qbical Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 okay so like 3 days ago my salinity levels were at 1.22-23 so i wanted to get them up a tad more so i topped off with some more salt water. come today and my readings from my refrectometer are like 1.21 ??????? how can my salinity levels be going DOWN when i am trying to bring them back up? i am sooo fricking confused id even know what to do. everything in my tanks seems pretty happy though. Link to comment
veshman Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Wow, that's so wierd... Either your refractometer's messed up, or for some reason parts of your tank have different SG levels... how big is your tank? Have you done a water change recently? That's really unlikely though... probably just your refractometer. Try cross-checking it with your LFS Link to comment
redbrick Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 okay so like 3 days ago my salinity levels were at 1.22-23 so i wanted to get them up a tad more so i topped off with some more salt water. come today and my readings from my refrectometer are like 1.21 ??????? how can my salinity levels be going DOWN when i am trying to bring them back up? i am sooo fricking confused id even know what to do. everything in my tanks seems pretty happy though. I've had this happen to me once. I only recall when salinity kept dropping, I topped off with saltwater... and when it swung the other way I topped off with fresh water. After a couple of weeks of close monitoring, it fixed itself. ...Not sure what was going on. I searched R/C and the net... couldn't find a possible cause. Hope that helps some... Link to comment
qbical Posted March 27, 2008 Author Share Posted March 27, 2008 jesus dont even say that "hole in my tank" haha i would go balistic lol besides, that would be an amazing hole that only let salt through haha well seeing as the refractometer is about 12hrs old and i just tested it w/ distilled water and seemed to be okay. i have a batch of super salty water made already home so i am gonna test that when i get there tonight. this is really ####### me off i wont lie, ESPECIALLY since i just spent like 80$ on a refracto. Link to comment
H7brandi Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 How long had your new saltwater been mixing before you added it as top-off? Link to comment
StevieT Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 best to callibrate the refractors with a solution that puts it to 35 Link to comment
Withers Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 There's only so many things that could cause salinity to go down. 1) salt creep 2) ATO going nuts 3) skimmer + ato 4) water change water wasn't done mixing when you tested it As far as I know those are the only options here. If you aren't running an auto-topoff unit that takes the list down to 2. Link to comment
Smurf Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 What kinda hyrometer are ya using? Cheap salt, bad meter, didn't mix water well. One of those? Link to comment
StevieT Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 What kinda hyrometer are ya using? this is really ####### me off i wont lie, ESPECIALLY since i just spent like 80$ on a refracto. well seeing as the refractometer is about 12hrs old and i just tested it w/ distilled water and seemed to be okay. Link to comment
nanoty Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Salt creep? That's what I was thinking. The salt creep on my 12g NC is rediculous. How does a skimmer + ATO screw up your SG? Link to comment
eklikewhoa Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 It will pull sw along with the skim which will set off the ATO.....pumping more RO water at the same time pulling out saltwater. Link to comment
StevieT Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 would have to be a very small tank with a large skimmer to make a difference IMO Link to comment
nanoty Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 It will pull sw along with the skim which will set off the ATO.....pumping more RO water at the same time pulling out saltwater. Ahh. Once again common sense prevails. I've never owned a skimmer, didn't know they pulled that much water out too. Link to comment
sen5241b Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Ahh. Once again common sense prevails. I've never owned a skimmer, didn't know they pulled that much water out too. I had this happen. Its difficult to replace evaporated salt water with precisely the same amount of fresh water. I now keep a jug of both fresh and salt water, test salinity and add fresh or salt water accordingly. Also, everyone has told me to let newly mixed salt water sit overnight before using. Link to comment
StevieT Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 I had this happen. Its difficult to replace evaporated salt water with precisely the same amount of fresh water. I now keep a jug of both fresh and salt water, test salinity and add fresh or salt water accordingly. Also, everyone has told me to let newly mixed salt water sit overnight before using. Salt does not evaporate, it will creep though. Your evap in your tank is pure fresh water, salt is left behind. You can just use a powerhead to mix up salt in a bucket. Will mix up fairly fast Link to comment
eklikewhoa Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 would have to be a very small tank with a large skimmer to make a difference IMO Link to comment
Withers Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Ahh. Once again common sense prevails. I've never owned a skimmer, didn't know they pulled that much water out too. Ask Steve Weast how he feels about it Link to comment
qbical Posted March 28, 2008 Author Share Posted March 28, 2008 i have a bucket with salt water mixing pretty much all the time so i just use that stuff. i do see a little pile of salt at the bottom of the bucket. i mean my salt that i am using is kinda old (i forgot the brand, has the town clowns on the box, marineland maybe). also does anyone elses maxi-jet 600 get the water warm? it seems like my bucket of mixing spare water is quite warm and there is no heater in it. and what is creep, is that the salt levels rising really slow or something? Link to comment
Withers Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Salt creep is the crusty ###### you get in your hood or around the joints of your plumbing if you didn't seal it sufficiently Link to comment
syntax_error Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 If your salinity is about 1.021 and you want to raise it to 1.025 or something, why not just let the water evaporate with time? Once the system reaches 1.025, top off with salt water of a SG of 1.025 to replace the evaporated water. P.S - 1.021 and 1.025 were just examples. The same thing happened to me. My SG kept coming down even though I topped off with proper salt water. Now I use this method to increase SG. It will slowly increase, so your tank inhabitants wouldn't have to go through a sudden change. None of my tank inhabitants were affected. JMHO HTH Link to comment
ldballoon4 Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 i top with freshwater, and trust my calibrated Pinpoint Sg meter to the tenth of a decimal, for regular checks I use my Sybon refractometer. ###### maybe, check your waters salinity. Link to comment
noobofreefs Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 i top with freshwater, and trust my calibrated Pinpoint Sg meter to the tenth of a decimal, for regular checks I use my Sybon refractometer. ###### maybe, check your waters salinity. Read the whole thread Link to comment
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