Salinity problems!

[kellyj]

My salinity is staying around 1.28-1.3. Last night I took out about a gal and added fresh water no salt, I did that twice and read again at 1.28. What should I do? I am a newbie of course. My tank is a 38 gal! Thanks

 

[jjh302]

Following.....

 

[Hondatek]

Just keep changing out salt water for fresh until you are at your desired salinity .

 

[kellyj]

Should I do more than 1 gal at a time? And should I have a time period between changes?

 

[jjh302]

I also am kinda new. I would say depending on the size of your tank, do that again later today. But I would say no more than a gallon and make sure there is 24 hours in between times so you don't shock the livestock with salinity swings. Makes sense to me but there are wonderful people on this board that have much more experience and can give you much better advice!

 

[Hondatek]

You can lower the salinity as fast as you want to. Going down in salinity has no harmful side effects. Especially since you are only going down a little bit. When you have to raise salinity you need to do it slow so you do not dehydrate the fish .

 

[jjh302]

You can lower the salinity as fast as you want to. Going down in salinity has no harmful side effects. Especially since you are only going down a little bit. When you have to raise salinity you need to do it slow so you do not dehydrate the fish .

Thanks for that info. I wasn't even thinking of the dehydration factor of it. Lol.

 

[kellyj]

Thanks so much!

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

1.28 or 1.028? And how are you measuring salinity?

 

[kellyj]

1.028 sorry!

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

You can lower the salinity as fast as you want to. Going down in salinity has no harmful side effects. Especially since you are only going down a little bit. When you have to raise salinity you need to do it slow so you do not dehydrate the fish .

And that's not necessarily true. You should always be careful when adjusting salinity, and should not change anything in the tank "fast"

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

1.028 sorry!

Are you using a refractometer or a swing arm hydrometer?

 

[Hondatek]

We will have to agree to disagree on that part. I do agree changing things fast is usually not good but not when lowering salinity is the subject.

 

[kellyj]

A hydrometer to measure

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

A hydrometer to measure

You'll really want to get a refractometer, hydrometers are terribly inaccurate. I would take a sample of your water to an lfs and have them check your sg.

 

[kellyj]

Ok thanks! I'm working on a partial water change now. I haven't done one since I set up the tank in September. Long way past due! I will take the water next week and see what they say
Thanks for all the advice, I have always had a freshwater tank this has been a true learning experience.

 

[manbeast]

A refractometer is the best way to check salinity, I put off getting one for quite some time but once I got one I really felt dumb for putting it off, they are so much easier and more accurate than a hydrometer and can be found cheaply on amazon

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

We will have to agree to disagree on that part. I do agree changing things fast is usually not good but not when lowering salinity is the subject.

Deal

 

[Bectan01]

You haven't changed the water for over 6 months? Do you top off with fresh water? That would be why your salinity is so high!

 

[kellyj]

Yeah lesson learned.