is my salinity to low?

[8965]

i have a two week old tank with 0 amonia, o nitrites, and 8 on the nitrate scale. the temp in my tank fluctuates a degree or two with the avg being 77 degrees.

my gravity is steady at .023, the problem is my salinity is at 31, and i was told it should be at 34 or 35. is that correct?

what can i do to get that up?

 

[phases99]

Here is a link to a good explanation.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/jan2002/chemistry.htm

 

[MarkW19]

I take it your tank is 2 weeks old AFTER finishing cycling?

1.023 is the minimum SG I would have with inverts (your crabs/shrimp/snails). Between 1.023 and 1.025 is a good level to aim for.

Remember that temperature affects SG, so take this into consideration when measuring the SG - if you use a hydrometer, find out what temperature it's calibrated to and recalculate the reading if neccessary. I've forgotten how much each degree affects the SG though - maybe someone can help me out here This is important, because if your SG is below 1.023 then it could get problematic for your inverts. But, as always, within reason, stability is of more importance than specific levels.

If you're using a refractometer, which is much more accurate, a lot of them have built in temperature compensation so you don't have to worry about the temperature thing.

Bottom line - if you're sure your SG is at 1.023 and it's stable, if you make sure it doesn't go any lower you will be fine.