Where is all the salt????

[stradt03]

OK specs first, 150 gallon, wet/dry


I am just setting this thing up i premixed three bags of salt with the water (each bag said it was good for 50 gallons. I started cycling the tank about a week ago and i went to test the SG of the water and its crazy high it is reading at 1.0275....where did all the salt go?????


maybe it settled on the CC and LS? should i stir up the substrate and see if the salinity goes up once the cloudiness clears?

I've already started the cycling with raw shrimp (about a week in) will stirring up the substrate disrupt the cycle?

thanks
Jason

 

[mp3z24]

did you check the water before you put anything else in the tank?

the salt didnt "go anywhere"... what i suspect is happening is either the water is evaporating, and you are not refilling it. or if you are adding water to replace the water that was evaporated, then the system was not at the proper specific gravity to start out with...

assuming the water is warm, and there is some circulation, there should be no salt sitting on the substrate. it will have all dissolved into the water by now. i would suggest cleaning your testing equipment and trying to test again. one thing that could be happening is that the leftover salt water is evaporating in the hydrometer (if you are using a hydrometer) and leaving behind salt crystals. then when you test, those crystals dissolve into the water and give you a false high reading.

~mike

 

[MT79]

i went to test the SG of the water and its crazy high it is reading at 1.0275....where did all the salt go?????

If the SG is "crazy high" then the salt concentration is increasing not decreasing-the salt did not go anywhere. This increase is most likely due to evaporation as stated in the post above. Water evaporates leaving behind the salt, thus the more water that is allowed to evaporate the higher the SG will become in the tank. 1.0275 is high, most aim for 1.025. HTH
.

 

[fishfreek]

I dont understand your question at all. What do you mean where did the salt go? If you have a SG reading of 1.0275 then the salt is in there disolved in the water. You will most likly want to lower the salinity by removing some saltwater and adding some freshwater.

 

[mykpoz]

that is what i was thinking the first read.... 1.0275 and that it was high, i was waiting to hear that it was a typo...

 

[stradt03]

i'm confused now......from what you guys are telling me my water has too much salt in it, I think I've had it backwards the whole time....oops

here is a scenario, lets say my SG is 1.019 and i want to raise it to 1.025 would i add fresh water to teh tank or salt to the tank water

sorry stradt03 <----newb

 

[mykpoz]

salt, but you would do that in the form of salt and water

look at it this way...

plain water is 1.000, and as you add salt mix you start to raise the SG, where the norm is the 1.025ish that people strive for.

The other thing to look at is, just because you have a 150g tank, your CC/LS and anything else you put in that tank is actually going to cut down on the liquid volume. So the more things you add, the less water you have for your salt that was to treat around 50g per bag and 150g for all 3

i.e. your 150g actually has 120(probably wrong) but enough salt for 150 gallons at a SG of whatever your bag specified usually 1.025

anyone correct me if I am wrong, still new at this


One other note, while we are talking about salt...

When your water evaporates, dont mix the new water with salt, as the salt will stay in the water still in the tank. The only way I would add salt to water for top off is just to raise your SG. You also dont want to have sharp increases in your SG. To bad/stressful for the critters.

 

[fishfreek]

mykpoz is correct when he talks about displacement. In addition your hydromoter might be off slightly causing part of the higher readings. As is also mentioned evaporation will elevate the SG of the water over time because only the water evaporates leaving the salt in the water and since there is less water and the same amount of salt the SG goes up.

The general rule of thumb as to when to add water mixed with salt to the tank is this. If you physically remove water from the system then add salt water back to the system. If your simply adding water to replace water that has evaporated then introduce regular water into the system.

The only time you really need to add salt water into the system is when your performing water changes or if your salinity levels are to low and your adding saltwater in an effort to boost the overall SG levels.

 

[stradt03]

oh man....i feel like an idiot. I was reading the hydrometer backwards

DOH all this while i was adding more salt thinking the SG was low when it was actually too high. time to take out some water.

 

[seaham358]

Time to do some more reading about Sw also....
We all make mistakes, just be glad you did it before you had fishin the tank.
take your time and keep asking questions..
Once you add fish,inverts or corals to the tank you should not be adding salt directly into the tank.
Premix all SW out of the tank now that you have it running and bring it up to the proper SG and temp before adding.

 

[stradt03]

we have a nice 1.025 SG @ 78.9 degrees

thanks alot guys (and gals?).