Consistent Salinity Fluctuation on 3 tanks.

accel · 05/30/2018, 07:42 AM

The other day my salinity on 3 tanks are at 1.025 using the digital Milwaukee Refractrometer and the classic ATC Refractrometer. Foe the past 3 days the temp in my area has risen from 40F to 80 to 90F!

Today the temp went back to 70 and will go down to 60.

Tank A has auto top off. Tank B and C do not. Tank A and Tank B are at 77 to 79F in most cases during those hot days. Tank C was roaming around 80 to 82F (hospital tank). I had clip fans to cool down the tanks. No chillers sorry.

So today the salinity reading on all 3 are at 1.023. I can't see why except that the temp today is cooler than usual. I have calibrated both meters with their recommended solution.

My plan today is to continue running the clip fans for evaporation until I hit 1.025. Stop the auto top off until I get the levels right in Tank A.

Sounds good? Any explanation on this? I'd been measuring salinity at various times of the day except last night.

Fish and inverts are perfectly normal on all 3 tanks.

mcgyvr · 05/30/2018, 08:06 AM

Unless you are storing your test equipment outside the outside temperature is irrelevant. Well.. unless your home is not temperature controlled and is fluctuating also..

Water temperature as well as storage/ambient temp for the equipment can effect salinity readings though..

I wouldn't care about 1.023-1.025 at all personally and rarely measure salinity so I likely never see minor fluctuations either... Sometimes too much measuring just causes panic.. Just like when someone gets a fancy reef controller and now is constantly just watching PH/salinity,etc.. and freaking out about minor changes in it..

accel · 05/30/2018, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

Unless you are storing your test equipment outside the outside temperature is irrelevant. Well.. unless your home is not temperature controlled and is fluctuating also..

Water temperature as well as storage/ambient temp for the equipment can effect salinity readings though..

I wouldn't care about 1.023-1.025 at all personally and rarely measure salinity so I likely never see minor fluctuations either... Sometimes too much measuring just causes panic.. Just like when someone gets a fancy reef controller and now is constantly just watching PH/salinity,etc.. and freaking out about minor changes in it..

I agree with you in that regard. I guess I just need to chill out and relax. I'll wait a day and see where things are.

homer1475 · 05/30/2018, 04:33 PM

Salinity will remain the same regardless of temperature. The density will change when warmer giving you a high specific gravity, but the actual salinity does not change.

Take for instance my mixing station. I have an external pump that gets quite warm. It will warm my water from around 60 to about 80 if I leave it running for a couple days. Measure (with a milwaukee digital) at 60 and I'm at 1.025. Same measurement when the water is around 80 will bring me to 1.027ish. I don't bother to measure after the water has been heated because the actual salinity doesn't change.

05/30/2018, 07:42 AM	#1
accel Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 110	Consistent Salinity Fluctuation on 3 tanks. The other day my salinity on 3 tanks are at 1.025 using the digital Milwaukee Refractrometer and the classic ATC Refractrometer. Foe the past 3 days the temp in my area has risen from 40F to 80 to 90F! Today the temp went back to 70 and will go down to 60. Tank A has auto top off. Tank B and C do not. Tank A and Tank B are at 77 to 79F in most cases during those hot days. Tank C was roaming around 80 to 82F (hospital tank). I had clip fans to cool down the tanks. No chillers sorry. So today the salinity reading on all 3 are at 1.023. I can't see why except that the temp today is cooler than usual. I have calibrated both meters with their recommended solution. My plan today is to continue running the clip fans for evaporation until I hit 1.025. Stop the auto top off until I get the levels right in Tank A. Sounds good? Any explanation on this? I'd been measuring salinity at various times of the day except last night. Fish and inverts are perfectly normal on all 3 tanks.

05/30/2018, 08:06 AM	#2
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	Unless you are storing your test equipment outside the outside temperature is irrelevant. Well.. unless your home is not temperature controlled and is fluctuating also.. Water temperature as well as storage/ambient temp for the equipment can effect salinity readings though.. I wouldn't care about 1.023-1.025 at all personally and rarely measure salinity so I likely never see minor fluctuations either... Sometimes too much measuring just causes panic.. Just like when someone gets a fancy reef controller and now is constantly just watching PH/salinity,etc.. and freaking out about minor changes in it.. __________________ Who me?

05/30/2018, 04:33 PM	#4
homer1475 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 5,313	Salinity will remain the same regardless of temperature. The density will change when warmer giving you a high specific gravity, but the actual salinity does not change. Take for instance my mixing station. I have an external pump that gets quite warm. It will warm my water from around 60 to about 80 if I leave it running for a couple days. Measure (with a milwaukee digital) at 60 and I'm at 1.025. Same measurement when the water is around 80 will bring me to 1.027ish. I don't bother to measure after the water has been heated because the actual salinity doesn't change. __________________ 80G SCA Build: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2560256 Originally posted by der_wille_zur_macht: "He's just taking his lunch to work"