Tank Salinity?

[bknow]

i restarted my 10gallon tank couple days ago and my salinity in the water was around 1.025 when i put it in the tank...now it jumped to 1.04ish...normal? i did leave my rocks and sand in the tank for a while with the old water...what can i do to make it stable around 1.024ish-1.025?
tanks in the middle of cycling also so yeh...
nitrite-o
nitrate-20ppm
ammonia-?
ph-8.0
carbonate hardness: it read 180-240ppm

 

[coraljunky]

Originally Posted by bknow
http:///forum/post/2556605
i restarted my 10gallon tank couple days ago and my salinity in the water was around 1.025 when i put it in the tank...now it jumped to 1.04ish...normal? i did leave my rocks and sand in the tank for a while with the old water...what can i do to make it stable around 1.024ish-1.025?
tanks in the middle of cycling also so yeh...
nitrite-o
nitrate-20ppm
ammonia-?
ph-8.0
carbonate hardness: it read 180-240ppm
Remove some of the water from the tank and replace with fresh. Do this in small increments until salinity is achieved.

 

[bknow]

RO water correct?

 

[kat74]

Originally Posted by bknow
http:///forum/post/2556667
RO water correct?

 

[m0nk]

What are you using to test your salinity? If you're using a swing-arm hydrometer, I'd throw it out, they're fairly unreliable. Get a glass/weighted one or a refractometer. The swing-arm ones can get "gunked" up and stick in one direction or the other, effectively making your salinity seem way too high or low.

 

[perfectdark]

Also, depending on how soon after you mixed your salt you tested. Yes this could happen if your salt wasnt all dissolved when you first did your test. Testing again even a few hours later would of shown a change. If your first test was 2 hours or more after you mixed (depending on water temp) then I would say your instrument is off. Other wise you may not have let it mix and dissolve fully. JMO.

 

[m0nk]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
http:///forum/post/2557330
Also, depending on how soon after you mixed your salt you tested. Yes this could happen if your salt wasnt all dissolved when you first did your test. Testing again even a few hours later would of shown a change. If your first test was 2 hours or more after you mixed (depending on water temp) then I would say your instrument is off. Other wise you may not have let it mix and dissolve fully. JMO.
Excellent point!

 

[spanko]

Would any evaporation from the old water that the rock was left in resulted in a higher concentration of salt left in the rock itself, then when he added the new water the "saltier" rock residue dissolved into the new water spiking the Sg?

 

[bang guy]

10 gallon tanks have a large surface area compared to volume. This means that daily evaporation removes a significant amount of water and quickly raises salinity. To maintain salinity you need to topoff at least every day and an auto-topoff is preferred.

 

[bknow]

so every time the water evaporates...salinity will go up right? i guess i gotta stock up on a lot of RO water...
i borrowed my friends refractometer i got the water back to 1.025

...now i gotta keep it that way