salinity low of water

[joe 09]

i have a 175 bow tank and have been keeping my water at 1.023, my local (2) fish stores keep their water at 1.015 for parasites.should i lower my salt. thanks in advance joe

 

[nicetry]

You're giving numbers for specific gravity. Shoot for a salinity level of 35 ppt. A lot of fish stores maintain their tanks at lowered salinities claiming it helps fend off parasites. Truth is that in order to be effective, you need to drop salinity to 14 ppt, much lower than what they keep theirs at. Personally, I think they do it to save on salt.
Keep your system at natural sea water levels which average 35 ppt and you'll have a healthy system.

 

[dmc888]

If your worried about parasites. A uv sterilizer will help kill them .

 

[ophiura]

Do you have invertebrates?
If so, that specific gravity (at the store) will KILL them, and to be honest, IMO, it is somewhat of a stress on the fish. It is totally abnormal. Nothing like the real world. Do you have parasite issues? Look into the causes of the stress that result in the parasite outbreaks...don't lower your specific gravity!! In fact, if you are in any way considering a reef tank, you should bump the specific gravity up to around 1.025-1.026.

 

[joe 09]

thanks for the replys,i have a fo system,and are using a uv , and a aquac urchin pro skimmer.i dont have any problems.i was just wondering why the lfs keep their salt so low.

 

[rubberduck]

wouldnet that low of salinity stress the fish out = parisite buffet, weak fish can be very good in the eyes of a parisite

 

[nicetry]

Originally posted by RUBBERDUCK
wouldnet that low of salinity stress the fish out = parisite buffet, weak fish can be very good in the eyes of a parisite
No. Actually, fish expend less energy in hyposaline conditions. Bony fish can spend extended periods of time in lower saline water w/o ill effects.

 

[snipe]

But it still only extended periods of time not good for a main tank. IMO I would only have hypo set up in my QT "And I do".

 

[nicetry]

Absolutely. An optimum environment would mimic the same salinity from the region where the fish are harvested. My tank is a Great Barrier Reef biotope, with all fish being found in that region. Salinities there actually average 37 ppt. I maintain mine at 35-36.
As Susan stated, low salinites are not tolerated by inverts, and most of us prefer to keep these in our systems. My point was that low salinity does not adversely impact on fish.