salt water

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 4:08 pm

HI - I just picked up some Oceanic salt to mix up - if I use a 2.5 gallon container like Calistoga comes in, will it keep in the fridge and for how long? Is it better to mix it in gallon size containers instead?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 4:17 pm

.Maria very good question, I'm interested in the more experienced answers also. I mix mine by the gal., it gets used up in about three days.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 9:21 pm

WOW, your salt water is used up in three days? I mix mine in gallon containers, test the saltinity with a hydrometer apon making it, store in the pantry, test it agian in a week, the saltinity is always within the correct range. I almost never need to adjust it. Mine lasts like a month.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 9:29 pm

Is it okay to keep it in the fridge? And where do you purchase hydrometers and are they inexpensive?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 9:32 pm

Walmart sells a digital temperature/humidity gauge combo for about $6 in the home and garden, or hardware section.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 9:44 pm

Crabber, I have two large salt water bowls for my bigger crabs I change their water every three days and the littles ones every night. I rinse everything I put in my tanks with salt water, shells plants ect. It does seem like I use a lot, but my crabs seem happy. Thanks for the hint on testing.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 10:24 pm

No, I already have a humidity and temp gauge - I was talking about the hydrometer to measure the salinity of the salt water. Again, is it okay to keep the salt water in the fridge? The guy at the salt water aquarium shop said if I keep it at room temp, it loses salinity fast and it throws the PH balance off and also grows bacteria.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 11:29 pm

Take what petstores say with a grain of salt. I know they should be the experts but it's amazing what they don't know. Salt water by nature does not get bacteria that easily. I know PH is important at a specific amount for fish, but I have never heard much about PH needing to be specific to crabs. My saltinity doesn't usually even change. I just shake up the jug when I go to use it. If it's stored in the fridge you'd have to let the bowl sit out for a long time until it was room temp, I would not want to give crabs cold drinking and batheing water.

I have no doubt your crabs are happy.

That's a lot of salt water to go through. Two years of washing weekly without mass deaths tells me I can make things a bit easier on myself and my pocketbook.

I am very bacteria-phobic about deep cleaning, the kinds of substrates I use, but my water dishes are not that big of a concern to me personally. They never even feel slimy when I wash them in hot water and let them dry for 24 hours before I reuse. Some people also use dishsoap or diluted bleach to clean food dishes before reuse also. I just wash those in hot water, wipe them down and switch them out with pre-dryed ones while those dry for 24 hours. Three tanks to deal with I try to make it as easy as I can possilbly get away without risking harm to my babies. These guys can be so much work.

starmaiden · Post by **starmaiden** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 11:40 pm

I mix mine a gallon at a time and it lasts about 2 weeks. I would think you could mix it a half gallon at a time, one fourth cup of Oceanic to a half gallon of water, and be just fine.

I think the pet store guy was talking about fish because I've never heard that the PH had to be 'balanced' for land hermit crabs. Maybe he thought you were talking about marine hermit crabs which live in a saltwater reef aquarium? A saltwater reef aquarium has all sorts of things you've gotta get just right and test constantly: PH, salinity, bacteria, etc.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 11:43 pm

Thanks

Back to my original questions - can I store the salt water at room temp then without worrying about bacteria or loss of salinity? Also do I need to get a hydrometer to measure the salt content?

I currently mix the salt water per gallon, so will it keep at room temp and for how long?

Willow · Post by **Willow** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 11:44 pm

I used to test my salt water every time I made it, but it always came up the same if I mixed it the same---go figure

So I don't test it anymore. And the salinity never changed, even if I tested it a week later or a month later. I'm sure the PH changes, but I don't think that's important for crabbies. I change my water bowls about once a week, washing them with dish soap and rinsing thoroughly. I sanitize the bowls once a month or so with diluted bleach, although switching them with dry bowls would work, too, but I don't want to buy a whole other set---the bowls I like (Exo-Terra extra-large reptile dishes) cost about $12 each, and I just don't want to spend the $ right now. I just bought them a $30 thermostat, so that's all they're getting for a while.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 11:59 pm

Hey Maria,

I keep my water for a month at a time, no problems. Please do be careful about what petstores say, they can be good but often they cause people heartache by giving them misinformation. Like whent they told me crabs don't need standing water, they drank out of the sponge. They can say some bizaro things.

I know it IS a little silly to keep testing it when it comes up the same almost all the time, and when it doesn't it could be due to the hydrometer and not the mix, but with straws I just want to make sure it's right. They need it strong (matching sea water) more so than any other species I have in my tank.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 7:40 am

Maria, Yes you can store your water at room temp. It sounds like some keep it for at least a month. The hydrometer sounds to be what you choose to do. Good luck. Sorry for getting off track of your questions. Again good luck!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 3:00 pm

Sorry about before... I was really tired and didn't read it carefully. You can buy a hydrometer in the aquarium section of the petstore. The one's if seen usually cost between $8-12. I don't use one, I just make sure to mix exactly to the directions.