim on the back.
As to fish once cycled I would like to keep them small and am thinking a shrimp goby pair and a few other small fish but will start slow.
Thanks so much
Scott

 

[gnashty]

FirstFear;573719 wrote: ok so three to four weeks. (I will test though) I did not think it would last that long or that it would grow algae in it. It is sealed and in the garage. I can put it in a dark closet or am ok just pouring it off and getting new for the water changes and not chancing it.

I have two small damsels that I will take out once it is cycled. (grandma and the three year old would freak if they couldnt have something in there). I have about 15-20 lbs of live rock at the moment and 60 lbs of live sand. T5 lighting and an eheim on the back.
As to fish once cycled I would like to keep them small and am thinking a shrimp goby pair and a few other small fish but will start slow.
Thanks so much
Scott

Dont worry about the water - Ive kept mine in the garage for a month or more -

As far as the damsels go......im not the cycling police or anything, in fact I have used damsels in the past to help cycle because I didnt know any better at the time....but it is cruel to use fish to cycle a tank - most of us use shrimp or pure ammonia to start our cycle.

are you getting any ammonia or nitrite readings?

 

[dakota9]

^Above post refers to cut up/ uncooked shrimp from Kroger Seafood Dept.^

Yeah, we don't cycle with fish anymore, it's another advancement in the hobby (although it still seems the norm for freshwater fish, oddly enough).

Happy Reefing

 

[cr500_af]

And if your LR isn't fully cured when you get it, or it is out of the water for more than a short time, you'll have enough die-off to start the cycle without your having to do anything at all.

 

[superclown]

+ 1

cr500_af;574043 wrote: and if your lr isn't fully cured when you get it, or it is out of the water for more than a short time, you'll have enough die-off to start the cycle without your having to do anything at all.

 

[landonl]

FirstFear;573715 wrote: Hey all,
I bought some R/O water and I had them add the salt to it for my start up.

The issue of cycling has been addressed above already, but for premixed batches of water, I would say they are good for a while.

I have left mixed water sitting around for a few weeks before using it. Just make sure the pH is correct and you are good. Sometimes the pH will drop in pre-mixed water that has been sitting around for a while, so you may need to add some buffer, but otherwise everything is good.

Landon

 

[acroholic]

LandonL;577244 wrote: The issue of cycling has been addressed above already, but for premixed batches of water, I would say they are good for a while.

Agreed...I would just keep the container sealed. I wouldn't hesitate to use new saltwater that was several weeks old that was sealed. But I would check SG in case you have had some evaporation from the batch while in storage.