How do you prevent salt loss?

[think_tink13]

How are you guys keeping your tank from losing so much water and salt? We had a glass cover on top but it was keeping so much light out of the tank that it was killing our coral. I am very hesitant to keep it off because I don't want anymore fish jumping out, we already lost our Valentini Puffer from a bad jump.
We have heard of many of you using egg crate to keep the fish from jumping but what about water and salt? The furniture next to our tank has been ruined by saltwater. Our filter is one that hangs over the tank and we really don't have the option of purchasing a new underwater filter. We mainly want to protect the rest of my mother-in-laws furniture so she doesn't get rid of our tank.

 

[spiderwoman]

Your salt does not evaporate, only water. So when you top off, do it with fresh water. Only when you do a water change, then replace the removed water with saltwater.

 

[nordy]

Sorry to hear about your puffer! I lost my dogface puffer about 4 years ago when he jumped out of my tank and I found him on the floor, dead.

That puffer used to come over to where I sat in front of my computer and spit/splash water on me when he wanted attention.
On the salt issue, how is the water getting out of the tank? is it salt creep that's getting on the furniture? Even if you don't have anything splashing around, it can be hard to keep salt from showing up all around the tank. How big is your tank?

 

[alex4286]

i don't really understand the question. so your saying ur fish have been jumping so now you cover it? well that should help with the little 'bubbles' splashing and drying up creating salt creep & this should also help with H2O loss from evaporation.
Is your question HOW to cover your tank?
if so.. what i did was went to my local hardware store and had strong/clear window plexyglass (sp) cut into the specific size i needed to fit perfectly on top of my tank and it works beautifully. and of course taking out the glass every week or so to give it a quick rinse (from the salt creep) will be needed and your set.

 

[tugglife2]

our tank is 38gal. Most of the salt is coming from the little water splashes from the filter.it doesn't seem like much water is splashing out but a whole mess of salt ends up everywhere!

 

[tugglife2]

oops didn't realize I was on my fiance's profile

 

[tugglife2]

Originally Posted by Alex4286
http:///forum/post/2523971
i don't really understand the question. so your saying ur fish have been jumping so now you cover it? well that should help with the little 'bubbles' splashing and drying up creating salt creep & this should also help with H2O loss from evaporation.
Is your question HOW to cover your tank?
if so.. what i did was went to my local hardware store and had strong/clear window plexyglass (sp) cut into the specific size i needed to fit perfectly on top of my tank and it works beautifully. and of course taking out the glass every week or so to give it a quick rinse (from the salt creep) will be needed and your set.
we had a glass cover but had to take it off because it was preventing light from reaching our coral. So we are looking for an alternative.

 

[metweezer]

Like was mentioned earlier, you don't lose the salt, just the water so when refilling use non-salt water (RO/DI). Keep your tank filled as when the water runs low that's when you get the splashing from the filter IMO. And tell your mother in law you named the prettiest fish after her

Steve

 

[nordy]

Originally Posted by TuggLife2
http:///forum/post/2523987
our tank is 38gal. Most of the salt is coming from the little water splashes from the filter.it doesn't seem like much water is splashing out but a whole mess of salt ends up everywhere!
What type of filter is it? sump, HOB, biowheel? How about trying to fabricate some type of shield from some plexi? Pretty easy to cut and glue something together that might contain the little splashes. Got a Dremel?

 

[think_tink13]

We do have a biowheel. We are just going to try to maintain a high water level to minimize splashing. Now to fix the algae problem!

 

[morval]

buy/build a cannopy. water evaporates its a law of nature u cant stop it...but salt does not the only way salt gets out is from splashing which leads to salt creep. just give the top and area around the filter a quick wipe down every day.

 

[nordy]

Originally Posted by think_tink13
http:///forum/post/2524202
We do have a biowheel. We are just going to try to maintain a high water level to minimize splashing. Now to fix the algae problem!
I had a couple of biowheels when my tank was FW and I remember how they tended to splash out a little bit as the wheel spins. Ahh, how I loved having to pull the spray bar and clean the algea out of all the holes!
Now the algae problem, that's a whole other issue! There are 2 areas to focus on-1) make it hard for the algae to flourish (less light, less food (nitrates)) and 2) remove the algae that does grow (cleaner crews/fish, physical removal from the tank). Good luck with that!

 

[natclanwy]

Originally Posted by TuggLife2
http:///forum/post/2524015
we had a glass cover but had to take it off because it was preventing light from reaching our coral. So we are looking for an alternative.
Use the eggcrate (light diffuser) to keep your fish from jumping it won't do much to stop evaporation but it will keep your fish in your tank and won't build up with salt creep and block your light.
As far as salt creep make sure you keep your water level high to minimize splashing or better yet add a sump to your system the overflow box will keep your tank at a constant level and only the level in the sump will fluctuate with evaporation. Also make sure you don't have any micro bubbles in your tank all these bubbles eventually travel to the surface and when they pop they splash water.

 

[think_tink13]

Is a sump easy to do with a small budget?
About the hair algae, its ONLY on the filter. The tank has grime on the glass but the only outbreak is where the water pours out back into the tank. The filters are brand new I just changed them not to long ago, plus we use phosphoban. We had a huge outbreak a while ago and it has been under control for nearly a year. Aside from that we also have a layer of nastyness on our sand and we have never had white sand! Sandsifting Starfish don't survive in our tank, horseshoe crabs don't do much to help, and we can never find nassarius snails in Miami.
Our tank is screaming for a makeover and we are screaming for help!

 

[natclanwy]

You can probably put a sump together for about $200
$50 for an overflow box
$50 for a return pump
$50 for acrylic and slicone for baffles in the sump and misc. plumbing.
~$50 for 20-30 gal tank to use as a sump don't know how much these run new but you can generally find these for nothing since there are so many available just check the paper or craigslist.
You can maybe cut some cost on on the overflow box if you use the plans in the equipment forum for the DIY PVC overflow not sure how well it works or what the cost of putting it together is. The $50 for the acrylic ect. is probably a little high but I decided to error on the high side to cover any extra costs on the other components.