Salinty

[Kiyana]

Okay here is my issue.
I just checked the sal on my tank and some how it is down to 1.020 from 1.023 and my change water is at 1.024 (15 gallons)


Help me out..

[JohnHenry]

Okay here is your solution.
Dilute change water until it is closer to your tanks current salinity, like 1.025 or so.

Changes in salinity must be done very slowly.

How small is your tank?

[Limpit]

The only way your salinity is going to go down in a tank is if you have added fresh water to the tank or the temp. has drastically changed. What are you using to check your salinity? If it is a float arm type hydrometer you have to be sure that all small bubbles are off of the arm.

[Kiyana]

here is the setup ...24x24x48 Allglass tank, 130gal

VHO 48" lights and ballast.

Temp sensitive cooling fan for lights in canopy.

Sump with Mag12 pump.

DAS protein skimmer,

Two Ebojager 250w heaters.

Tank contents:

100+ lbs of very nice live rock, lots of purple algae

1 Flame Angel
1 Potters Angel
1 Lemon Peel Angel
1 large Naso Tang
1 Royal Gramma
bunch of snails and hermit crabs
3 anemones
1 large Leather coral
CC bed in tank

Change the water every 3 weeks (15 gallons) used to sit about 1.023.. don't know why the salintey is dropping.. top up with about 2 gallons of water a night.. when i first change water, sump is half full by the time i go to do another change sump is 1/4 full, I don't always add water to the tank.

Could this be causing it?

[Neurosis]

wow... 2gallons a night??? Is that how much evaporations your're getting just on vho's??? Is it possible you've got a leak somewhere? If you do, then adding 2g's of water would be diluting the tank, since salt and water would be exiting the tank. As opposed to evaporation, in which only water is exiting the tank causing the salinety to raise, and by topping off, you're rebalancing the salinety to the original level.

[Misfit6669]

14 gallons a week does sound like a lot. Do you have a ton of fans going? I have a 125 with 750 watts of MH and I think I was around 5 to 7 gallons a week.
Brian

[Kiyana]

i don't think it is aleak because some nights like tonight i don't have to fill it up. Sometimes i think it has to do with the dryness in the house.. I notice around the top of the sump there is salt creep.. wonder if it is from the splashing of the pipe into the sump.. I don't notice any salt creep anywhere else.. also my skimmer some times goes nuts and i don't always get to empty it right away so it splashs outside the sump since it is higher than the sides..

[marinegirl]

why do you want your tank Sg at 1.025 wouldnt this promote Ich / Velvet ect ..
wouldnt the tank be better with a lower SG ?

[Kiyana]

I was told for invertabres (sp?) that they were better off at 1.024?

[manderx]

you're probably losing salt from your skimmer (especially if it's been going nuts lately). do your waterchange with what you have, being a few points off on 15 gallons out of 130 is *completely* insignificant, especially if it's in the way you want to go anyway. then to raise the salinity in your tank, toss a 1/4 cup of salt into your sump and after an hour or so measure to see how much it brought you up, if any. repeat over the next few days with more or less until you're back up where you want to be. with your critterlist you'll be fine being anywhere between 1.021 and 1.026.

[sean48183]

Remember evaporation is relevent to where you live and the dryness of the air. I live in Michigan and the outside temp is in the single digits half the time right now. The furnace is constantly running making the air outside the tank very dry and causing more evaporation. I top off about 3/4 gallon every night on just my 50 and I just have pc's which aren't very hot. In the summer with the ac running I hardly have to top off anything. With all the surface area on his 130 and if he lives somewhere miserable like myself 2 gallons is quite possible. Try putting a cover on your tank if you want less evaporation. It will slow it down considerably