Salinity (1 Viewer)

[Rick]

I found out last night my 90 gal salinity is out of whack... I bought some pre-mixed water from Tropical Fish Depot a month ago in Fuqua and didnt' test the water parameters. I found out last night that the water was at 1.019, I'm pretty sure, their pre-mix is pretty low.
I'm trying to bring the salinity back up. I've tried to keep it at about 1.023.

What level do most of you keep your salinity at in your reef tanks?

Thanks
Rick

 

[Linda]

I am having a real hard time getting mine up to 1.023 and getting it to stay there...It keeps settling in at 1.019 also....I'm afraid to add too much salt in a short amount of time.

 

[ShaneV]

I keep mine at 35 ppt. ( 1.025 at 81-degrees )

1.023 is a measure of Specific gravity and is temp dependant.

 

[Rick]

I just have one of the float test devices, how do you test the ppm?

 

[ShaneV]

What brand? It should have a label for ppt also.

 

[incysor]

1.025 is my target. As long as I keep the auto top off filled it stays pretty constant.

B

 

[djreef]

I keep mine btwn 1.024-1.026. The range of natural sea water.

DJ
= 8-->{I>

 

[ShaneV]

I keep mine btwn 1.024-1.026. The range of natural sea water.

DJ
= 8-->{I>

That is a specific gravity measurement and changes with temp. 1.024 at 75 degrees is not the same as 1.025 at 80 degrees.

Also natural sea water varies depending on what sea we are talking about (The Red sea for example has a higher salt concentration).

 

[Rick]

I will try to bring the salinity up about 1 point a day till I can get it back up to 1.024

Thanks...

 

[KarenB]

I keep my salinity at 1.025 at 82 degrees.

One thing you can do to try to raise the salinity is use saltwater to top off for a few days. That way you can slowly raise it, but monitor it carefully for those few days. Of course, the larger the tank, the longer it will take. I used this method to raise mine from 1.023 to 1.025 over the course of a couple of weeks.

 

[ShaneV]

I am having a real hard time getting mine up to 1.023 and getting it to stay there...It keeps settling in at 1.019 also....I'm afraid to add too much salt in a short amount of time.

The only reasons you should loose salinity is either:
1. A leak
2. A lot of salt creep due to too many bubbles, etc.

 

[KarenB]

I had a thought. If you are mixing up your saltwater in, say, the garage, where the temp may be different from your tank, that may account for the differential. If you mix salt into cooler water, it will take more salt to get the same salinity than in warmer water, I think. Maybe the initial mix is warmer than in your tank? Or do I have this backards? Shane?

Another thing I've found interesting is that my hydrometer will measure the same water at 1.023 that my refractometer will measure at 1.025.

 

[ShaneV]

Depends on what your measuring with, but the theory is correct.

1.025 at 73 F = ~32.3 PPT
1.023 at 82 F = ~32.3 PPT

Good article here:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-07/rhf/

 

[Wildfire]

I keep mine at about 1.0238 - 1.0242 (yes, I'm a little retentive) at 82C.

They sold you hypo-saline water? Bummer.....

 

[DRH]

For a reef, ~1.024. For FO, 1.019 is fine.

 

[djreef]

Yea, I guess I should have mentioned temperature, except I don't even think about it since I don't use a hydrometer to check sg. I was using the range as an average. I guess I should have pointed that out, too.

DJ
= 8-->{I>