Help ! Salinity got too high. What to do ?

joegoersch · 10/27/2012, 08:50 AM

I forgot to monitor salinity of my quarantine tank, where I'm quarantining a royal gramma. It's ready to go into my display tank, however, because of evaporation, my quarantine tank is now at 1.030 (40 ppt) by refractometer.
How quickly should I bring it back down to 1.026, the salinity of DT ?
The royal gramma seems fine and is eating.

Thanks.

iceman14555 · 10/27/2012, 08:53 AM

You can pull out small amounts of saltwater and replace with treated fresh or RO/DI water. It will lower the Salinity, gradually.

coralsnaked · 10/27/2012, 09:00 AM

A drop in salinity wont hurt as much as a spike, however you add 5% of total water volume w/ fresh RODI and retest. then again a couple hours later if needed until you reach desired results.

Happy Reefing

bnumair · 10/27/2012, 09:29 AM

1 point drop in salinity per day is a safe start.

uwbadgerfb · 10/27/2012, 11:02 AM

Move slowly. Add RO/DI water as you remove the salt water. If you have room you can add RO/DI without removing the salt water to start to lower it. Remember to watch the evaporation as that will be working against your attempt to lower the salinity.

MrTuskfish · 10/27/2012, 11:38 AM

If you just want to move the RG now; fish handle quick drops in SG much better than quick rises. You could put the RG in a container of QT water and gradually add some DT water over a couple of hours. If you're about 1/2 way between the QT & DT readings; the RG will be fine. He could easily straight go from the 1.030 to the 1.026; but that may sound extreme and give some people a case of the vapors.

joegoersch · 10/27/2012, 12:51 PM

thanks. there's plenty of room in tank and I was hoping to move the fish tomorrow p.m. so I'll dilute over the next 36 hrs, each time I pass the tank, I'll add a cup of RODI water until 1.026.

10/27/2012, 08:50 AM	#1
joegoersch Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 327	Help ! Salinity got too high. What to do ? I forgot to monitor salinity of my quarantine tank, where I'm quarantining a royal gramma. It's ready to go into my display tank, however, because of evaporation, my quarantine tank is now at 1.030 (40 ppt) by refractometer. How quickly should I bring it back down to 1.026, the salinity of DT ? The royal gramma seems fine and is eating. Thanks.

10/27/2012, 09:00 AM	#3
coralsnaked Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Austin / Port Aransas, TX Posts: 1,479	A drop in salinity wont hurt as much as a spike, however you add 5% of total water volume w/ fresh RODI and retest. then again a couple hours later if needed until you reach desired results. Happy Reefing Last edited by coralsnaked; 10/27/2012 at 09:09 AM.

10/27/2012, 09:29 AM	#4
bnumair Dr. Reef at ur service Join Date: May 2009 Location: Tulsa, Ok, USA Posts: 7,751 Blog Entries: 15	1 point drop in salinity per day is a safe start. __________________ Water Quality: NO3 0,Phos 0,Cal 440,Alk 7.5,Mag 1300 "Reef Fast, You Crash, Reef Slow, You Pass" Mike's Reef 3:16 Current Tank Info: 350g DT,95g sump, 50g Frag tank, 4800gph return 4x Sea swirls. 6x AI Vega Color. 200# Pukani rock, dual recirculating skimmer, Biopellet, GFO Carbon rx's, Cal rx. Closed loop. 1.5hp chiller, genesis renew. Apex & RKE

10/27/2012, 11:38 AM	#6
MrTuskfish Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: The Wild Blue Yonder Posts: 8,887	If you just want to move the RG now; fish handle quick drops in SG much better than quick rises. You could put the RG in a container of QT water and gradually add some DT water over a couple of hours. If you're about 1/2 way between the QT & DT readings; the RG will be fine. He could easily straight go from the 1.030 to the 1.026; but that may sound extreme and give some people a case of the vapors. __________________ If God didn't want us to eat animals, he wouldn't have made them out of meat. Steve Current Tank Info: 180, 2-240 FOWLRs, 240 reef

10/27/2012, 12:51 PM	#7
joegoersch Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 327	thanks thanks. there's plenty of room in tank and I was hoping to move the fish tomorrow p.m. so I'll dilute over the next 36 hrs, each time I pass the tank, I'll add a cup of RODI water until 1.026.

10/27/2012, 08:53 AM	#2
iceman14555 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Lakeland, FL Posts: 56	You can pull out small amounts of saltwater and replace with treated fresh or RO/DI water. It will lower the Salinity, gradually.

10/27/2012, 11:02 AM	#5
uwbadgerfb Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: OH Posts: 51	Move slowly. Add RO/DI water as you remove the salt water. If you have room you can add RO/DI without removing the salt water to start to lower it. Remember to watch the evaporation as that will be working against your attempt to lower the salinity.