Daily salinity change

[rick s]

Hi Randy,

I have been using pickling lime for calcium and alkalinity for the past year. I mix it with my top-off water which is gravity fed to a float in my sump. It adds water/kalk anytime the level drops, day or night.

As my corals have grown, so has the need for more kalk. I have been using 1.5 tsp/gallon. When I tried to raise it to 1.75 tsp my pH daily highs went too high.

My 90 gallon tank evaporates roughly 1 gallon per day. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve been experimenting with drip dosing a gallonââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s worth of 2 tsp/gallon over a 12 hour period during the night. It has helped bring my calcium and alkalinity back up and, naturally, stabilized my pH without getting too high because Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m not adding kalk during the photoperiod.

My question is:
I am adding 24 hours worth of top-off water in a 12 hour period. I am adding an extra .5 to .75 gallons of freshwater (with kalk) to my 90 gallon volume every night. So, I am diluting my salinity by that much. Is that change in salinity, every day, of any concern?

Thanks again for your guidance,

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Is that change in salinity, every day, of any concern?


No that is not a concern, IMO.

Taking 1 extra gallon out of a 90 gallon tank will raise salinity from 35 ppt to 35.4 ppt (sg = 1.0264 to 1.0267). The reverse happens when you add it back.