Is salinity too high?

[Cigarman]

have a new biocube 32 filled with saltwater from my local LFS. I have been checking salinity daily with a Hanna salinity tester. Since day 1 it has been 1.027 after first few days i questioned my LFS owner who is very knowledgeable i thought it might be too high. He said no that was fine as long as it remains constant. Should i add some distilled water to lower it since i don’t have RODI. Or should i not worry about it.

 

[HB AL]

1.027 is not off the charts some people run it that high but 1.025 ro 1.026 seems ideal so I would add the distilled water you have and get it down to 1.026.

 

[Jekyl]

Get an RODI asap. My LFS also sells what ever water I need. Which I used for a while. However in the long run it will cost you more and be less available in an emergency. Even distilled water isn't usually 0 TDS. My first RODI cost me around 70 or 80$. Worked fine for a while just for top off water. Since then I purchased the BRS 5 stage RODI and couldn't be happier. Even comes with a tester to make sure water is 0 TDS

 

[mosertree]

have a new biocube 32 filled with saltwater from my local LFS. I have been checking salinity daily with a Hanna salinity tester. Since day 1 it has been 1.027 after first few days i questioned my LFS owner who is very knowledgeable i thought it might be too high. He said no that was fine as long as it remains constant. Should i add some distilled water to lower it since i don’t have RODI. Or should i not worry about it.

I have just the opposite problem. I’ve been getting water from the LFS that test 1.021 I finally questioned them today and they said they don’t like to over salt their water. I would like to have my tank closer to 1.025

 

[Jekyl]

LFS will keep their salinity low for pest reasons. I was having mine taking care of my tank maintenance for a while and noticed the same thing. Over 2 of my own water changes I brought it back up to 35ppm

 

[mosertree]

LFS will keep their salinity low for pest reasons. I was having mine taking care of my tank maintenance for a while and noticed the same thing. Over 2 of my own water changes I brought it back up to 35ppm

Should I add some salt or just use their saltwater to top off the tank over the next week or so?

 

[mosertree]

LFS will keep their salinity low for pest reasons. I was having mine taking care of my tank maintenance for a while and noticed the same thing. Over 2 of my own water changes I brought it back up to 35ppm

I’m guessing it would be best in long run to make my own or would you continue to buy theirs and just add some more salt to it before adding it to the tank. I don’t own one of those RODI systems so I’ve been just buying all my water from them.

 

[Jedi1199]

Get an RODI asap. My LFS also sells what ever water I need. Which I used for a while. However in the long run it will cost you more and be less available in an emergency. Even distilled water isn't usually 0 TDS. My first RODI cost me around 70 or 80$. Worked fine for a while just for top off water. Since then I purchased the BRS 5 stage RODI and couldn't be happier. Even comes with a tester to make sure water is 0 TDS

I absolutely agree with this. I got my 5 stage RODI from Amazon for $140. Add in the cost of the salt, $49 for a 5 gallon bucket, and it will pay for itself within 6 months over buying pre-made from the LFS. Plus you have the added benefit of controlling exactly what you are putting into your tank.

 

[mosertree]

I absolutely agree with this. I got my 5 stage RODI from Amazon for $140. Add in the cost of the salt, $49 for a 5 gallon bucket, and it will pay for itself within 6 months over buying pre-made from the LFS. Plus you have the added benefit of controlling exactly what you are putting into your tank.

A 5 gal of pre made saltwater from my LFS is $7.25

 

[Rmckoy]

There was one lfs I used to go to when I first started reefing hobby .
they insisted the only tanks they used rodi on was their display tank . Everything else they used municipal water .
The fish system was 1.020 the coral system was 1.023 and they said it cost too much to mix it to 1.026

that same lfs I refuse to shop there as the manager is a arrogant meat head that thinks he poops silver nuggets
will argue anything even after being proved wrong

 

[Jedi1199]

A 5 gal of pre made saltwater from my LFS is $7.25

Ouch!!!!

I was out yesterday at one of the big box pet stores. Saw the same 5 gallon pail of salt mix I have for almost double what I paid on Amazon.

 

[Jekyl]

There was one lfs I used to go to when I first started reefing hobby .
they insisted the only tanks they used rodi on was their display tank . Everything else they used municipal water .
The fish system was 1.020 the coral system was 1.023 and they said it cost too much to mix it to 1.026

that same lfs I refuse to shop there as the manager is a arrogant meat head that thinks he poops silver nuggets
will argue anything even after being proved wrong

You from michigan?

 

[Jekyl]

If going to try and bring up your salinity it's best to do through water changes slowly. Mixing salt takes 12 hours or so to mix completely. Keep doing your regular water changes at a slightly higher salinity. Slowly bringing it up to where you want it. The current salinity won't damage as much as a large swing in parameters.

 

[HB AL]

You could do what I do and go with no water changes. Going on 4.5 years.

 

[Jekyl]

I'm the same way with my RUGF system. I just did my first water change since the rona took over

 

[Rmckoy]

You from michigan?

No ......

assuming they have a similar store there

 

[Jekyl]

They do. Sounds like the same guy

 

[Rmckoy]

They do. Sounds like the same guy

Takes all kinds to make the world go around.

Maybe a twin brother

 

[burningmime]

Adam, owner of Battlecorals, runs his at 1,027-1.029, and no one can say his corals aren't thriving:

!!!HIGH SALINITY, AM I A ONE MAN GANG? OR ANYONE ELSE IN??

Not so curiously, this is another one of those subjects that I seem to find myself and explaining and repeating more often than others. Anytime I'll send over some system param's if someone ask's, the very first response, and usually alarmingly so, goes "Whoa! is that a typo, or do you really...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Turnage]

As a fellow biocube32 reefer you need to get your own r o d i system and stop buying water from your lfs. In the medium to long run it is cheaper to have your own system. With almost $2,000 worth of coral and fish in my BioCube I am not going to trust a lfs water. Oh also, 1.027 is just fine. Lots of reefers on this forum run high salinity in their system...like me.