High Salinity

Saltyskimmer

Saltyskimmer

New Member
I just had my water tested at the local (for me local is a 45 min drive).LFS and as I suspected my salinity was high, 1.038. I was hoping my hydrometer was bad (although I've heard they really don't go bad). Anyway, I have a couple of questions that hopefully someone can help me with:
1) What kind of adverse affects can happen for a high salinity?
2) How frequent can I do water changes to try and stabilize it? I did one on Sunday and want to do it today, Wednesday. Will that be okay? What if I did it the next day? Should I let it "cycle" per say a couple of days?
I know I need to do some water changes to fix it but how frequent or infrequent should I do it so I don't harm my guys inside?

Saltyskimmer
 
pegasus

pegasus

Well-Known Member
How big is your tank? You can remove a small portion of the water daily and replace it with fresh water, as you can safely reduce salinity at a faster rate than raising it... but you don't want to change it too fast, and that's the reason I ask how big your tank is.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Hi,

First you need a refactometer, it's more accurate.
For now: To get back on track, remove just a bit of your tank water and add fresh RO water (reverse osmosis) giving time between to circulate the new water and retest the SG. Basically all you are doing is a bigger version of acclimation. Remove tank water, replace with the freshwater, wait an hour, and retest the SG...Do that until you reach the desired level.

Second: What water are you using for top offs?

Water evaporates but salt does not, so to stabilize your salinity, all you have to do is put FRESHWATER, not saltwater...and refill the tank each morning or evening, to it's original water line. You should top off with RO (reverse osmosis) water, and not use tap.
 
2014FishKiller

2014FishKiller

Member
flower,

I wish I could read your last comment six months ago, than I won't clash my tank, second part is most important that people easily mishandle.
 
Bryce E

Bryce E

Active Member
Yes what Pegasus and Flower said. I can't imagine how your salinity ever got so high... but you don't need to use a reduced salinity/newly mixed saltwater batch to lower your salinity. You need to get it lowered faster than that.... again... you can reduce your salinity without negative impact so much faster than you can raising it. So +1. Just remove saltwater from the tank and add freshwater... in small batches once per hour or two... until you get the salinity to the desired level. Then after that you can still do a water change if you need one on your tank. But get the salinity down first, it's way too high. Just make sure that once everything is done and you go to do a water change that your new saltwater matches the salinity of your tank. With that being said... I'd just ask how you are mixing your new saltwater? Are you mixing it in a bucket of some sort with a powerhead for circulation and allowing it to cycle/run for 24 hours before you add it to your tank? The reason I ask is because you want to let your salt and other elements fully dissolve before you check your salinity and before you add it to your tank.
 
pegasus

pegasus

Well-Known Member
Agreed to all above. Hydrometers don't normally go bad, but many start bad. They are notorious for being inaccurate. You can get the same reading over and over, but you have no way of knowing if it's actually the correct salinity. If you can't get a hydrometer, once you get your water to the proper salinity, you should mark the hydrometer with a magic marker where the proper level should be. This way you will match the tank's salinity every time you mix a fresh batch of saltwater.

Correction: I meant to say, "if you can't get a refractometer"...
 
Last edited:
2014FishKiller

2014FishKiller

Member
pegasus said:
Agreed to all above. Hydrometers don't normally go bad, but many start bad. They are notorious for being inaccurate. You can get the same reading over and over, but you have no way of knowing if it's actually the correct salinity. If you can't get a hydrometer, once you get your water to the proper salinity, you should mark the hydrometer with a magic marker where the proper level should be. This way you will match the tank's salinity every time you mix a fresh batch of saltwater.
Click to expand...
Not a bad idea, but how does he/she know where to mark? It become all guessing, how could you do hipo treatment.
 
pegasus

pegasus

Well-Known Member
2014FishKiller said:
Not a bad idea, but how does he/she know where to mark? It become all guessing, how could you do hipo treatment.
Click to expand...
He will have to compensate for how much the hydrometer is off. For instance, let's say his hydrometer was reading 1.025 SG, when the salinity was actually 1.038 SG. The hydrometer would have been reading .013 high. He can simply subtract .013 from 1.025. If he wants to mix his water at 1.025 SG, he should add salt until the salinity reaches 1.012 on the hydrometer (1.012 + .013 = 1.025). This should get him close(r) to where it should be. When he thinks the salinity is close, he can take a sample to the LFS and have it tested for accuracy. If the salinity is where he wants it to be, he can go home, put water in the hydrometer, and mark where the needle is pointing. He will then use this mark every time he mixes saltwater.
 
Saltyskimmer

Saltyskimmer

New Member
flower said:
Hi,

First you need a refactometer, it's more accurate.
For now: To get back on track, remove just a bit of your tank water and add fresh RO water (reverse osmosis) giving time between to circulate the new water and retest the SG. Basically all you are doing is a bigger version of acclimation. Remove tank water, replace with the freshwater, wait an hour, and retest the SG...Do that until you reach the desired level.

Second: What water are you using for top offs?

Water evaporates but salt does not, so to stabilize your salinity, all you have to do is put FRESHWATER, not saltwater...and refill the tank each morning or evening, to it's original water line. You should top off with RO (reverse osmosis) water, and not use tap.
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot for the advice. Makes a lot of sense/
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
2014FishKiller said:
Not a bad idea, but how does he/she know where to mark? It become all guessing, how could you do hipo treatment.
Click to expand...
Actually after a very short time the level of the water is marked by the water. That being said, in the beginning I used a piece of tape to mark my level...later I just knew it. Hypo MUST NOT be done unless you have a refractometer, it's really the only time you absolutely need one.

As long as the hydrometer is at least close, it doesn't matter, as long as the water in the tank matches what your change water SG is. An hydrometer is just fine for matching water change SG with your tank.
 
silverado61

silverado61

Well-Known Member
How do you know where to mark your hydrometer for accuracy if it's off in the first place? As soon as I found out that they were undependable. IE: A tiny bubble can throw it off, temp change can throw it off, dried salt residue can throw it off, ect. Since I had just made a several hundred dollar investment in the tank, equipment and livestock, it was worth farther investing by getting a $50 refractometer.
Just saying
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
silverado61 said:
How do you know where to mark your hydrometer for accuracy if it's off in the first place? As soon as I found out that they were undependable. IE: A tiny bubble can throw it off, temp change can throw it off, dried salt residue can throw it off, ect. Since I had just made a several hundred dollar investment in the tank, equipment and livestock, it was worth farther investing by getting a $50 refractometer.
Just saying
Click to expand...
It's marked with a safe zone... If you are worried about it, take it to the LFS and let them do a reading on their tanks with it to make sure it's reading correctly. I used an hydrometer for 10 years before I even knew there was such a thing as a refractometer. The simple truth is that unless you are doing hypo, you don't have to be spot on, as long as you make sure that change water matches the tank water you are good to go. Even if the SG is a little high or low.
 
silverado61

silverado61

Well-Known Member
I think I'd rather be "spot on". Its a small price to pay. After all the money and effort I've invested why skimp on a inexpensive hydrometer? Its like, why buy a floating glass thermometer when you can spend a little more and have a digital?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top