Low salinity

[sturdy]

My clownfish has been breathing hard and I think it’s the salinity causing it the salinity dropped to 1.018 before I added him to the tank I was at 1.025 I pointed the power head upwards for aeration

 

[mdb_talon]

Just raise it slowly(replace some current water with well mixed saltwater with high salinity dont just add salt mix to tank). Or over next few days use saltwater for topoff instead of freshwater. A sudden change in salinity can cause issues but most fish can do just fine at 1.018.

 

[sturdy]

Just raise it slowly(replace some current water with well mixed saltwater with high salinity dont just add salt mix to tank). Or over next few days use saltwater for topoff instead of freshwater. A sudden change in salinity can cause issues but most fish can do just fine at 1.018.

Ok thanks

 

[DrZoidburg]

Cause of your current fish situation. I would do this extra slowly. Did the you measure shipping water salinity? How do you think it got so much lower?

 

[sturdy]

Cause of your current fish situation. I would do this extra slowly. Did the you measure shipping water salinity? How do you think it got so much lower?

I forgot to measure the salinity in the bag it came in
I really don’t know how it got lower because when I made it it was at 1.025

 

[DrZoidburg]

I forgot to measure the salinity in the bag it came in
I really don’t know how it got lower because when I made it it was at 1.025

What are you using to measure it?

 

[blaxsun]

Temperature can effect salinity, and it may not have been mixed 100% (some could've settled). Easy fixes and things to look for with your next water change.

 

[sturdy]

What are you using to measure it?

A refractometer

 

[DrZoidburg]

A refractometer

Make sure it is calibrated well. No water or residue on it.

Temperature can effect salinity, and it may not have been mixed 100%

Temp not really as much it would take big difference. 2nd part think about it. If it read as 1.025, and wasn't mixed enough. Would be much higher than 1.025.

 

[blaxsun]

Temp not really as much it would take big difference. 2nd part think about it. If it read as 1.025, and wasn't mixed enough. Would be much higher than 1.025.

Unless it wasn't mixed, the salt settled and the reading was from the top. In any event, with a properly calibrated refractometer it's all easy to resolve.

 

[DrZoidburg]

If it didn't have a pump to mix, and top was 1.025 bottom would be way higher also. Denser water would be on bottom.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Slowly add to the sump - Not directly to the tank and allow some time for new added water to blend before rechecking to achieve more accurate reading. Most refracts are claibrated at 26 deg C and many automatically corrected for temperature.
If youre at 1.018, you can add water at 1.027 to bring it up - S L O W L Y