Salinity......?

cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
It can if you don't replace it with RO/DI (or whatever your water source is) Daily is best, every other should do. Or you can get an auto top off system to do it for you!
 
snaredrum

snaredrum

Member
It will affect it quite a bit. I know my little 29 gallon is using about 1/2 gallon every other day. Be sure your tank is topped off before water changes also.
 
outsdr2

outsdr2

Member
Hello RO/DI equals Reverse Osmosis/Deionizer. My understanding is that as long as you are topping off and not taking any water out. your salinity will remain constant, as salt does not evaperate.
 
tonynader

tonynader

Member
the only time i take water out is when changing 5 gallons of the water for my water change. SO your saying other then that it should be fine? ....And what does topping off mean? Sorry im new to this
 
outsdr2

outsdr2

Member
Hi Topping off is when you are replacing evaperated water. when taking water out you will need to add salt as you have psychically removed it. so basically if you remove tank water and just replace it with RO your salt level will drop.
 
outsdr2

outsdr2

Member
Hello
Water change add salt. unless you need to decrease salinity.
topping off for evaporation no, unless you need to raise salinity.
 
snaredrum

snaredrum

Member
OK Maybe I can help. When the water in the tank evporats, the salt stays in the tank raising the SP. When you top off with just RO/DI water it delutes the salt back to its proper SP. IF you take water out as in a water change, you are taking out water and the SP will stay the same. Make sure the new saltwater is the same SP as the tank water unless you need to move the SP up or down A LITTLE at a time.
Hope this helps. Good Luck
 
tonynader

tonynader

Member
ya that made it a lot more clear for me thanks. I just need to get a test kit for it to stay up to date with this.
 
mkroher

mkroher

Member
I just want to say that evaporation does not affect the salinity THAT much.
My Story....
I have a 29gal, and I wanted to perform hyposalinity.
Replacing approximately 5 gallons of saltwater with freshwater only dropped the SG about .002! And I measured the water at 20 minute, 1hr, and 2hr intervals.
I did a 3-5gallon water change in the morning, and one in the evening. It took a week to get the SG down to 1.009.
So in my opinion.... if you lose a gallon due to evaporation, there's no need to sound the alarm and freak out if you're not there to top it off.
Try it for yourself. Measure SG before and after top-offs. And if your eyeball can see a difference in the refractometer, then you have the eyesight of a hawk.. congrats.
So there's my two cents. Take it or leave it. No reason to fear the SG-police.
-Mike
 
snaredrum

snaredrum

Member
Originally Posted by mkroher
http:///forum/post/3085225
I just want to say that evaporation does not affect the salinity THAT much.
My Story....
I have a 29gal, and I wanted to perform hyposalinity.
Replacing approximately 5 gallons of saltwater with freshwater only dropped the SG about .002! And I measured the water at 20 minute, 1hr, and 2hr intervals.
I did a 3-5gallon water change in the morning, and one in the evening. It took a week to get the SG down to 1.009.
So in my opinion.... if you lose a gallon due to evaporation, there's no need to sound the alarm and freak out if you're not there to top it off.
Try it for yourself. Measure SG before and after top-offs. And if your eyeball can see a difference in the refractometer, then you have the eyesight of a hawk.. congrats.
So there's my two cents. Take it or leave it. No reason to fear the SG-police.
-Mike
I have done this and you are correct. It didn't change much at all. With this case is topping off with saltwater will bring it up over time.
 
mkroher

mkroher

Member
Originally Posted by Snaredrum
http:///forum/post/3085813
I have done this and you are correct. It didn't change much at all. With this case is topping off with saltwater will bring it up over time.
yes.. topping off with saltwater WILL bring it up over time.
 
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