Short on salt and water for new tank

[valley]

Hello, I am in the process of setting up my 60 gallon breeder and my live ocean rock is arriving tomorrow before noon. I had ordered some salt online that was supposed to arrive today morning but has been delayed until tomorrow night! I have now cancelled that order and plan on picking up salt at Petco tomorrow morning. I also have a very slow rodi unit that makes only 5 gallons in about 2 hours. My original plan was to spend these two days filling up my tank just in time for the live rock. I’ve only made 15 gallons in 3 buckets so far.

Im looking at what option is the best to get the live rock in the tank asap. So far the option I can think of is to have the live rock sitting in a bucket of saltwater for a day or two while I fill up the tank. I'll have a return pump, a clip on light, and a heater in the bucket. Is this fine? I'm seeing online that people cure their live ocean rock in buckets. I'm going to get the live rock delivered in wet paper and so I'm expecting some die off. If this whole bucket thing is fine, how should I cure the rock in the bucket?

I can also just buy a lot of distilled water from my supermarket or rodi water from my LFS. My supermarket is only a block away so it’s do-able but it’ll cost a lot of money. I’m also unsure if distilled water is safe to use. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[KrisReef]

Put the RODI unit on the tank and fill it up.
Get the salt in the morning, mix and put the rock in when it arrives.

Or, Put the rock in a brute can, covered with salt water and with circulation (pump, powerhead, airstone) and let the rock sit there until you get the tank ready.

 

[Jekyl]

Put the RODI unit on the tank and fill it up.
Get the salt in the morning, mix and put the rock in when it arrives.

Or, Put the rock in a brute can, covered with salt water and with circulation (pump, powerhead, airstone) and let the rock sit there until you get the tank ready.

And heater.

 

[Dbichler]

Agree just put the rock in the buckets and fill the tank when you can. No need for light just heater and water movement.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

My rodi is also slow, so I just buy distilled water from the grocery store when starting a new tank.

 

[Floyd-]

Id invest in a new RODI. 5g in 2 hours is PAINFULLY slow. I can knock out 5g in about 30 minutes.
I have the BRS 4 stage 200GPD water saver model.

 

[valley]

Alright thank you all for the help! I think I’ll put the rodi unit on my tank and fill it up directly. I’ll have the rock in a bucket for the meantime with a power head and a heater. Maybe I’ll also finish the tank off with distilled water so I can finish today. I’m just a bit confused on the salt mixing part though.

Do I have to give it a lot of time to mix in the tank? I’ll make sure to give it a lot of flow but I’m not sure if it’ll only take a few hours to mix or days. I’m asking because I’m seeing people online mix their salt for a few days in their tanks.

 

[exnisstech]

I always mix in a separate container then add to tank. I can get better circulation in a brute or bucket vs in tank. Either way you can just follow the directions on the salt for mixing time.

 

[valley]

Alright. I couldn’t get all the live rock in water as quickly as I wanted to. The rock was probably exposed to air (but still covered in wet paper) for about an hour. Nothing smells off though and im seeing a lot of starfish and emerald crabs. There were also some small white pistol shrimp and a black and white pistol shrimp. There was some die off though, there were some dead crabs and starfish in the bag. There is a lot of coraline and sponges even though it’s only the starter rock. I am overall very pleased with kpaquatics.

It is taking so long to get the tank filled up. It’s looking like it’ll be full until tomorrow afternoon. I put the rock in a tub with two return pumps and a small heater.

 

[Doctorgori]

you can usually change out the RO membrane for a higher flow unit…A 100gpd membrane is usually under $40 last check

 

[KrisReef]

you can usually change out the RO membrane for a higher flow unit…A 100gpd membrane is usually under $40 last check

And make sure you get the proper flow restrictors that match the membrane for best results if you upgrade the membrane.

Also, pressure into the filter is supposed to be ~60PSI for proper water production.

 

[valley]

Hey, so I’ve filled up my tank now and I’m starting to get salt in. I’ll leave it overnight to mix. As for the rock, it’s actually starting to smell. It’s gone from a clean ocean smell to a dirty beach smell. I wouldn’t call the smell ‘rotten’ or like ‘rotten fish’ but it’s not as pleasant as it was. Anything I should do? Do I still proceed and add it to my new tank or do I let it sit in this tub for another while? I also have Seachem prime which I use for my freshwater tank. I’m pretty sure it can make ammonia safe for 24 hrs. If there is die off should I use this on the rock?

 

[ReefingDreams]

Hey, so I’ve filled up my tank now and I’m starting to get salt in. I’ll leave it overnight to mix. As for the rock, it’s actually starting to smell. It’s gone from a clean ocean smell to a dirty beach smell. I wouldn’t call the smell ‘rotten’ or like ‘rotten fish’ but it’s not as pleasant as it was. Anything I should do? Do I still proceed and add it to my new tank or do I let it sit in this tub for another while? I also have Seachem prime which I use for my freshwater tank. I’m pretty sure it can make ammonia safe for 24 hrs. If there is die off should I use this on the rock?

Seachem Prime doesn't actually detoxify ammonia. There's a thread investigating this. It does, however, dechlorinate. So don't waste your time thinking that will help.

You have your rock in a smaller container curing and it surely has ammonia spiking with micro/macrofauna die off. I'd wait until your mixed saltwater in the tank is clear and add the rock right away. It will likely continue to have some die off, but will stabilize and recover. It's a natural process, especially for rock not shipped submerged.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Hey, so I’ve filled up my tank now and I’m starting to get salt in. I’ll leave it overnight to mix. As for the rock, it’s actually starting to smell. It’s gone from a clean ocean smell to a dirty beach smell. I wouldn’t call the smell ‘rotten’ or like ‘rotten fish’ but it’s not as pleasant as it was. Anything I should do? Do I still proceed and add it to my new tank or do I let it sit in this tub for another while? I also have Seachem prime which I use for my freshwater tank. I’m pretty sure it can make ammonia safe for 24 hrs. If there is die off should I use this on the rock?

Can you clarify, did you put the rock in freshwater? Or did you mix it to 35ppt before adding the rock to the saltwater?

 

[valley]

Seachem Prime doesn't actually detoxify ammonia. There's a thread investigating this. It does, however, dechlorinate. So don't waste your time thinking that will help.

You have your rock in a smaller container curing and it surely has ammonia spiking with micro/macrofauna die off. I'd wait until your mixed saltwater in the tank is clear and add the rock right away. It will likely continue to have some die off, but will stabilize and recover. It's a natural process, especially for rock not shipped submerged.

Alright thank you for the help. The salt I used has already cleared up in these past 50 min so I’ll be adding the rock soon.

 

[valley]

Can you clarify, did you put the rock in freshwater? Or did you mix it to 35ppt before adding the rock to the saltwater?

I mixed 15 gal to 35 ppt in a tub and added the rock there alongside a small heater and a return pump.

 

[valley]

I added the rock and some sand to the display tank yesterday and it did have some more die off in the tub. Some worms and crabs. I also saw more hitchhikers though. Most of the coraline is sort of starting to peel off or disintegrate. The water in the display tank is now progressively starting to smell bad as well. Anything I should or do I just need to wait?