Need quick help!

Altohombre

I have a new tank with currently only a Hydor Koralia 3 running and a heater. I put in Oceanic salt mixed well and it has sat for about 3 days. Today I look in and the salt is all over the bottom of the tank and on the heater and powerhead. The overall look is cloudy. Now I know the tank is supposed to get cloudy when salt initially is put in, but it was fine for several days and now all of a sudden its like this. Any suggestions? Is this normal? Is my heat to high? Should I turn on my canister filter?

bettababy

When adding salt your filters should all be running and there should be at least 1 powerhead in the tank to help it circulate and dissolve properly. Not sure about the heat unless I know what temp it is... however, if there is salt resting on the heater, that could cause a problem. With your hand you may want to brush all salt off the heater and get a powerhead in there asap. It can take about 3 days to dissolve completely after the powerhead has been added.

Altohombre

The temperature is set to 77 but reads at 81 or so. I do have a Hydor Koralia 3 running throught salt process. I will try to figure out how to kick start my Eheim 2213 canister filter. I am not sure how to do this syphon thing to start it.

Could oxygen level effect the salt? I have a glass top that allows for little air to get into or out of the tank. Therefore the parts of the tank and top are heavily fully of large drops of humidity and poors off when I open the lid. Once I opened the lid and tried to stir the salt on the bottom after a while the salt seemed to come off the glass easier.

Altohombre

still having some salt residue on bottom of tank. Much better than before however now that I have filter running.

bettababy

That's great! Give it some time, remember, this isn't something that can be rushed. Patience is extremely important, especially when keeping saltwater!