Increasing Salinity

[thegrayghost]

I have a 46 gallon tank. what is the best way to increase the salinity. For instance if I now read a SG of 1.019 and want to increase it to 1.023. Do I remove a couple of gallons of water and replace with a water that has high SG and let the tank distribute it through the tank to balance the salinity.
I just wanted to be sure so I don't shock the fish.
Thanks,
Robert

 

[bobj]

Add some salt. One half cup at a time would be reasonable. Let the tank circulate for 24 hours then re-test.

 

[mr . salty]

NEVER,NEVER,NEVER add salt directly to the tank...This will most likly shock your fish... Take water out as you said,add salt too that,then add it back to the tank...

 

[broomer5]

Mix up some saltwater, S.G. 1.023, airate and put in gallon containers, leave lids off containers, then and add as top off water for a week or so. This will gradually increase the S.G. slowly.
Eventually you'll get to where you want to with littlw shock to inhabitants.
Just another way to do it.
Brian

 

[goldfish]

I actually add salt to the sump. It dissolves and circulates slowly into the tank and I've never had a problem. Some of you may disagree with me, but the lfs guy I work with (very knowledgable) says he does it this way.

 

[jimi]

I agree with Salty and the others. Your best bet is to premix with a powerhead. You can do it slowly by using saltwater to replace your water lost to evaporation instead of freshwater. As far as adding it to the sump, most will disolve but some chunks will be left behind, premix is by far the best method for livestock.

 

[mr . salty]

GOLDFISH,sure the salt MAY be somewhat dissolved by the time it reaches your tank,But what about the salinity inside your sump while this salt is sitting in there. If you have any bio media in the sump,you are taking one hell of a chance killing your bacteria using this practise...Even if done slowly,you are still subjecting your tank's inhabatants to a blast of high salt concentrates from the return pump...Still not a good idea....Sure it may be a simple way to do it.But shortcuts usually lead to disaster...

 

[goldfish]

Thanks for the advice. I'll be sure to take that into consideration.

 

[thegrayghost]

Thanks everybody for your info. Today I pumped out 2 gallons of my tank water, added 1/2 cup of salt, mixed with a powerhead and returned the water to the tank. I increased the SG from 1.019 to 1.022, I will do the same in a couple of more days to get it to 1.023.
One question though, was the increase from 1.019 to 1.022 to much of an increase all at once?
Thanks to all,
Robert

 

[bobj]

Undisolved salt does not shock fish unless you believe that the salt crystals cause a chemical reaction with the skin similar to bleach in a human. The fish respond to the osmolarity of the water which is created by dissolved salt. If you put in too much salt too quickly it will raise the specific gravity too quickly and then it will shock the fish.
For example,if you drop a copper bracelet in the water it will not kill the fish until the copper is dissolved in the water.
If you want to mix water and add it that's fine but adding salt to your sump or tank is not harmful to fish if the quantity is not excessive.

 

[tanker newbie]

imo the change from 1.019 to 1.022 was a little more shock than what you could have done but i dont think it would cause any long term effect, from what i know(or heard) is that its best if you dont change the salintiy more than .02 per day

 

[pufferlover]

I agree it is best to raise the salinity a point at a time. Going down say for hypo you can do more (and as trey has said it is better as it shocks the little white devils faster) I have done 2 points twice a day going down. Most books advocate no more then a one point difference when adding new fish from say a bag from store. Don't panic tho you probably can get a way with it this time but slow it down next time to give fish a chance to get used to it.

 

[i3luedragon]

That's what I would say too but most books and sites feature salinity at 1.023-1.026 with 1.024 being closest to most reefs. Which supports more fish and invert life?