Fixing Salinity

emma loves fish · Dec 31, 2015

Hi! I have a 2 gallon salt water aquarium and went to go get some new fish today; however, when I got my water tested the salinity was 1.015. Shouldn't it be at 2.5? I followed the instructions on the bag, like I always do, but apparently something went wrong. So, I proceeded to purchase another bag of salt to fix the balance. How much salt should I add to the tank in order to fix the salinity?

Thanks in advance, Emma

twilliard · Dec 31, 2015

Welcome to R2R!
If you are wanting to raise it then add saltwater for the topoff

emma loves fish · Dec 31, 2015

twilliard said:
Welcome to R2R!
If you are wanting to raise it then add saltwater for the topoff

How much should I add? Will 1/4 cup be good? Or Should I add 1/2 or maybe 1/8? THANK YOU!!!!

Zane · Dec 31, 2015

If its just 2 gallons, why not just mix 2 gallons of new water at the correct sg and go at it that way,,,

emma loves fish · Dec 31, 2015

Zane said:
If its just 2 gallons, why not just mix 2 gallons of new water at the correct sg and go at it that way,,,

I might just have to do it that way, thank you!

redfishbluefish · Dec 31, 2015

You don't want to raise salinity more than 0.003 sg units per day. Use a refractometer to determine salinity. I agree with others....use saltwater topoff will slowly raise salinity.

twilliard · Dec 31, 2015

emma loves fish said:
How much should I add? Will 1/4 cup be good? Or Should I add 1/2 or maybe 1/8? THANK YOU!!!!

You can put a quarter cup in 1 gallon of water and as the level of the tank drops then refill with that gallon.
You will get the hang of it!

cmcoker · Dec 31, 2015

Do you have a refractometer?
Need a way to measure the salinity at home, if you are going to mix your own saltwater.

Also, you said "some" fish, are they for the 2g? Usually Pico tanks are invertebrate only. I can not think of any fish suited to live it's life in a 2g tank.. unless 2g was a typo?

redfishbluefish · Dec 31, 2015

I know this wasn't asked, but has the tank cycled? You don't want fish in a tank with ammonia.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 31, 2015

Also, if you mixed the same amount of salt as always and got a very low reading, perhaps it is the measurement that is off, not the water.

trahelyk · Dec 31, 2015

Just want to point out one more thing, also probably a typo: You asked, "shouldn't it be 2.5?" and it certainly shouldn't be that high. You probably meant 1.025, which would be approximately ideal.

Myka · Jan 1, 2016

I think you could add a tablespoon of salt at a time until you reach 1.025. You said the LFS tested the salinity for you. What are YOU using to test salinity? What did you test salinity at?

cmcoker said:
Also, you said "some" fish, are they for the 2g? Usually Pico tanks are invertebrate only. I can not think of any fish suited to live it's life in a 2g tank.. unless 2g was a typo?

Hopefully she's planning tiny gobies from species such as Discordipinna, Eviota, Elacatinus, Gobiodon, etc. I certainly hope she's not planning to put any Clownfish in there.