salinity level for reef?

[btieu]

hello all, i was wondering what is the best range of salinity level for a reef tank? i had someone that told me that it should be from .26 - .28. does that sound good? if so, what is the best way for me to raise mine up since my tank is reading .22? thanks in advance!! :notsure:

 

[wablondie98664]

salinity should be kept at 1.023 -1.025, so your not far off. just replace a little water at a time in your tank with water of a higher salinity untill you reach a desired level

 

[thomas712]

Agreed 1.023 - 1.025 is good, however what are you using to measure your salinity?
Plastic hydrometers have been found to be lacking in the accuracy department. Refractometers have a much better track record for measuring salinity, I highly recommend one.
Thomas

 

[nm reef]

For a reef I believe a good level is any stable SG between 1.023-1.026...stability is vital. Sudden changes in SG can cause stress related problems for fish and corals. To increase your current SG I'd suggest using top off water that has a SG close to your system....adding small amounts of saltwater will gradually increase the SG of your system....and I'd also agree that using a hydrometor can be risky....refractometers are much more accurate.

 

[bang guy]

Salinity should be very close to 35ppt IMO.

 

[tenseman]

When I set my tank up my LFS guy told me to set to the bottom of the colored scale which is 1.021. I havent had any problems with it at this level and everything seems to be fine. What will be the long term results of keeping it lower like this?
Thanks

 

[bang guy]

Salinity lower than Natural Sea Water will stress invertebrates the most. Snails & Starfish will have especially short lifespans and other inverts will die young as well. Many animals will be unable to reproduce in brackish conditions.
If you have a DSB then the populations of sand bed infauna will be skewed toward those animals best adapted to estuary conditions and divirsity will suffer greatly. Perhaps to the point of causeing the sand bed to fail.
I'm not an expert on fish only aquariums, but for reef tanks it is crucial to maintain NSW Salinity.

 

[bang guy]

One comment on listing Specific Gravity readings instead of Salinity.
The animals only care about Salinity. If you list Specific Gravity instead of Salinity and don't give me a temperature then I don't have a clue what Salinity you're talking about.
If you give a Salinity measurement I can easily give advice. If you give Specific Gravity then I have to know the temperature so I can make the conversion to Salinity. Better yet - just list the Salinity to save typing.

 

[btieu]

thanks for all the info guys. so my reef tank salinity is at 30. what is the best way to raise it up?? im in the progress of getting a refractometer.

 

[bang guy]

Use saltwater at 35ppt for topoff until your tank salinity is at 35ppt. That is slow enough to not stress inverts and fast enough so you don't get bored.