my ato got stuck on and dropped my salinity down to 1.005. Fish seem okay, but corals are toast. My question is should I raise back to a more acceptable level more quickly and then slowly go back up to normal or should I do the standard .002 per day all the way back to normal? Fast help would be much appreciated.
salinity plunge, what now?
- Thread starter cchase231
- Start date
Auston
Member
I've had salinity drops before and I found no I'll effects from bringing it back over 4 hours. Your fish will be fine as most fish can survive hypo salinity anyway (ich treatment method)... If you think the corals are toast you don't have much to loose by bringing it up over 4 hours you might even save a few. Just my opinion however
Bent
I got nothin'
I would raise it up slowly.
How many gallons we talking here?
In my experience, animals can handle drops in salinity much better than raises. If you raise the salinity up slowly, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the coral that looks rough now don't make a full recovery.
I would go up about .002 every 18-24 hrs.
I know you don't want to hear this right now, and it's a little late. After this is all over, I would really consider building some redundancy to your system bud. I'm not trying to harp or degrade you, just giving you some food for thought in the future.
But one crisis at a time.
Maybe someone else will refute me, but .002 every 18-24 hours seems reasonable. The osmotic shock of raising it too quickly will likely be more dangerous than staying low for longer.
Good luck, keep us updated.
How many gallons we talking here?
In my experience, animals can handle drops in salinity much better than raises. If you raise the salinity up slowly, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the coral that looks rough now don't make a full recovery.
I would go up about .002 every 18-24 hrs.
I know you don't want to hear this right now, and it's a little late. After this is all over, I would really consider building some redundancy to your system bud. I'm not trying to harp or degrade you, just giving you some food for thought in the future.
But one crisis at a time.
Maybe someone else will refute me, but .002 every 18-24 hours seems reasonable. The osmotic shock of raising it too quickly will likely be more dangerous than staying low for longer.
Good luck, keep us updated.
Thanks, I wasn't sure how low the fish could tolerate and for what length of time. 1.005 is a fair bit lower than the ich treatment recommendations so I was concerned. A softy or two may recover, but the lps is gone.
tank is a 158 with 35 gallon sump, 130ish probably actually volume. I had mostly lps and softies. My ato pump died on me this week and stupidly I bypassed the whole system stuck the ro line right into the tank to top off until I could fix it. Sure enough I forgot to turn the ro unit off and walked down tonight to find the wrath for my stupidity.
Last edited:
The skeletons are stark white where the polyps used to be. I can't see any signs of tissue survival.
shifty51008
12-5 Chiefs record
Very sorry for the misshap, i wont continue on that part.
I would fill a 10 gal tank up with 1.025 water with a powerhead and heater and transfer the corals there till you raise the main tank back to normal levels. The fish should be fine, just raise it slowly over the course of a few days
I would fill a 10 gal tank up with 1.025 water with a powerhead and heater and transfer the corals there till you raise the main tank back to normal levels. The fish should be fine, just raise it slowly over the course of a few days
Auston
Member
Sorry to hear. Let us know how the recovery goes, what ever method you choose
Dkuhlmann
New member
This x2
reef tank 2.0
Member
I would like to ask this for the people that have posted. When raising the salinity, how do you recommend doing this? Mix small batches at a time of higher salinity and pour in? salt has to have time to dissolve, mix, and heat up, all at the same time.........how do you increase the salt quickly for the DT?
Vinny Kreyling
Premium Member
Dropping salinity quickly is OK, raising it quickly IS NOT, do it slowly.
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