Salty top off???

[jayel]

First let me start by saying that i skim wet.
I was emptying my skimmer collection cup today, like i do everyday (about a pint a day), when it occured to me that i pull out alot of green water. out of curiosity i tested it with my refracto and it was the same salinity as my tank. hmmmm

i know that recently i had to make adjustments to my salinity levels because it had declined.
i know that i top off about a 1.5quarts a day
i know i pull about 1 pint of skimmate at 1.024 salinity per day

I began to wonder that if i used lightly salted top-off water i wouldn't run into the problem of my salinity dropping over time. I would have to monitor and make some accurate observations before i started this but would it be possible.

 

[bertoni]

Sure, it'd work well, as long as you're not adding any supplements in the topoff. You'll just need to dial in the salt dosage. I do much the same when I pick the strength of the limewater that I dose for topoff.

 

[jayel]

i use a tunze osmolator with a kalk dispenser for my top offs.

does this matter?

 

[bertoni]

You can't mix salt into limewater or kalk, or not much anyway. It won't dissolve properly, if I recall correctly. You could ask in the chemistry forum about small amounts of salt.

 

[jayel]

will do..thanks....you've been helpful

 

[dugg]

You can't add saltwater to your topoff if it's got lime or kalk in it. The salt will make the calcium precipitate and give you instant PH issues. I did it once by mistake and almost crashed my tank.

 

[jayel]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6637398#post6637398 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dugg
You can't add saltwater to your topoff if it's got lime or kalk in it. The salt will make the calcium precipitate and give you instant PH issues. I did it once by mistake and almost crashed my tank.

what was the salinity level of your top-off?.....would it matter if mine would be really low? 1.005 1.010

 

[bertoni]

I suspect 1.010 is far too high, but I'm not an expert in this area.