can saltwater go bad

[joe]

hey last sunday i was doing me wateer changes and acidentley made 5 gallons extra. so i put it into sealed bottles and put it away. tomorow i will be doing my weekly water change and i wanna know if that saltwater is ok for use. ill areate it for a while as allways and put the heater in as allways but do you think that water could havegone bad some how? they were completley seeld with a lid

thanks
joe

 

[jenniebutterfly]

it could have. bacteria could breed. best bet when you have extra is to stick a powerhead in it. since it has only been a week, you could probably use it

 

[joe]

so ill put the power head in and wat will that do?

 

[DEEPWATER]

she meant to put a power head in the bucket of extra water when putting it aside ,this way its not just sitting around

 

[marrone]

Should be fine just mix it up really good and check the sg level as there could be some evaporation and the level has risen.

I usally have that all the time as I have more water made then I need and just store it for the next week water change.

 

[inkblue]

water shouldnt go bad... put an airstone and a powerhead, cover it and let it 'breathe' :sleepy:

 

[ShaunW]

If your going to keep salt water for any period of time (greater than 24 hours) it is best to keep it at a high salinity. Nothing will grow in it! i.e. the DEAD SEA. I have kept salt water at a salinity of 1.05 and above for many days/more than a week and nothing grew. Bacteria and algae are unable to reproduce at such a high salt concentration. If you keep it at a normal ocean salinity, 1.025, then problems will occur if it sits for too long, even with aeration. But even so, it should be OK, since it still is mostly a nutient limiting, light limiting environment.