Salinity levels

[BILLYNY]

Quick question. My salt level is between .20 and .21 which I’m told is fine for the fish I have right now.I have one anemone which seems to be flourishing fine in this salt level. My local aquarium guy tells me my level is too low for the anemone and I should raise it to .25. He said it’s fine for the fish and won’t affect them yet I read that the fish do better in the lower level around .20.
My question is do I raise it to .25 or leave it where it is?
If .25 doesn’t bother the fish why do people say salt level should be between .20 and .23 My feeling is since the anemone looks fine I should leave well enough alone. I’d rather lose that then lose my fish.
50 Gall saltwtr
2 yellow tail Damsels
1 striped damsel
4 Cardinals
1 Royal Gamma
1 yellow face gobe
1 Coral Blemy
1 butterfly
1 Anemone

Thanks

 

[BILLYNY]

OOPS 2 Clowns also

Quick question. My salt level is between .20 and .21 which I’m told is fine for the fish I have right now.I have one anemone which seems to be flourishing fine in this salt level. My local aquarium guy tells me my level is too low for the anemone and I should raise it to .25. He said it’s fine for the fish and won’t affect them yet I read that the fish do better in the lower level around .20.
My question is do I raise it to .25 or leave it where it is?
If .25 doesn’t bother the fish why do people say salt level should be between .20 and .23 My feeling is since the anemone looks fine I should leave well enough alone. I’d rather lose that then lose my fish.
50 Gall saltwtr
2 yellow tail Damsels
1 striped damsel
4 Cardinals
1 Royal Gamma
1 yellow face gobe
1 Coral Blemy
1 butterfly
1 Anemone

Thanks

 

[lmforbis]

Your salinity(specific gravity) should be 1.025-1.027. Less is fine for fish short term but not long term. Inverts like anemones need the 1.026 salinity to survive. I doubt your nem is thriving, if Conditions, water quality, salinity and lighting aren’t perfect the nem will not survive.

 

[BILLYNY]

So my Fish store guy said the fish should be kept at .020-.023. You say that’s fine for the short term but not the long term . Why would they tell me this if they are selling me all the fish and the anemone? I’ll slowly raise the salt level over the next week or so and hope the fish are OK its at .21 now

Your salinity(specific gravity) should be 1.025-1.027. Less is fine for fish short term but not long term. Inverts like anemones need the 1.026 salinity to survive. I doubt your nem is thriving, if Conditions, water quality, salinity and lighting aren’t perfect the nem will not survive.

Your salinity(specific gravity) should be 1.025-1.027. Less is fine for fish short term but not long term. Inverts like anemones need the 1.026 salinity to survive. I doubt your nem is thriving, if Conditions, water quality, salinity and lighting aren’t perfect the nem will not survive.

 

[lmforbis]

Rule number one of marine aquarium keeping. Never believe what the guy at the store says. Many fish stores keep their salinity lower because it tends to slow down diseases. For the same reason many run a sub clinical level of copper in their tanks. It prevent disease from being evident in the store. when they do this the result is often fish that get sick shortly after you buy them. The guys at the fish store only deal with short term.

A couple things to keep in mind when you get new fish:
1. Always test the salinity of the water the fish come in. You need to match the salinity of the water the fish is in before adding the fish.
2. Never add the water from the bag to the tank. If there is copper in the fishstore water it will contaminate your tank and kill the inverts.
3. Always quarantine the fish for 30 days. This is a time when you can slowly adjust the salinity from the store salinity to ideal salinity. You can make sure the fish are eating well and watch for any sign of disease.

When you raise the salinity go very slowly. Go too fast and the fish won’t do well. Fish can handle a fairly fast decrease in salinity but not a fast increase.

 

[jay0705]

I agree w imforbis. Stores are there to sell you stuff. Sometimes its just misinformation and not a sales pitch. Either way do your homework.
A nem definitely needs higher salinity, a fish only tank is generally 1.020- 1.023 reef tanks generally 1.025- to 1.027. A nem is definitely in the reef category.
Now fish only, yes can be kept at lower salinity. Hypo salinity is used to treat ich. Its sg is 1.009. It increases fish appetite, but no other effects are generally seen. If you Google it people have " tested" the effects and kept fish at hypo levels for yrs. Now fish and only fish can handle that. No snails, shrimp, anything but fish.

 

[BILLYNY]

Thanks for The info. I’m going to raise the salinity level up with the top off’s slowly.So the increased salinity at .25 wont harm the fish at all correct?

I agree w imforbis. Stores are there to sell you stuff. Sometimes its just misinformation and not a sales pitch. Either way do your homework.
A nem definitely needs higher salinity, a fish only tank is generally 1.020- 1.023 reef tanks generally 1.025- to 1.027. A nem is definitely in the reef category.
Now fish only, yes can be kept at lower salinity. Hypo salinity is used to treat ich. Its sg is 1.009. It increases fish appetite, but no other effects are generally seen. If you Google it people have " tested" the effects and kept fish at hypo levels for yrs. Now fish and only fish can handle that. No snails, shrimp, anything but fish.

 

[jay0705]

Nope just go slow