+ Evaporation

[Ethics]

Hey,

I was just wondering, I have a 5 gallon nano without a top off for now.

The water evaporates fairly quickly because I don't have a lid ont he tank.

I was wondering how long does it take for my water parameters to be messed up?

If I topped off in the morning and before I went to bed would that be sufficient to not have the water go all crazy on me?

Thanks,
Mario

 

[kass03]

Yes thats fine. I don't have a water top off on any of my tanks.
My nano I usually do once per day and my other tanks once every other day.

kass

 

[evoracer]

To be sure just measure it once. Top the water off and take measurements of SG, pH etc, then test it again that night.

 

[Ethics]

Ok I will do that and test the results and post them here , thanks guys.

 

[kass03]

Yes and I should have said twice per day is better than once.

Salt doesnt evaporate so when the water evaporates the salinity goes up. The more stable a tank is the better it does.

kass

 

[Ethics]

Hey guys, I just got my hydrometer, It's one made by Instant Ocean, not sure how accurate it is, but I checked my SG and it's at 1.031 which seems pretty high, what can I do to get it down? And what should I try to keep it at?

Thanks,
Mario

 

[sir_dudeguy]

one thing tho...if you test for pH in the morning and the night...they're going to be different i think. I'm almost positive i read where pH goes down at night. But like i said in a pm (or the other thread maybe lol) if you have no problems keeping up on it, then dont bother w/the topoff, at least for now...but if you think there may be a chance where you leave out of town or out for a day or something, i'd get one.

 

[Ethics]

Thanks sir_dudeguy, I think im able to keep the water up for now, I will look into purchasing somethig down the road though just incase, but for now I should be fine.

On another note, does anyone know how I might be able to get the SG down in my tank?

Thanks,
Mario

 

[sir_dudeguy]

you can take some water out w/a cup or something, and then put just plain RO water back in...give it a few minutes and it will be completely mixed, and then test again...you can just keep doing that till you get it down.

one other way that i've heard, which i would like less, is you can measure what your sg is at...then take out about half of the water, and put salt water w/a lower sg back in...If you want to lower the sg 0.003, then the saltwater you put back in should be 0.006 LESS than what the water already was...since you're taking out half, you're going to get the a new sg of right in the middle...in which case 0.006 for the new water would give you 0.003 less than what it was...

but like i said...i like the other way better

 

[Ethics]

Thanks for the help, I will do that right now, just got done changing the water in my 55, since the room is all wet now's a good time to do it.

Mario

 

[sir_dudeguy]

lol ya i hear ya. My rooms got tile tho, so i always gotta be carful not to slip (which i've done before lol)

 

[Ethics]

Ok here's what im doing now, I put some RO water ina cup, add some salt, stir then pour in my tank. And retest the SG. I willkeep doing this till it's at 1.024, and keep it steady at that level.

Now here's a problem I noticed.

My filter makes water splash once in a while, like 1 little tiny drop every minute or so. This drop usually ends up on the wood above my tank thats holding the light.

Now I noticed the wood has traces of salt on it. This can't be very good as it's taking salt out of my tank. Does anyone ahve the same problem? And maybe a way to fix this, or is it ok?

Mario

 

[sir_dudeguy]

thats pretty normall for the salt to "grow" so to speak, on all the edges, hoods, etc that are just out of the water...its called salt creep...the more splashing the more it happens. In my experience, it doesnt really affect the levels at all, but then again i have a 55 and not a 5...but still...its prolly too little to affect it.

Just dont knock the salt back in...whatever it lands on it burns, so i hear.

Is the splash coming from the hob filter return? like the waterfall part? if so, try raising the water level maybe..only if theres more room to raise it...whenever my hob filters lip gets above the water level, it will do what yours is doing...i just raise the level to either perfectly even, or just above the bottom of the lip...that should take away most splashes (besides ones that are just like fizz on a soda lol)

and for lowering the sg...are you putting in a way lower salt level, to eventually get it down to 1.024? if you're doing that...i would think you're gonna have to empty half, not just a cup at a time...you'd prolly end up w/no salt left if you kept doing it by 1 cup at a time...just take an empty cup...scoop a cup out, dump it, and fill it w/regular RO water, no salt added...this will lower your SG quicker than the other way, and it will save you salt.

 

[Ethics]

Ok,

I got my water level to 1.024 so it's prefect now, all the parameters seem to be doing fine.

Thanks for all the help guys,
Mario

 

[sir_dudeguy]

no prob. 1.024 is a good number to sit at. Once you start adding corals tho, maybe go for 1.025...not much of a dif. but i hear that corals need a little higher than fish (or something like that lol). So nothing to worry bout now, but in the future, maybe go for 1.025 or 6. looks cool so far! i'll try to send you some pics of my 2.5 soon. gotta find the cam