Let the nightmare begin!

saltymarine

saltymarine

Member
Well the nightmares have begun. I woke up this morning to a diatom outbreak and so I went through the usual testing procedures. For some reason my SG went through the roof in the matter of a week. I tested it last week using a refractometer and it was 1.027 I am sure I calibrated it properly and all was going well. I tested it this morning and it was 1.035 and I am sure it killed off anything in the LR. I was trying to figure out why the ammonia has stayed so high and I think I know now. I just did a 25% water change and retested it and it is still off the charts. I have not topped off any water or anything so now I am trying to figure out why there is a big disparity in the weeks time. I went and bought a hydrometer just to make sure that the refractometer was not faulty and they both tested close to the same. I have the salinity back down to 1.026 because I added 6 gallons of RO/DI water only. Now let's hope the rock isn't dead completely.
 
saltymarine

saltymarine

Member
It is a 29G and it is in the process of cycling thank god because nothing else was in the tank and it has been running for a week and a half.
 
john57

john57

Member
This will probably be an obvious observation, but always do top offs with RO water only. I have seen posts where others have added mixed saltwater to top off the tank. The only thing that leaves the tank with evaporation is the water. The amount of salt stays the same.
 
reefaholic33

reefaholic33

Member
Diatom out-breaks are perfectly normal during the cycling process. And looks like you got the SG getting back to the norm so you are lookin good IMO.
 
monalisa

monalisa

Active Member
Originally Posted by john57
http:///forum/post/2955700
This will probably be an obvious observation, but always do top offs with RO water only. I have seen posts where others have added mixed saltwater to top off the tank. The only thing that leaves the tank with evaporation is the water. The amount of salt stays the same.
This is the first thing that popped into my head...always top off with fresh water only, not saltwater. Replace water during a water change with saltwater that has been calibrated to the same salinity as that in the tank. Hope this helps.
Lisa
 
monalisa

monalisa

Active Member
Originally Posted by john57
http:///forum/post/2955700
This will probably be an obvious observation, but always do top offs with RO water only. I have seen posts where others have added mixed saltwater to top off the tank. The only thing that leaves the tank with evaporation is the water. The amount of salt stays the same.
This is the first thing that popped into my head...always top off with fresh water only, not saltwater. Replace water during a water change with saltwater that has been calibrated to the same salinity as that in the tank.
Agreed, you will expect diatoms during the cycle period. Hope this helps.
Lisa
 
naclh2o nut

naclh2o nut

Member
how often did you top off in the past. I don't have a biocube on salt, looks like that is what you have. IME bio cubes or any tank with a lid on top will evaporate alot slower then with out. As far as the Sg going up that has to be salt was added somewhere sometime. Did you add anything between test, do any cleaning that you knocked a large salt deposit off the filter, just thoughts.
 
saltymarine

saltymarine

Member
Well the funny thing is that there have been no top offs during the week. Evaporation was not occuring and nothing was added. I just wonder if I got a faulty reading from the refractometer the first time or it wasn't calibrated correctly. I definitely know not to add salt with top offs so that definitely was not it. Thanks for the replies though.
 
tropills

tropills

Member
any evaporation in a small tank can be ALOT, so even if it did not look like much it was. always keep up on evaporation with RO water, if the tanks down a 1/4 inch top it off. my tank also doesn't look low at all but it evaporates 5 plus gallons a day.
 
oceansidefish

oceansidefish

Active Member
Wow no kidding thats alot. I have a eurobraced open top tank and even in summer when its 80 in my house and I don't loose more than 2.5 TOPS in my 120... And it's a 4x2x2
 
oceansidefish

oceansidefish

Active Member
That makes a little more sense then...I thought that was out of the 180 you have in your profile. I was like WOW that must have some crazy lighting going on. I though you were growing something crazy in there like some caluperajuana
 
tropills

tropills

Member
Originally Posted by Oceansidefish
http:///forum/post/2958274
That makes a little more sense then...I thought that was out of the 180 you have in your profile. I was like WOW that must have some crazy lighting going on. I though you were growing something crazy in there like some caluperajuana
 
dustyboy316

dustyboy316

Member
Originally Posted by john57
http:///forum/post/2955700
This will probably be an obvious observation, but always do top offs with RO water only. I have seen posts where others have added mixed saltwater to top off the tank. The only thing that leaves the tank with evaporation is the water. The amount of salt stays the same.

I did that for awhile and I think I ended up going as high as 1.31 or so. I then thought about it, and realized I was an idiot. Luckily I cought my own mistake and nothing got hurt.
 
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