Salinity vs. Alkalinity, pH and Ca

Ok. Pics and stats today:
Salinity 27
pH 8.4
Alk 11dkH
Ca 500ppm
Mg 1500ppm
Temp 76F

Here are the pics - the birdsnest was receding at an accelerated rate at 35-40. At 27, it's recovering. The pics are under blue LED or MH+LED. The flow is average to high.

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/7FFC9CFF-B733-49FA-AEF8-E6E17E86EAA1_zpsssms8kq1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/7FFC9CFF-B733-49FA-AEF8-E6E17E86EAA1_zpsssms8kq1.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 7FFC9CFF-B733-49FA-AEF8-E6E17E86EAA1_zpsssms8kq1.jpg"/></a>

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it will take awhile to see how it affects the corals, you have to be willing to take a risk that they may die or get damaged by the low salinity but if you really think it is making your tank better then go for it.

Just a question, what are you using to test your salinity?
 
Some of them appear bleachy to me.;one clearly has lost tissue.
Can't really assess them from the pictures in the blue light.

Invertebrates including corals are isotonic; they don't osmoregulate like fish do. Water just pours in bloating them when the water outside them is lower in sg than their internal slainity which could account for the perceived expansion. . Likewise, a rapid shift up in salinity of the water around them causes water to flow out of them which could explain why they shriviled some when the external sg was raised. Their internal salinity will more closely match the external salinity of the water around them. Shifts in internal salinity throw off internal chemistry and homeostasis leading to death in many cases. Some invertebrates may have a larger range of tolerance than others depending on their natural environment. Most of the invertebrates kept in the hobby have evolved to a level near the standard 1.0264.
 
Last edited:
Time will tell how well they grow.

I think it could be an interesting experiment to test low salinity with all of the important ions at NSW levels. In other words, just low sodium, chloride, and sulfate.

But there are some ions in your tank that will be well below natural levels, and that might be critical. Things like potassium.
 
Which look bleached?
The birdsnest was losing tissue fast at high salinity. Dropping it to 25 stopped that immediately.
 
Randy - that's what I'm concerned about. My magnesium dropped so significantly that I had to actively add a lot back in. But once I did, they loved it.

So K may be key? Are there test kits and additives? What else should I look at adding back in?

Maybe the best ones to test this are the salt manufacturers. Drop the Na and Cl but keep the rest at NSW, and reset the mix to a 25 salinity.
 
Randy, is there any sort of table or way to calculate how much Ca and alk can be supported at lower salt levels with a set point of Magnesium - say 1300ppm? I am wondering how low of salinity you could get by with before you can no longer keep those levels in the range for ideal calcification.
 
Growth:
<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/FBDCD1F4-143B-473E-BE8A-98B875926783_zpso7qhdm2m.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/FBDCD1F4-143B-473E-BE8A-98B875926783_zpso7qhdm2m.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo FBDCD1F4-143B-473E-BE8A-98B875926783_zpso7qhdm2m.jpg"/></a>
9/27/2014

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/EDB03D10-AD54-4C32-A0C4-D4D0316090D8_zpsnq6suodb.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/EDB03D10-AD54-4C32-A0C4-D4D0316090D8_zpsnq6suodb.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo EDB03D10-AD54-4C32-A0C4-D4D0316090D8_zpsnq6suodb.jpg"/></a>
1/7/2015
 
For most of the three months, salinity was about 30. For a few weeks, I took it to 40 (I was traveling and wanted to make sure I didn't get too low). Then let us slowly get down to 25. Now holding at 27.
 
hart24601 said:
Randy, is there any sort of table or way to calculate how much Ca and alk can be supported at lower salt levels with a set point of Magnesium - say 1300ppm? I am wondering how low of salinity you could get by with before you can no longer keep those levels in the range for ideal calcification.
Click to expand...

No, I've never seen anyone try to determine that.
 
karimwassef said:
Randy - that's what I'm concerned about. My magnesium dropped so significantly that I had to actively add a lot back in. But once I did, they loved it.

So K may be key? Are there test kits and additives? What else should I look at adding back in?

Maybe the best ones to test this are the salt manufacturers. Drop the Na and Cl but keep the rest at NSW, and reset the mix to a 25 salinity.
Click to expand...

Potassium certainly may be a key one and there are kits and supplements for it.

I'm not sure which others (if any) besides the ones we ordinarily measure might be key.
 
Having found the Fritz liquid concentrate without NaCl - this gives me the option to control salinity independent of the other compounds. I can use full strength for the concentrated additive except NaCl and just dial in salinity to a lower set point based on the mixing ratios.
 
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