what's your salinity at?

[thecamino]

Hi guys i've been running fowlr tanks for about 4 years now and i usually keep my sg between .016 an .018 to reduce parsites. what do you guys keep yours at?

 

[atte]

I've only recently gotten into this but I keep my tank around .021 sg.

 

[CaptainAhab]

.024/.025-ish. Why do you think that .016 reduces parasites?

Edit: Is it proven or anecdotal?

 

[austinsdad]

.024 - .025 also

 

[Jaybird]

1.025....and when I'm bad it gets to 1.026....then I add a lot more RO water.

 

[Zer0]

I keep mine in the realm of 1.023 - 1.026. What kind of livestock do you have in your tank? That low of a salinity doesn't seem all that good to me. Natural sea water is around 1.026-.027, so having it that low i don't think will bring any good. Also, there are other ways to keep parasites at bay.. assuming you do even have parasites. Keeping the salinity that low is not recommended, especially if that is the normal salinity that your tank is at.

 

[ccCapt]

i usually keep my sg between .016 an .018 to reduce parsites.

I keep my salinity at 35 ppt (1.026) which is the average salinity of the reefs throughout the world.
Not sure where you heard dropping your SG to 1.016-1.018 will reduce parasites. That Specific Gravity has no affect on parasites. You need to drop it to ~1.009 SG or ~14 ppt.

 

[abrahamavelar]

i keep mine between 1.023 and 1.025 it depends on the week for some reason either goes up or goes down but it never goes higher than 1.025 or lower than 1.023

 

[thecamino]

I only stock marine (triggers,tangs,loinfish for examples)fish in my tank and they do well in the low salinity. obviously i couldn't keep it that low if i had corals or invertebrates. Fish if properly acclimated will adapt to the salinity and parasites which are an invertebrate of some sort will die in time of osmotic shock. However not as quickly as .009. I've been advised to do this from a few marine dealers since i have a Fowlr aquarium. The dealers will usually keep there most ich vunerable species in .016 to .0018 before moving them to there reef tanks sort of like quarantining. As far as i've been told there is no long term effects on the fish health either. The reason I'm asking is I'm trying to discuss a few things with people who have experence running there tanks in lower salinty.

 

[ccCapt]

Have you read any studies on long term exposure to lower than normal salinity levels leading to an osmotic imbalance and kidney problems in fish?

http://www.ronshimek.com/salinity_temperature.html
"The bottom line for salinities is simple. There is simply no reason at all to maintain the salinities of our systems below normal reef conditions. All reef inhabitants will suffer damage from prolonged exposure to lowered salinities. Invertebrates kept at low salinities often die within a few days to a few months. Given that corals, sea anemones, sponges and some other invertebrates have no old age or senescence (or to put it another way, they are immortal), low salinities result in a quick death. Some mollusks, crustaceans, and most fish kept at low salinities die of kidney failure; it just takes them longer. A fish which dies in a couple of years in a hyposaline aquarium may have had the potential to live more than 20 years had the salinity been appropriate."

 

[thincat]

I keep my tank at ~1.025. The only reason I know of for LFS's to keep their SG at 1.016-18 is to save money on Salt....

 

[melosu58]

I keep mine at 1.025-1.026. I have to agree with the others that your info from your dealers is flawed. You are not killing any parasites and harming your fish. Great article Larry.

 

[Innovator]

I try to keep mine at 32ppt on average, allowing the salinity to raise to 35ppt before top-off. I used to keep salinity at 35ppt, but I tend to get lazy and have found tanks at 40-45ppt. 32ppt is a good saftey net for me

 

[thecamino]

OK my dealer is the most reputable deal in london ontario he would not steer my astray and i had a talk with him agian about it yesterday he has personally keeped a picasso tigger fish for 14 years in .016 to .018 and has many costumers who have keep fish healthy for many years. Me in my personal experince have have had a emperator angelfish for 2 years ,it has grown and is a very vibrant fish. The quote and artical i read a few threads ago is a very interesting artical but it requires no proof what so ever to back it up(that goes for ANY artical on the internet). I base my knowledge on real people i trust and experence only. Now agian i would never entertain the ideal of do this to any invertabrate species or crustation just a good number of the marine fish species you would see at a dealer. I didn't come on here to discuss hyposalinty with anyone on here I'm just looking to discuss things with people who have experience with running tanks in the same range.

 

[melosu58]

OK, Good luck with your tank.

 

[dannyb]

I keep mine at 1.024-1.025, Give or take 0.005 as i only have a refractometer.

And tempreture at 25.5c - 26c

 

[thincat]

danny, if you have a refractometer then you have a very accuate way to measure salinity. a salinity of 1.025 is very good, but at + or - .005 that would put your salinity at 1.030 which would be only good for fishes in the Red Sea.

 

[abrahamavelar]

danny, if you have a refractometer then you have a very accuate way to measure salinity. a salinity of 1.025 is very good, but at + or - .005 that would put your salinity at 1.030 which would be only good for fishes in the Red Sea.

+1 i like the way u put it!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dannyb]

danny, if you have a refractometer then you have a very accuate way to measure salinity. a salinity of 1.025 is very good, but at + or - .005 that would put your salinity at 1.030 which would be only good for fishes in the Red Sea.

Oops, I meant 0.001, Sorry. Lol.

1.030 wouldnt be to good for them hey. Loll.

 

[thincat]

No worries, easy mistake to make. My only worry was that your water might be at 1.030ppm and your fish would get pickled. lol