What Is Salinity Supposed To Be?

[maryd]

When I started my 90 gallon reef tank, the LFS said to keep the salinity in the mid range of the hydrometer, which is 1.022. I have read that it should be at 1.025 which is above the red area on this equipment. I have snails, hermits and shrimp in there also. What's it supposed to be?

 

[blue00si]

I read that it is supposed to be a little higher for inverts. Mine is at 1.026

 

[27mtaylor]

I also keep mine a little higher at 1.025.

 

[maryd]

Ok, I will increase it. Will the higher salinity help my mushroom which is looking a bit poorly right now?

 

[pclown]

It may, I keep mine at 1.024

 

[saltfan]

Originally Posted by MARYD
Ok, I will increase it. Will the higher salinity help my mushroom which is looking a bit poorly right now?
Depends, what type of lights are on your tank? Metal Halide or VHO I would hope.

 

[pfitz44]

your specific gravity should be no lower than 1.025
salinity is something completly different, and depends on temperature

 

[promisetbg]

Originally Posted by PFitz44
your specific gravity should be no lower than 1.025
salinity is something completly different, and depends on temperature
Correct...except temp does have an effect on both.The previous mentioned numbers are specific gravity readings..salinity should be 35%. Raise it slowly..using SW instead of fresh at top-off time is a good safe way to raise it.

 

[maryd]

I don't know what the lights are called but they have blue bulbs and white bulbs and little night lights. The expert at Reef Plus recommended these to me. I keep the water temp at 80. So I need to slowly raise the SG to 1.025?

 

[bigarn]

For a reef system a temp of 82 and a SG of about 1.025-1.026 should give you a salinity reading of about 35ppt ... this is about perfect.

 

[promisetbg]

Originally Posted by MARYD
Ok, I will increase it. Will the higher salinity help my mushroom which is looking a bit poorly right now?
What are all of your other parameters{Ca,Alk,Ph,PO4,Amm,NO3,NO4} how long has the tank been set up, and what size is it?

 

[maryd]

tank has been up since december. The PH is 8.2, ammonia 0, nitrate 5-10 and nitrite 0. Temp is kept at 80. It's a 90 gallon with a sand base and over 60 lbs of live rock. I have a wet/dry filter system, protein skimmer, 2 powers heads on opposite sides and a bubbler behind a big rock.
Live stock that is in there right now is 20+ snails, 5 mexican turbo snails, 2 cleaner shirmp, 3 peppermint shrimps and several hermit crabs. A black clown, a Perc clown and a royal gramma. The yellow tang and the singapore angel are in quarentine for what could be a bacteria infection and the 3 blue-yellow tailed damsels are in the prison tank for biting me and mistreating their tank mates. Nasty little buggers!
I took all the live rock and coral out last night to catch the damsels and the 2 bigger guys. The other 3 fish stayed in there. I replaced the water which I'd removed to cover the rock and put it back and it was pretty clear this morning.
Last night the SG was 1.022-1.023. I will see how the mushroom looks tonight but it is a recent addition and has been in there less than a week.

 

[promisetbg]

Ok..you will need readings also for Ca , Alk and PO4.
Take this out now "bubbler behind a big rock. " this is a no-no with SW tanks.. for several reasons. One is salt creep, the other is it can irritate sw fish' gills and possibly corals as well.
The mushroom may be acclimating still..but you need to know the other parameters I mentioned,get that thing out of the tank, and try not to disturb the tank again for awhile at least.

 

[maryd]

Ok, I will stop at the LFS on the way home tongiht and get a test kit for the other things. I will remove the bubbler. That looks pretty cool though the bubbles going up from behind the rock. I had not read that I was not supposed to use one.

 

[promisetbg]

Have you ever seen bubbles in a saltwater tank? FW yes..SW no. Saltcreep can cause more serious issues if it is bad enough like fluctuations in the SG.