low salinity

[firefish128]

I'm having problems with keeping salinity up. SG is at 1.018, i evaporate around 5 gallons every 2-3 days and i only replace it with kalk. I was wondering if you could mix kalk in saltwater to attempt to keep my SG at 1.023.

[ronkent]

where is the salt going? your sg should go up as water evaportates. then topping off would lower it. sure your not leaking it somewhere? the only other way(besides some salt creep) that would take away salt would be the skimmer but you would have to be skimming alot to drop that much.

[chip721]

What is the SG of your pre-mixed water used for water changes? Just trying to get an idea what your water's SG is to begin with. If you're not leaking, creeping, or skimming it away, might you simply be starting low?

[firefish128]

I skim about 2 qts every other day, and the SG of my water change water 1.040. it brings the tank to 1.023 and after 2 weeks it's down to 1.018 or lower

[chip721]

IMO, I'd simply top up the tank more frequently. Do it manually or else deploy an auto top off system. Dosing kalk will help maintain Ca and Alk, but not SG.

[ronkent]

Try skimming a little drier. Your losing a gallon every 4 days to skimming if your doin 2 qts. every other day. I've read where ur skimmate should match your tank salinity so your taking a gallon of saltwater out every 4 days and replacing it with fresh water which would lower your sg.

Edit: The only other thing i can think of is a faulty mearument. Are you using a swing arm or a refractometer.

[AIMFish]

Lowering salinity and a qt. a day thru the skimmer, I'm interested to see where this goes.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

No, you cannot add sea salt mix into limewater (kalkwasser). You'll precipitate magnesium hydroxide and calcium carbonate from it.

If I were skimming out a substantial amount, I would replace it daily or every other day with normal salinity seawater.