recycling salt?

[lrood]

Everytime I do a water change I wonder if there is any way to recycle the salt rather than watch it go down the drain. Maybe the costs and logistics of drying/purifiying, supplementing (and whatever else...) would just make it too difficult/expensive, but I wonder if anyone has ever heard of any efforts in this area?

[rsman]

your better off treating the water as a whole, unless you just dont want to put that much salt in your drain. matching the chemistry of NSW is difficult at best.

[Dman]

I agree,
treating the water as a whole FWIW is easier, but even then it's still not worth the effort; cost and time wise in the end.

[Luis A M]

Save the waste water for raising bs,or to slowly fill a shark pond

[Scottt]

Save the waste water for raising bs,or to slowly fill a shark pond

+1

I use my water change water to grow Phytoplankton to feed the rotifers. Also for BBS, and adult brine shrimp. Soon other critters too.
I've been adding buffer and putting it right back into my main system once the rotifers eat all the phyto out. Has worked well so far. You need good nutrient scrubbing from a turf algal scrubber, or chaeto or something though. Its just like in the ocean, fish eat, excrete, the plants eat that, the fish eat them... a big circle. If you were going to do this, I'd recommend weekly carbon and ozone, to remove the chemicals the nutrient-scrubbers don't remove.

[rsman]

I've been adding buffer and putting it right back into my main system once the rotifers eat all the phyto out. Has worked well so far. You need good nutrient scrubbing from a turf algal scrubber, or chaeto or something though. Its just like in the ocean, fish eat, excrete, the plants eat that, the fish eat them... a big circle. If you were going to do this, I'd recommend weekly carbon and ozone, to remove the chemicals the nutrient-scrubbers don't remove.

a great start and will work for a long time, but check out your phyto food, f2 is not appropreate for nutrient rich water, doing so means you have left over nutrients mostly phosphate and nitrogen, this goes into your rotifers and then into your turf scrubber or just builds up, either way carbon and ozone are not the answer.

[Scottt]

The phyto tests at 0 nitrates once grown out. I don't have a phosphate test though. It seems to me that the phyto eats up all the nutrients. Like using 2/3F instead of F/2 The grow out is just slightly longer. No?

[BaboonScience]

Save the waste water for raising bs,or to slowly fill a shark pond

+1

I use my water change water to grow Phytoplankton to feed the rotifers. Also for BBS, and adult brine shrimp. Soon other critters too.
I've been adding buffer and putting it right back into my main system once the rotifers eat all the phyto out. Has worked well so far. You need good nutrient scrubbing from a turf algal scrubber, or chaeto or something though. Its just like in the ocean, fish eat, excrete, the plants eat that, the fish eat them... a big circle. If you were going to do this, I'd recommend weekly carbon and ozone, to remove the chemicals the nutrient-scrubbers don't remove.

Scott
This is exactly what I am doing. It seems to work pretty well.
I probably cycle 30 - 40 gallons a week this way.
The ozone treatment is necessary if you do not want a slow build up of color pigments and other poorly digestible organics in the water.

[fishyfred]

You could probably recycle the salt as long as you sift it through a pump first. We have a pump we use to filter out algae from our pond and it works well. You wouldn't believe the amount of crud that is unseen to the naked eye! You could use one of those SpraySmarters or even siphon your water through the filter backwards using your pump's tank. Make sure to clean the line after!

[joebean]

Save the waste water for raising bs,or to slowly fill a shark pond

+1

I use my water change water to grow Phytoplankton to feed the rotifers. Also for BBS, and adult brine shrimp. Soon other critters too.
I've been adding buffer and putting it right back into my main system once the rotifers eat all the phyto out. Has worked well so far. You need good nutrient scrubbing from a turf algal scrubber, or chaeto or something though. Its just like in the ocean, fish eat, excrete, the plants eat that, the fish eat them... a big circle. If you were going to do this, I'd recommend weekly carbon and ozone, to remove the chemicals the nutrient-scrubbers don't remove.

What kind of buffers are you adding to this "old" water?

I am also using algea scrubbers and recycling a lot of water
Even tho i know my ammonia/nitrates are under control its still not as good as new water and i'm not sure whats missing to my "old" water...
Alk maybe?