Salinity darasticly to high?

[Guest]

Hello again! I am setting up my nano reef, and just got my salinity measurement tool in the mail yesterday, I let it sit with saltwater for 24 hours as recommended and it still shows my salinity at the highest reading there, I dint have access to any other tools to measure the salinity, so should I trust this one and correct the salinity accordingly to this measurement? I did do a test with just freshwater and as it should have the needle stayed at the bottom, any advice would really be appreciated!

[Tired]

Those swing-arm testers are really inaccurate. Can you buy a refractometer? I use this one, and it seems to work pretty well. 

https://www.amazon.com/Refractometer-Fishkeeping-Automatic-Temperature-Compensation/dp/B018LRO1SU/ref=asc_df_B018LRO1SU/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198088359792&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12136827649629076315&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9028237&hvtargid=pla-319865121285&psc=1

 

How much salt did you mix into how much water to make the saltwater? 

[Guest]

Just now, Tired said:

Those swing-arm testers are really inaccurate. Can you buy a refractometer? I use this one, and it seems to work pretty well. 

https://www.amazon.com/Refractometer-Fishkeeping-Automatic-Temperature-Compensation/dp/B018LRO1SU/ref=asc_df_B018LRO1SU/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198088359792&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12136827649629076315&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9028237&hvtargid=pla-319865121285&psc=1

 

How much salt did you mix into how much water to make the saltwater? 

I will look into getting the refractometer, I mixed the amount of salt recommended by the package, it was a half cup per 5 gallons I think?

[j.falk]

Definitely get a refractometer...they are cheap on Ebay/Amazon and much better than a hydrometer.

[j.falk]

59 minutes ago, FreshwaterFishMan said:

I will look into getting the refractometer, I mixed the amount of salt recommended by the package, it was a half cup per 5 gallons I think?

Did you mix the water in a mixing bucket or your tank?  If it was your tank, did you take into account the fact that there is less water volume due to sand and rocks?

[Guest]

Just now, j.falk said:

That is the correct measurement but did you mix the water in a mixing bucket or your tank?

I mixed the first three half cups into the tank, I know a noob mistake, but after some of it was settling to the bottom the last half cup was mixed in a bucket then transferred to the tank

[j.falk]

Once you get a refractometer, you'll be able to correct the salinity fairly easy.   Add fresh water to dilute salinity that is too high.  Add salt / saltwater to bring salinity up if it's too low.  If you don't have a reliable way of testing salinity...your livestock will not survive long term.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, j.falk said:

Once you get a refractometer, you'll be able to adjust it to the correct salinity fairly easy.   Add fresh water to dilute salinity that is too high.  Add salt / saltwater to bring salinity up if it's too low.  If you don't have a reliable way of testing salinity...your livestock will not survive long term.

I don’t have anything in there right now and I am glad I know that those things can’t be trusted, because much worse could have happened if I did have really anything in there, I will make sure to order a refractometer before I get any livestock in there 🙂

[j.falk]

Another tip:  Mix the saltwater in a mixing barrel / bucket for better results.  Once you have livestock in your tank, you cannot simply add salt to the tank if your salinity is ever too low.  Better to get into the habit of using a mixing barrel now.  I use a 15 gallon garbage can so I always have plenty of fresh saltwater on hand in case I ever need it.  Always be prepared for the worst and having some prepared water could potentially save your livestock down the road if a tank emergency were to happen.

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, j.falk said:

Another tip:  Mix the saltwater in a mixing barrel / bucket for better results.  Once you have livestock in your tank, you cannot simply add salt to the tank if your salinity is ever too low.  Better to get into the habit of using a mixing barrel now.  I use a 15 gallon garbage can so I always have plenty of fresh saltwater on hand in case I ever need it.  Always be prepared for the worst and having some prepared water could potentially save your livestock down the road if a tank emergency were to happen.

Thanks for the tip! I will go prepare a 5 gallon bucket right now  🙂

[Tired]

Definitely don't put any live rock in that amount of salt, it'll quite possibly kill things off. Mix salt and water according to package instructions, in a bucket, and stick a small pump in there. When you get your live rock from the store, put it in that bucket, it'll be fine in there for a bit. 

[FISHnChix]

35 minutes ago, FreshwaterFishMan said:

I will look into getting the refractometer, I mixed the amount of salt recommended by the package, it was a half cup per 5 gallons I think?

 

34 minutes ago, j.falk said:

That is the correct measurement but did you mix the water in a mixing bucket or your tank?  If it was your tank, did you take into account the fact that there is less water volume due to sand and rocks?

What huh?? What salt is a half cup per 5 gallons.. normally its half cup per 1 GALLON??🤔🤔

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Tired said:

Definitely don't put any live rock in that amount of salt, it'll quite possibly kill things off. Mix salt and water according to package instructions, in a bucket, and stick a small pump in there. When you get your live rock from the store, put it in that bucket, it'll be fine in there for a bit. 

Because of work I can’t go to the store until this coming g weekend so by then my refractometer will arrive and I can fix the salt levels. 😄

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, FISHnChix said:

 

What huh?? What salt is a half cup per 5 gallons.. normally its half cup per 1 GALLON??🤔🤔

I used instant ocean sea salt, for me it is just the first result when you search up aquarium salt on Amazon 

[FISHnChix]

2 minutes ago, FreshwaterFishMan said:

I used instant ocean sea salt, for me it is just the first result when you search up aquarium salt on Amazon 

Naw its half cup per gallon. Heres the directions.. but dont use tap water haha.. use rodi or distilled or your asking for trouble  also use a refracometer 😎🤙

[j.falk]

23 minutes ago, FISHnChix said:

 

What huh?? What salt is a half cup per 5 gallons.. normally its half cup per 1 GALLON??🤔🤔

You're right.  I misread his post.

[FISHnChix]

7 minutes ago, j.falk said:

You're right.  I misread his post.

Yea I figured as much🙃😂

[j.falk]

Just now, FISHnChix said:

Yea I figured as much🙃😂

I just finished an all day construction job with lots of manual labor...I'm exhausted and should be in bed sleeping right now.  😭

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, FISHnChix said:

Naw its half cup per gallon. Heres the directions.. but dont use tap water haha.. use rodi or distilled or your asking for trouble  also use a refracometer 😎🤙

Oh wait yeah I got that wrong, J did put the correct amount of salt in, I just measured the whole bag into 5 gallon portions so I didn’t really have to measure it when it came time to fill up the tank 🙂 

[Guest]

29 minutes ago, j.falk said:

I just finished an all day construction job with lots of manual labor...I'm exhausted and should be in bed sleeping right now.  😭

Well then go do so 😉

 

[Tired]

That's a good technique. Before you do that, be sure to vigorously stir the salt- it can settle in shipping. If you part it out like that, mixing beforehand ensures that you have the right dose of all the minerals (calcium, magnesium, etc) in each portion of salt.