Salinity dropped

[madlynb]

I checked my salinity this AM. It was down to 1.020. So, I removed 13 gals of tank water and added my mixed saltwater to the tank. But, my salinity in the tank is still 1.020. I have about 7 gals. of mixed saltwater left. Do I remove that amount from tank, add more salt to mixed saltwater and stir it for a little bit and then add it to the sump? What can I do to raise my salinity?:frustrat:

 

[Hornet]

A sudden drop in salinity seems odd.

How are you checking your salinity? Maybe your refractometer needs calibrating or if your using a hydrometer maybe its just a piece of junk :D. (i'm a fan of my refractometer) Also what salinity do you have your new saltwater mixed too? If your sure that your tests are accurate then you can just mix it up higher and remove some from water and replace it in the sump. If you currently have live stock you should be careful about how fast your changing the salinity.

 

[madlynb]

I use a refractometer. I have never calibrated it since the original time. The salinity of my mixed saltwater is 1.026. I do have livestock in the tank so before adding more how much time should I allow?

 

[daugherty]

just add the salt water for evap water insted of fresh water

 

[Hornet]

I'm sure your probably replacing a gal or two every day with your tank so just do like daughtery says and topoff your tank with your mixed saltwater instead of RO/DI and you should be fine.

You have corals in your tank?

 

[madlynb]

No corals. Fish and invertebrates, clam. Should I add anymore salt to the leftover mixed saltwater before using for topoff?

 

[Hornet]

I'd say there is no need to raise the salinity on your new saltwater. Replacing the evaporated water with saltwater will slowly raise your salinity back up. I know some people with fish only tanks keep their salinity a little lower than reef tanks so I'm sure your fish are doing fine so there should be no need to rush to raise it back up.

 

[tankedchemist]

First, calibrate your refractometer. I re-calibrate mine every week, because I'm a stickler for accuracy. :) It's easy to do-- just put some RO water (no salt) on there, let it sit for 30s-1 min to come up to temp, then look through it... use the little bitty screw driver to adjust teh screw near the leans until the blue line is at 0.

Also, when you do your readings, do you let the water sit on there for a minute or so before taking the reading? Even refractometers that have that temperature correction feature need some time to completely equilibrate.

 

[madlynb]

Oh no! I followed your calibrate instructions to the T. Now my salinity measures at 1.010. I calibrated twice, just to make sure I followed your instructions to the T. NOW WHAT!!!! THIS IS NOT GOOD!!!

 

[yote]

Dont panic.
Just make sure the new water you got mixing is at 35ppt (1.026s.g.).Then use that to top off with untill the salinity in the tank reaches 35ppt.
If you try to bring it up too quick,you'll kill everything in the tank.

 

[dcantucson]

+1 yote
I once killed everything in my tank doing just that!

 

[ndepratt]

a rough estimate for how much salt to add to your water is 1/2 cup per gallon of water. use that to mix new water, and then fine tune it. That should help alert you of problems with your refractometer.

Make sure you give plenty of time to let the salt mix, i prefer to have a spare powerhead in my buckets.

You might try finding a local reefer, or a KNOWLEDGEABLE (difficult to find a lot of the time) LFS to properly calibrate your refractometer.

 

[tankedchemist]

+1 yote.

How often do other re-calibrate their refractometers? just curious

 

[dcantucson]

I need to do it. Haven't in months. But nothing was out of the unusual, so I have been lazy. :grumble:

 

[yote]

+1 yote.

How often do other re-calibrate their refractometers? just curious

Mine gets calibrated once a week.Or at least checked to make sure its still reading right.

 

[Hornet]

How often do other re-calibrate their refractometers? just curious

I purchased a little bottle of the 53.0 ms solution awhile ago and I calibrate my refractometer about every 2 weeks orso. Mine is usually dead on and does not need adjusting.

 

[ads8525]

how often do I need to calibrate refractometer? Does it loose calibration over time?

 

[BL1]

I calibrate mine once or twice a month just for peace of mind.

 

[ads8525]

How far off is it when you calibrate it?

 

[BL1]

Sometimes it's not off at all others it'll be off by as much as 0.05