Salt & H2O question

grubbie

Does salt have a shelf life? A friend of mine gave me an open bag of salt that is maybe 6 years old. Can I use it or should I purchase a new bag?

Also concerning water. Can I filter (RO/DI) say 10 gallons of water and let it sit in a plastic container for say a month or so?

I'm setting up a 2og tank and I thought that filtering 2 months worth of water for changes and topoff would make life a little easier.

Thanks

unclejed

Hello grubbie, first, the salt. Salt has the capacity to absorb. I would say if the bag sat around open, toss it, it's not worth taking a chance it has picked up some contaminates. As for the water, that's fine , ro/di water is pure and as long as the top of your container is covered it will be fine. The pure water will be without salt because if you are using it for top off you don't want salt so you will have to heat and add salt a day or so before changes.