salt question

davidhughes85 · 03/05/2006, 03:53 PM

everyday i test my water teh gravity raises a bit...from the past week it has risen from 1.021 to almost 1.024, why? And where should it be and how do i increase and decrease it when i need to

m3ntal · 03/05/2006, 04:00 PM

it raises because your water evaporates and it makes the salt to water ratio raise....

add top off water to dilute it

davidhughes85 · 03/05/2006, 04:10 PM

top off water????Pre mixed salt or fresh water

bertoni · 03/05/2006, 04:13 PM

1.024 is still a little low for a reef. I target 1.026-1.027.

Your tank is losing water to evaporation, so the water level drops. The salt doesn't evaporate, so you need to replace the lost water with fresh water, to keep the SG stable. Personally, I'd let it rise to 1.026 and work from there.

davidhughes85 · 03/05/2006, 04:28 PM

ok but when i need it to go down do i put in premixed salt water or do i put in some fresh

DgenR8 · 03/05/2006, 04:40 PM

To lower SG you have to add fresh water. Adding salt water will add salt.

PatMayo · 03/05/2006, 04:47 PM

Does that make sense to you?

Regards,

Pat

davidhughes85 · 03/05/2006, 04:53 PM

yes it does and i thought it would be that, i was thinking more complex along the lines of if the water is evaporating and leaving more consentrated salt water so therefore even adding premixed saltwater that has not been concentrated by evaporation would actually bring the salinity down, but not as much as freshwater would. However, as a beginner thinking how I would rather not mess things up I thought adding fresh water might be too drastic of a change to the system for its inhabitants vs adding salt water with less salinity. Smart *** comments are not appreciated, Im not an idiot.

DgenR8 · 03/05/2006, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by davidhughes85
yes it does and i thought it would be that, i was thinking more complex along the lines of if the water is evaporating and leaving more consentrated salt water so therefore even adding premixed saltwater that has not been concentrated by evaporation would actually bring the salinity down, but not as much as freshwater would. However, as a beginner thinking how I would rather not mess things up I thought adding fresh water might be too drastic of a change to the system for its inhabitants vs adding salt water with less salinity. Smart *** comments are not appreciated, Im not an idiot.

David,
There are no stupid questions, remember that. There was a time when everyone here had the same questions regarding evaporation and salinity. As for Pat's post, I honestly don't think it was intended the way you took it. My take was more along the lines of "Is that clear enough, or do you still have questions?"
It's difficult to convey emotion in typed words, but I do not think there was any intent to insult you.

bertoni · 03/05/2006, 06:40 PM

Actually, you're right about adding less salty top-off reducing the salinity some. That's the way it works. Usually, though, you need to add fresh water because the tank reaches the point where it contains all the salt that's needed for the volume. After that, only the skimmer and water changes tend to remove salt, so there you use saltwater as makeup.

03/05/2006, 03:53 PM	#1
davidhughes85 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 493	salt question everyday i test my water teh gravity raises a bit...from the past week it has risen from 1.021 to almost 1.024, why? And where should it be and how do i increase and decrease it when i need to

03/05/2006, 04:13 PM	#4
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	1.024 is still a little low for a reef. I target 1.026-1.027. Your tank is losing water to evaporation, so the water level drops. The salt doesn't evaporate, so you need to replace the lost water with fresh water, to keep the SG stable. Personally, I'd let it rise to 1.026 and work from there. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

03/05/2006, 04:40 PM	#6
DgenR8 I'm an American and I remember Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Long Island, New York Posts: 43,992	To lower SG you have to add fresh water. Adding salt water will add salt. __________________ “I wish there was a way to know that you were IN the good old days, before leaving them.” ~Andy Bernard Regional Manager, Scranton branch Dunder Mifflin Current Tank Info: Unknown slow drip, over 20 years damaged my house and heating system. No more tank.

03/05/2006, 04:47 PM	#7
PatMayo Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Seattle Posts: 2,843	Does that make sense to you? Regards, Pat __________________ 90 AGA Megaflow (Setup 1-24-06) 120 Lbs. Liverock EuroReef RS 100 Skimmer 2 X 150 MH 2 X 96 watt PC Actinic 2 Clarki Clowns (31 months old) 1 Niger Trigger (Owned 6 months) 2 Tunze 6055 PH Current Tank Info: 90 AGA Megaflow To Be Mixed Reef

03/05/2006, 06:40 PM	#10
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	Actually, you're right about adding less salty top-off reducing the salinity some. That's the way it works. Usually, though, you need to add fresh water because the tank reaches the point where it contains all the salt that's needed for the volume. After that, only the skimmer and water changes tend to remove salt, so there you use saltwater as makeup. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

03/05/2006, 04:00 PM	#2
m3ntal Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 122	it raises because your water evaporates and it makes the salt to water ratio raise.... add top off water to dilute it

03/05/2006, 04:10 PM	#3
davidhughes85 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 493	top off water????Pre mixed salt or fresh water

03/05/2006, 04:28 PM	#5
davidhughes85 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 493	ok but when i need it to go down do i put in premixed salt water or do i put in some fresh

03/05/2006, 04:53 PM	#8
davidhughes85 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 493	yes it does and i thought it would be that, i was thinking more complex along the lines of if the water is evaporating and leaving more consentrated salt water so therefore even adding premixed saltwater that has not been concentrated by evaporation would actually bring the salinity down, but not as much as freshwater would. However, as a beginner thinking how I would rather not mess things up I thought adding fresh water might be too drastic of a change to the system for its inhabitants vs adding salt water with less salinity. Smart *** comments are not appreciated, Im not an idiot.