bang guy NEW READINGS on mixed salt

[mikegray]

my refractometer wasnt calibrated.. never knew it had to be so when i was getting LOW LOW Mg and CA and ALK levels...... i thought my salt was at 1.026 but was REALLY at 1.010... i dont kno how my lawnmower is living through that and my 2 clownfish lived for so long...
this also explains why like 200 snails died every shrimp i tried died instantly and 2 starfish like died instantly.... i found the solution..
so i calibrated it and i mixed new water to REAL 1.026 and i get calcium 450 Mg 1450 and ALK 4.11meg/L
how are these???? i gotta do like 3-water changes to get my tank to these levels since there soo low in salt and these levels... but how is it..
will this help control algae.. and will this now grow coraline algae??
god im soo stupid LOL but hey... now i know right?

 

[bang guy]

That's great!
If it were me I would just start topping off with your new saltwater instead of fresh water until the salinity is at least up to 35ppt.
Also, ignore the left side of the scale on the refractometer, you're really interested in the Salinity (right side), not the Specific Gravity.

 

[grmreefer2]

does it matter which side you read? they are both related and if the SG is one reading, wont the salinity read the same as long as the SG is the same?

 

[mikegray]

im doing water changes until im at 36. i want my tank at 1.026 eheh

 

[bang guy]

I still advise using evaporation to raise your salinity gradually instead of the water changes. It's your tank though.

 

[mikegray]

doing the top off with salt water will raise salt faster huh. i just did a huge water change and it only raised barely if any. a 20g change.. and i was thinking im taking salt out and just putting new in with a little more.. if i top off with salt water im keepin all salt in there and just adding on to it.... lol.... god im sooo stupid

 

[pyro]

I raise salinity/SG with topoffs. Just dump in weak saltwater and stop when you get it to your level. No problems so far =)
Also, aside from your salt level, might want to check your acclimation process and slow it down a bit.

 

[jacklax]

How big is the tank? I recently brought my tank out of hypo...it's a 75...and it took forever (much longer than the 7 or so days mentioned in the disease forum) to bring it up to normal. I truely think that the size of the tank is a big factor as to what approach you take when raising salinity. I was making 10 gallon water changes (at 1.025 salinity levels) that barely affected the overall salinity at all.

 

[mikegray]

i got a 125

 

[jacklax]

How much topping off are you required to do? I'm more than willing to admit that gradual changes are the best, but using top off water alone to riase the salinity will take forever. The recommendation for coming out of hypo...which is 1.009 salinity is approx. a week...I think the same would apply here as well.

 

[mikegray]

my salt is at 1.015 and i want it at 1.026
when i do a water change it only raises hardly any... and ill begin to waste water...... i have 2 Garbage cans same size..... should i empty water into one.. put the 1.026 salt in the tank.... and put my pump in the gc with the tank water in.... and add salt... let it mix then take tank water out into gc and pump that BACK in and add salt to this and keep doing it....... then once its all to the correct salt level.. do a NEW water water change?
and what if i mixed a batch of water to like 1.050 or so would the calcium or Mg or ALK like precipatate in the newly mixed water and throw all the levels off???

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by MikeGray
and what if i mixed a batch of water to like 1.050 or so would the calcium or Mg or ALK like precipatate in the newly mixed water and throw all the levels off???
Yep.

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by Jacklax
using top off water alone to riase the salinity will take forever. The recommendation for coming out of hypo...which is 1.009 salinity is approx. a week...I think the same would apply here as well.
It takes about one week to raise Salinity from 14ppt to 35ppt using full strength saltwater (35ppt) for topoff. This assumes the typical 10% per week evaporation rate.

 

[mikegray]

i just mixed some new saltwater and i accidently mixed it to 1.028-1.029ish. how do i find out if i made it precipitate??? i hope i didnt mess up this batch of watever... is there a way to tell??? would the water be all snowy?? or something... cause its clear...... i was suppose to mix to 1.026 heh

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by MikeGray
i just mixed some new saltwater and i accidently mixed it to 1.028-1.029ish. how do i find out if i made it precipitate??? i hope i didnt mess up this batch of watever... is there a way to tell??? would the water be all snowy?? or something... cause its clear...... i was suppose to mix to 1.026 heh
I wouldn't worry about it. The precipitate will show up as white or gray dust on the bottom of the mixing container. You should be mixing it with cold water so I would expect the Specific Gravity to read high to get the proper Salinity.
I mix my salt with water at a temp of 60F so to obtain water of the proper Salinity (35ppt+) I would have to mix it to a Specific Gravity of 1.028 or 1.029 if I had to measure with a hydrometer.

 

[jonnywater]

Originally Posted by MikeGray
my refractometer wasnt calibrated.. never knew it had to be so when i was getting LOW LOW Mg and CA and ALK levels...... i thought my salt was at 1.026 but was REALLY at 1.010... i dont kno how my lawnmower is living through that and my 2 clownfish lived for so long...
this also explains why like 200 snails died every shrimp i tried died instantly and 2 starfish like died instantly.... i found the solution..
so i calibrated it and i mixed new water to REAL 1.026 and i get calcium 450 Mg 1450 and ALK 4.11meg/L
how are these???? i gotta do like 3-water changes to get my tank to these levels since there soo low in salt and these levels... but how is it..
will this help control algae.. and will this now grow coraline algae??
god im soo stupid LOL but hey... now i know right?
Your alk is higher then hell and that will most likely cause problems with the other chemistry in the future.

 

[jonnywater]

Originally Posted by MikeGray
doing the top off with salt water will raise salt faster huh. i just did a huge water change and it only raised barely if any. a 20g change.. and i was thinking im taking salt out and just putting new in with a little more.. if i top off with salt water im keepin all salt in there and just adding on to it.... lol.... god im sooo stupid

It's not really a good thing to shock your animals with some MASSIVE implosion of a raise in salinity in however long it takes the water to empty from your container to your tank. Thats just my thoughts though.

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by jonnywater
Your alk is higher then hell and that will most likely cause problems with the other chemistry in the future.
An ALK of 4.11 with a Ca of 450 isn't significantly out of line in my opinion.

 

[mikegray]

wait 4.11alk and 450calcium is bad???? by looking at the CA/ALk chart i thought like calcium 440 and alk of 4.5 is good??? i thought i had really good readings.. guess not lol

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by MikeGray
wait 4.11alk and 450calcium is bad???? by looking at the CA/ALk chart i thought like calcium 440 and alk of 4.5 is good??? i thought i had really good readings.. guess not lol
Your levels are fine. If anything your ALK is a wee bit low for your Calcium level. I wouldn't change a thing.