Salt that has accumulated above water line. Mix or wipe off?

[BostonJill]

I still see the salt above the normal water fill line after adding the distilled water. Not sure what to do with it. Mix it into the water or just wipe it off? Does that happen with your tanks? If so what do you do?

[KenCotigirl]

Hello BostonJill. That is the bane of my shrimp tanks. My wife truly dislikes it. Enough so that i either clean it up or get rid of the tanks. I have found one solution was to cover the tank with plexiglass. Greatly reduces evaporation. Very little salt buildup. The salt that does buildup I try to remove but some always falls in. I have no concern about the small amount of salt i remove. Maybe i will check the salinity in a few years but cannot imagine any real measurable change.

[Mustafa]

I would just throw the salt pieces back into the water. The question, though, is why you are still getting salt creep. Is there any kind of water movement in the tank? Salt creep usually only happens if water splashes around or moves around (as in surface movement)..even if its tiny amounts. Do you have an airstone or filter in the tank? (I'm also asking you, Ken.)

[BostonJill]

No filter or airstone. Thanks Mustafa! I'll just place the pieces back in the water.

[KenCotigirl]

Yes I have an air stone in one of the tanks. I know it is not needed and it causes salt creep but i like the looks of the bubbles. I use a bubbler that produces very fine bubbles. The flow rate is low about a dozen bubbles a second. If i lower the flow rate the creep will virtually go away but i lose the aesthetics of the bubbles. As I sit here replying I realize it should be removed. Maybe this weekend.

[Mustafa]

You like the bubbles, the wife does not like the salt creep...decisions, decisions.... If you really, really like bubbles, then you could always contain the airstone in a removable (but filled with water) glass/acrylic tube that goes from the bottom of your tank all the way above the water surface. It would have to stick out enough so that the salt creep only accumulates inside the tube and can be dealt with quite efficiently by rinsing the tube with tank water.

Jill...I have no idea how the salt creep even develops in your tank..unless, of course, you are re-decorating the tank quite often so that water gets splashed ever so slightly here and there. For creep to happen, water has to move somehow.