Just bought 40 pounds of rock, not live, to go with my current set up, including about 40 pounds of live rock. It was rinsed and cleaned before adding to the tank and then bam salinity is way over the top. I've changed out twice in the last two days, about 3-4 gallons at a time and still no drop. What am I doing wrong or Amy recommendations? Fish seem healthy, maybe a bit stressed but I'm also not seeing anyone out hunting like usual. Help!?
Salinity out of control
- Thread starter Dmk919
- Start date
Using a hydrometer although I know it's better to use refractometer. It's actually a brand new one since my old one was getting grimy. Everything has tested perfectly for months and all of a sudden after adding this rock its out of control. I'd think by changing 6-8 gallons I would see a change but still nothing. Even the shrimps and crabs are prettt much hiding during feeding which is way unusual. Thanks for the advice here much appreciated
Best advice is to spend the $20.00 for ATC refractometer on Ebay or Amazon. I know when I test mine with a refractometer I test the DT and the sump to see if they match, if I am adding salt. I wait an hour and test both. If I'm adding fresh RO/DI water to top off the evaporation, I wait about an hour and test. They should be spot on the same for both. When you added the rock to the water it displaced water volume which means less water and therefore the salinity would be higher than before you added the rock. I hope that makes sense...lol
You could use this to calculate. http://reef.diesyst.com/volcalc/volcalc.html
You could use this to calculate. http://reef.diesyst.com/volcalc/volcalc.html
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It does make sense thanks for that advice. I actually just ordered one prime so it should be here in a couple days. Definitly going to to check the sump when I get home. How long do you think it's gonna take to get it back to normal level at the rate I'm going at? I see it could take several days I'm just worried about the livestock.
Depends on what your salinity is at now. I would get a reliable test method first and then work from there. Is it too high or too low is the question?
It does depend. FYI, You can lower salinity much faster than raise it. Post your numbers once your the the new meter and get some recommendations from the folks on RC.
I would guess that the rock displaced a good amount of water, so that your "fill line" now results in a higher salinity. I would top off excessively high, allow the water to mix throughout the system for a few minutes, then remove water to your desired fill level. Just don't make huge adjustments.
Lol yep distilled at the moment I plan to get RO from my guy here in town tomorrow if it doesn't go down. I also stirred up a lot of sand when making the additions. I'm only about 8 weeks out of cycle and nothing had been touched so it could be a reason for the high ammonia all of a sudden?
