What to do...HIGH salinity...

newsaltwater

newsaltwater

Member
So I was talking to a women who said she had let her tank get way out of hand as far as maintenance goes and is looking for someone to help her fix it and hopefully get back on track. I said ok Ill come over and see what I can do. So I go over there just expecting to see algae all over the place.....nope she has let the tank evaporate to HALF WAY DOWN.
So now the SG/Salinity is through the ROOF. How do I get it back from that?
Doing some searches it seems slowly (obviously) but HOW slowly? And how exactly should I do this?
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Can you drip RO/DI water into the tank? I don't know the size so I can't advise how fast. Somewhere around 1% of existing water per hour (ie. if there's 100 gallons of water in the system now then drip in about a gallon an hour. If there's 10 gallons then drip in about a pint an hour.)
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Calculate how many gallons of water that she has let evaporate. Lets say it's a 55 gallon tank and it's evaporated down 10 inches - (god forbid). You multiply the amout of inches in LxWxH and divide by 231 to get how many gallons of top off water it needs.
So, 48x12.5x10 = 6000. 6000/231 = 25.97 gallons whichis about half of a standard 55 gallon tank.
Once you have how much to top off, then you can get your water that you need to top off. If it's ten gallons, then set up a 5 gallon water jug on a stool or high spot, and let is drip water in all day long, about a gallon an hour. Then, move on to the next jug the next day. You shouldn't have too many problems if you slowly increase the salinity of the water, instead of just pooring it in there like I have done a couple of times.
Good luck!
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
The poor little creatures are probably dying of thirst. I know when you want to get rid of crabs and worms in your rocks, all you have to do is put them in a salinity of 1.040 and they will come shooting out of the rocks. Then you can pick and choose what type of creatures you want in your tank.
Also, When you get done with dripping water into the tank, you really should also do a water change pretty soon.
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33
http:///forum/post/2850023
The poor little creatures are probably dying of thirst. I know when you want to get rid of crabs and worms in your rocks, all you have to do is put them in a salinity of 1.040 and they will come shooting out of the rocks. Then you can pick and choose what type of creatures you want in your tank.
Also, When you get done with dripping water into the tank, you really should also do a water change pretty soon.
I doubt there is anything still alive in a tank that lost 1/2 of its water, there is probably no circulation, probably no 02. most inverts can't survive that so hello nh3.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Yeah, if there is no flow at all, and it is literally half the tank, unless you already started with an extremely low salinity - then not much is going to be alive.
 
brandan

brandan

Member
Originally Posted by stdreb27
http:///forum/post/2850048
I doubt there is anything still alive in a tank that lost 1/2 of its water, there is probably no circulation, probably no 02. most inverts can't survive that so hello nh3.

This depends on what the salt level was initially. If she ran the tank very low to begin with (1.013 (extreme case)) then the salinity would be roughly 1.026
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
Originally Posted by Brandan
http:///forum/post/2850105
This depends on what the salt level was initially. If she ran the tank very low to begin with (1.013 (extreme case)) then the salinity would be roughly 1.026
Well that is true. But come on.
 
newsaltwater

newsaltwater

Member
I was stunned when I realized there WERE things living in there! SHe has two clown fish some hermit crabs and even some zoas living still. Ill will be doing the drip method with the 5 gallon buckets! Thanks for the advice! Ill let you know how it goes!
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
Originally Posted by NewSaltWater
http:///forum/post/2850402
I was stunned when I realized there WERE things living in there! SHe has two clown fish some hermit crabs and even some zoas living still. Ill will be doing the drip method with the 5 gallon buckets! Thanks for the advice! Ill let you know how it goes!
what is the salinity?
wow
 
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