low salinity in our LFS' water

[yraveh]

I just came from Beverly. I checked the salinity of the water it came in using my pinpoit probe. It was 1.0233 (48.4 MS). I did not believe it. I calibrated my probe. same result!
Why would a store dilute their NSW to such low salinity?
It's no surprise fish get a shock when moved to our tanks with salinity ~1.026.
Did anyone else notice similarly lowsalinity in water other stores?

 

[jimbo78]

never really noticed it low, ive seen it high but i figure thats just from evaporation. maybe their water got to high and while lowering it they added to much RO

 

[A.T.T.R]

bevs mixes water.. using tap water.. or atleast they used to..

the bevs in springs ( not bevs any more) uses nsw.

 

[streetjudge79]

1.023 isn't low, anything below 1.019 is low.. that is fine.

 

[jejton]

Agree wtih street. 1.023 is not that low. You can keep coral at that SG if your conditions are good and stable. FO tanks are often kept down to 1.019 -.021 since it helps a.) control many parasites ( which often need a higher SG ) and b.) save money on salt since you need less. My LFS keeps their FO tanks at 1.021. You have to make sure and properly acclimate your fish when you bring them home.

 

[drpo21]

yea, i noticed one place that had their sg pretty low as well, I asked them if they dilute it and they said no. I don't believe that though. I understand it would save them money, but its shady.

 

[ahoyhoy239]

IMO if they mix the water they should inform their customers of what they used (RO, RO/DI, salt brand, salinity?). Its also their responsibility to make sure they are producing clean water to start with, otherwise they are just trying to create more business for themselves by causing water quality problems then selling some algae-killer chemical or whatever to unsuspecting customers. That would definitely be a shady, unethical business practice.

Diluting NSW would definitely be shady as well, if someones wants NSW its because they want to use natural water in their tank and nothing else.

 

[A.T.T.R]

drag hose out from back . fill water tank. add salt.. stir..

the water is filtered throu coconut carbon i belive.


the ro unit at the store would not support mixing RO salt water.


they may of switched but.. i doubt it. maybe an employee will chime in

 

[ninjamini]

When I got my 90 gallon I got all the water from Big Als. Which was a big mistake. I filled the 90 - 3 trips to them, 15-20 minutes each way. Then decided to test the water. It was 1.011 if I remember correctly. I called them and told them. They said "no that cant bee". So I brought in the last 5 gallon bucket that I had not dumped in. They said "damm it is".


So I said "what do we do?" There manager told me "We don't guarantee the salinity level."

well I had words with them and showed them there 1.023 sign. They gave me a small bag of salt to make up the difference.

I do not buy water from them anymore. I go to pet world. They have shopping carts. But since they raised there price I need to find somewhere else to go.

 

[yraveh]

The salinity of NSW at all sealife and Fish collection is above 1.026 so I end up diluting it which is not an issue. It's 0.5 per gallon.
I am sure some store dilute the NSW they buy. I hope it's diluted with RO/DI but how can we be sure!

 

[ahoyhoy239]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14361281#post14361281 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by yraveh
The salinity of NSW at all sealife and Fish collection is above 1.026 so I end up diluting it which is not an issue. It's 0.5 per gallon.
I am sure some store dilute the NSW they buy. I hope it's diluted with RO/DI but how can we be sure!

Invest in a good RO/DI unit, tds meter, and refractometer! Its a medium to long term investment that eventually will pay itself off money-wise but pays for itself much sooner with the piece of mind knowing that your are getting clean water. Not to mention the time and money saved buying water from the store.

 

[george1532]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14357384#post14357384 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jejton
Agree wtih street. 1.023 is not that low. You can keep coral at that SG if your conditions are good and stable. FO tanks are often kept down to 1.019 -.021 since it helps a.) control many parasites ( which often need a higher SG ) and b.) save money on salt since you need less. My LFS keeps their FO tanks at 1.021. You have to make sure and properly acclimate your fish when you bring them home.

At the LFS I worked at we kept the FO salinity at 1.019. It's not cause we wanted to save money, it helped immensely with parasites like Ich.

 

[matities23]

Some LFS get the water from a company (VIP).. and i dnt think he would save money by buying salt and mixing t..

 

[A.T.T.R]

point is buy your water from a store that uses nsw rather then TAP water

 

[maxheadroom]

Last year I went to my LFS to pick up RO and SW, got home, started my water change and notice when I'm pouring in the SW that it was kinda clouding up. Turns out they gave me all RO and I didn't check it before I used it. I had always tested before, but this time I was in a hurry. Needless to say, I now have a RO/DI from the filter guys.

 

[Paco]

I remember early on buying "RO Water" from Atlantis Aquariums (gone now, so I can say this). I had just purchased my own RO/DI unit but hadn't installed it, but had a TDS meter. Their "RO" was 200ish PPM TDS. I suspect they were filling a tank with tap, treating it and selling it as filtered. Pretty skanky.

 

[yraveh]

There is a store nearby that use to tell me non stop that I my water parameters were bad. then recommend: Do 30 gallons water change, buy bacteria, etc etc.
One day I brought them t NSW that I from them. guess what. the parameters were bad. Nitrite, nitrate, etc.

This brings the following consideration. upon purchasing fresh NSW from the truck, how do our LFS treat the NSW prior to storage? is it beibg filtered and sterilized?
Do you know of a store that actually does this?

 

[Paco]

All I know is I'm an ASW user 4evr That way I know what goes in and what it will be after it's mixed.

 

[A.T.T.R]

no store actualy filters it.
and if its from a good company then its taken duringincoming tide.

usualy it check outs near perfect...

 

[Ocean Mang]

I mix salt (reef crystals or seachem) with RO water. My coral growth and just about everything else is so much better than when I use to go buy NSW. My back feels much better too.