How long can premixed saltwater sit in a bucket?

[viking]

I purchased two 5 gallon buckets of mixed saltwater from my LFS about 2 weeks ago. I left it in my basement (which is about 68 degrees) but did not heat it or have any circulation going. I have it in sealed Lowes buckets so I'm thinking that there is little to no evaporation going on. Is this still ok to use if I drop in an airstone? There is nothing in my DT as I am just nearing the end of my cycle so, I'm not all that worried about matching the salinity or temperature of the water going in as long as it is within an acceptable range.

 

[Skeeter7424]

I have been told no longer than 2 days. With no circulation some of the elements may start to settle out. Personally I have used premix 4 days from getting it from the LFS. I just warm it up and throw a pump in it for a half hour or so to circulate it. Never had an issue with it

Jordan

 

[stingythingy45]

I'd say it's fine.
Mixing with a power head with a venturi air intake would be better than an airstone.But just mixing it up with a stick and using an airstone will work.
Can you check the salinity before doing the water change?You should look into getting a small heater and PH just for mixing and heating change water.
It's a must in the hobby.

 

[Turbosnail]

As long as it was sealed I would think it is ok. You can buy premixed saltwater in boxes from most local fish stores and we give them away for raffle prizes so I would say its fine.

 

[turtletrax624]

Yeah and when Jordan heats it up, he actually just Runs Hot water in the Tub and Puts his water container in there to acclimate temperature. He needs to do this because we keep the water on the 3 season porch..that is COLD, not freezing, but cold, so getting back up to temperature with a little heater would take a little bit longer.

 

[viking]

I have a MJ900 that I can drop in the bucket (too much flow?). I'll pick up a small heater tonight for the bucket. If salinity and temp check out fine it sounds like I'm good to go? Prepping for my first saltwater fish purchase this weekend and feel like I've been waiting FOREVER, so I am trying to avoid any setbacks. Thanks for all the input!

 

[stingythingy45]

That's what I use.IA MJ1200,I just put the veturi air tube section on and run a airline hose to it.
You'll be fine with that water.

 

[jimrawr]

I almost always make up a 50g barrel of salt mix, and use that over the course of a month to do water changes. I use a powerhead and heater and never had any problems.

 

[pillowfish]

I almost always make up a 50g barrel of salt mix, and use that over the course of a month to do water changes. I use a powerhead and heater and never had any problems.

Same here, I used to allow my SW to "cure" so to speak for about a week before I used it to do a WC. I would just retest before I used it to make sure my parameters were still accurate.

 

[inverted]

The only issue could be if there were organics in the water. If the LFS didn't use good RO/DI or something, and there was organics in the water, from the tap. If so, it could break down and result in excess ammonia or bacteria. Also, some salts, such as RO have added vitamins that could feed bacteria. I'm not sure that bacteria would be an issue, other than consuming the vitamins, if you want them. Ammonia could be. So, if your worried, you could test, but otherwise, should be fine.

 

[viking]

The LFS claims to use RO/DI when mixing, so I'm hoping that they are telling the truth. I'll run an ammonia test on the change water as well as salinity to ensure that it is within acceptable ranges. At this stage I'm not going to worry about having the salinity of the change water match the DT since I don't have any inhabitants. If I get 1.027 in the bucket and 1.024 in my DT I'll just let the parameters even off in the DT. I have RO water at my house, so if the salinity is high in the spare bucket I'm assuming this is due to evaporation and I can just add the RO I have available.