My first test I think I have a ionic imbalance

High Plains Reefer · Mar 8, 2016

I just got my results back and it looks like I may have a ionic imbalance the test says my salinity is very low but my refrac says it isn't how would i correct it

Tim@Triton · Mar 9, 2016

Is this the same post?

I would agree that your salinity looks way low, how do you calibrate your refractometer?

High Plains Reefer · Mar 9, 2016

I use a 35ppt soultion that is less than a year old and I make sure to keep it tightly closed when stored

Tim@Triton · Mar 9, 2016

What method are you running?

What is your KH set to?

High Plains Reefer · Mar 9, 2016

Im just starting triton I have some old 2 part additives that I want to use up my kh was 8.32 last time I checked on the 5th

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 9, 2016

I cannot open the PDF at the moment, but an ionic imbalance would not normally cause the issue you are reporting.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 9, 2016

OK, I can open it on a different device now, and yes, that salinity is very low, but the conflict with the refractometer is not due to an "imbalance". A refractometer would read that as very low too.

So if it still reads normal after recalibration, and there's no chance the tank water got diluted before going to Triton, I'd get a new batch of calibration fluid, and in the meantime, calibrate with RO/DI and see what difference that makes.

High Plains Reefer · Mar 10, 2016

ok so I borrowed another refrac from the LFS and checked mine it was way off I calibrated it with ro water and am in the process of rasing salinity hopefully this will correct my other elements that are also low but we will see this is going to take a while because my salinity was so low

JimWelsh · Mar 12, 2016

Using my salinity calculation spreadsheet, I get S=24.77 for your posted results. If you allowed evaporation to raise salinity to 35 without changing anything else, or any consumption, you'd end up with:

Na 10123
Ca 496.3
Mg 1684
K 350
Br 49.4
B 10.1
Sr 9.5
S 859.8