High salinity during cycle?

[Eroll026]

Hey! First I just want to say thanks for a very informative and helpful forum!

There is alot to keep in mind when doing this hobby and even more when you are just starting out.

This is my first attemt at a saltwater aquarium and I bought a 13g tank with all the basic necessities to plug-and-play.

 

The tank have been cycling with live rock and live sand for 2 and 1/2 week, and I have gotten some brown diatoms on sand and on some rock. Also I have gotten a very small amount of green leaf-like algae on top of one rock despite having the lights off and two very small featherduster looking things, witch I think is a good thing as it means that something is happening.

 

Despite reading and preparing I realized last night that I made one mistake. My refractometer was delayed and I was so eager to start with the aquarium that I just weighted the salt and added it to the water when mixing, thinking that the measurements should get me within the recommended salinity, I was wrong.

Last night I finally got to measure my salinity and I was above 1.030. In a panic of hurting or in any way hindering the progress of the cycle I did a 5% waterchange and added freshwater to get the salinity down. My last reading last night was about 1.020 witch should be fine?

 

My question is, could my waterchange have hurt the cycle or bacteria in any way and could I have stalled or delayed my cycle?

 

Thanks!

 

[A Little Blue]

Don’t stress over it. Keep salinity around 1.021 for fish only tank  (some ppl go as low as 1.019). Fish + corals a bit higher (1.023 - 1.026). I keep my water at 1.026.  Your bacteria will be just fine  

[Sbrown325]

Welcome! Don’t forget to make sure your refractometer is properly calibrated to 35ppt. Happy reefing! 

[Clown79]

Welcome

 

Don't stress, you should be fine.

 

Unfortunately for a reef 1.020 is low.

1.025 or 1.026 is ideal.

 

Just top up daily with salt water correct it.

 

Calibrate your refractometer to ensure it's correct.

 

To maintain salinity (If you have no ato)

Make a mark somewhere on the tank when it's full at correct salinity.

 

Top up to that level every day.

 

 

Have you been testing ammonia, nitrite, nitrate during cycling?

[Eroll026]

10 hours ago, A Little Blue said:

Don’t stress over it. Keep salinity around 1.021 for fish only tank  (some ppl go as low as 1.019). Fish + corals a bit higher (1.023 - 1.026). I keep my water at 1.026.  Your bacteria will be just fine  

 

Thanks! Nice to know that everything should carry on as planned despite me mixing with the salinity. I plan on keeping one or two fish and soft corals so I will probobly try to keep it around 1.026 from now on!

10 hours ago, Sbrown325 said:

Welcome! Don’t forget to make sure your refractometer is properly calibrated to 35ppt. Happy reefing! 

 Thank you for the advice! I will keep it calibrated using the recommended calibration fluid.

 

3 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Welcome

 

Don't stress, you should be fine.

 

Unfortunately for a reef 1.020 is low.

1.025 or 1.026 is ideal.

 

Just top up daily with salt water correct it.

 

Calibrate your refractometer to ensure it's correct.

 

To maintain salinity (If you have no ato)

Make a mark somewhere on the tank when it's full at correct salinity.

 

Top up to that level every day.

 

 

Have you been testing ammonia, nitrite, nitrate during cycling?

 Thanks! I will try to bring the salinity up to 1.026 the coming days as you said. 

As of right now I have no ato so Im doing manual top offs daily, and I got the tanks emblem as a perfect guideline!

 

I have a testkit at hand but honestly I havnt been testing anything up to this point. I have just been doing visual checks daily to monitor the different stages. I plan on testing in the beginning of week 4 to see where Im at. This might be a bad decision but I have read that its easy to get stressed or try to correct things that doesnt need correcting? 

Im all open to advice on this topic!

 

Thanks for the replies!

[A Little Blue]

If you’re going to change anything now or in the future, do it in small increasements. Same goes for change in filtration, filter media or dosing supplements. Try not to shock your system. Easy/steady wins it every time. 

[Clown79]

3 hours ago, Eroll026 said:

 

Thanks! Nice to know that everything should carry on as planned despite me mixing with the salinity. I plan on keeping one or two fish and soft corals so I will probobly try to keep it around 1.026 from now on!

 Thank you for the advice! I will keep it calibrated using the recommended calibration fluid.

 

 Thanks! I will try to bring the salinity up to 1.026 the coming days as you said. 

As of right now I have no ato so Im doing manual top offs daily, and I got the tanks emblem as a perfect guideline!

 

I have a testkit at hand but honestly I havnt been testing anything up to this point. I have just been doing visual checks daily to monitor the different stages. I plan on testing in the beginning of week 4 to see where Im at. This might be a bad decision but I have read that its easy to get stressed or try to correct things that doesnt need correcting? 

Im all open to advice on this topic!

 

Thanks for the replies!

Changing salinity now will effect nothing. There is no livestock in the tank so it's safely done. 

 

with cycling it's best to test from the beginning because you need to see the ammonia rise and process.

 

Also with liverock, often the cycle can occur very quickly and without testing you won't know.

 

I agree over testing can be obsessive and cause stress but during cycling, it's best to test every other day.

 

Once the cycle is complete, weekly testing of the other parameters is best. This is how you get to understand what's going on in your tank and how things are effected by changes in certain parameters.