Dealing with Water Changes and Evaporation?

[TygGer]

I had a few questions before I go out and buy the recommended books.

Dealing with evaporation... since salt does not evaporate, do I just add on-salted water to fill up the tank when the water evaporates?

For water changes... if salt does not evaporate, how do you know how much salt to put in the new batch of water to maintain the correct level of salinity in the main tank?

Thanks!

 

[Guest]

No you add fresh water for evaporation. For the water changes you test the salt in the new water, when it matches the tanks water then you can add it.

 

[ellisz]

When doing topoffs, you only want to use plain water.

When doing water changes, if you keep up on your tops offs you just make the new water to the salinty you want.

After awhile, you will just get a feel for it.

There might be a simpler way but this is what I do now. I have a mark on my sump to show what the water level should be. As ong as it is at that level, then I know my salinity is good. I now have an auto top off so I don't worry about evaporation as much

HTH

 

[fishfreek]

The general rule of thumb is that you only add saltwater if you take saltwater out. So evaporation as has been mentioned is delt with by adding fresh unsalted water.

When doing a water change you add saltwater with the same salinity as the tank itself. For example, lets say you keep your tank a 1.025 specific gravity. If you take 10gal of saltwater out you need to add 10 gal of 1.025 SG saltwater back. Adding the same salinity water to the system will not affect the total slanity of the system.

Always premix your saltwater and let age 24 hours before using.