Salinity 1.030 good/bad

Slinkthug · Apr 25, 2013

Also I want to get it at 1.026, what should I do add water with no salt

Don't want use tap
Can buy filter water at the super market
Or buy 1 gallon Distilled water get like 5

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scsdukefan408 · Apr 25, 2013

thats way too high 1.026 is a bit high aswell you need to shoot for about 1.024...and if your using distilled water lower ur salinity very slow dont wanna shock anything in the tank anymore than it prob already is.

Slinkthug · Apr 25, 2013

Okay cool I'm going add distilled water
One 1 gallon at a time and add slowly check with a refractometer as I go

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Downbeach · Apr 25, 2013

What are you using to measure your salinity? If it's a swing arm type hydrometer it may be giving you a bad reading, i.e. micro bubbles on the arm will cause a high reading. Ultimately, it would be best to use a refractometer that has been calibrated with a solution that is at the refractive index of the sample you will be testing, i.e. a SG of 1.026 or 35ppt. I would also put a decent RO/DI unit on a wish list for your water, buying distilled water will become expensive, considering the fact that you will have to use it daily for top off, and making fresh SW for WC's.

You will notice in this article that the SG of NSW is between 1.025 and 1.027, so you should target 1.026.

Reef Aquarium Water Parameters by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

Slinkthug · Apr 25, 2013

Downbeach said:
What are you using to measure your salinity? If it's a swing arm type hydrometer it may be giving you a bad reading, i.e. micro bubbles on the arm will cause a high reading. Ultimately, it would be best to use a refractometer that has been calibrated with a solution that is at the refractive index of the sample you will be testing, i.e. a SG of 1.026 or 35ppt. I would also put a decent RO/DI unit on a wish list for your water, buying distilled water will become expensive, considering the fact that you will have to use it daily for top off, and making fresh SW for WC's.

You will notice in this article that the SG of NSW is between 1.025 and 1.027, so you should target 1.026.

Reef Aquarium Water Parameters by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

Thanks for advice and yes I'm using a refractometer

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micromount · Apr 25, 2013

SaltyZoo's Salinity Conversion (Specific Gravity / PPT)

Reefing Madness · Apr 25, 2013

Slinkthug said:
Okay cool I'm going add distilled water
One 1 gallon at a time and add slowly check with a refractometer as I go

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That'll do ya.

CJO · Apr 25, 2013

Slinkthug said:
Okay cool I'm going add distilled water
One 1 gallon at a time and add slowly check with a refractometer as I go

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How large is your tank? Do you already have livestock in there? If your tank is 100 gallons or less and you have livestock (fish, inverts, corals, etc.), 1 gallon at a time may be too much.

CJ

Slinkthug · Apr 25, 2013

CJO said:
How large is your tank? Do you already have livestock in there? If your tank is 100 gallons or less and you have livestock (fish, inverts, corals, etc.), 1 gallon at a time may be too much.

CJ

It's a 55 with live stock no corals

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mike007 · Apr 25, 2013

You don't have a water store in that big city? We have windmill water fill stores every where here and its a small town. $1 FOR 5 GALLONS OF RODI WATER.

Xingu · Apr 25, 2013

Still may want to calibrate your refractometer. They can get out of whack and give false readings.

KillerKlownFish · Dec 25, 2013

I'm at 1.030 (specific gravity) just started my tank.
If it doesn't get better I was told to add distilled water or RO.
Is distilled water from the supermarket ok? Or is there a specific brand that is best?

Dashiki · Dec 25, 2013

Any distiller is fine. Rodin is better do you have a lfs that sells it? Call around most stores have it available just bring a bucket with you.

SeahorseKeeper · Dec 25, 2013

KillerKlownFish said:
I'm at 1.030 (specific gravity) just started my tank.
If it doesn't get better I was told to add distilled water or RO.
Is distilled water from the supermarket ok? Or is there a specific brand that is best?

I buy the gallon jugs of distilled water from Walmart for my tank. It is working out quite well for me.

KillerKlownFish · Dec 25, 2013

I got a gallon of distilled at shoprite in case I need it. The lfs said they will give me RO. It's a bit of a drive. I'll pick some up when I go to get the cleaning crew. Snails, Blue Hermits and shrimp.

RacinRevo0818 · Dec 25, 2013

Just making sure you plan on removing a gallon of saltwater for every gallon of fresh added. Just go slow

sir bonkers · Dec 25, 2013

Definitely use a refractometer. I was using a swing arm hydrometer and when I finally switched to my refractometer my reading was much higher than it was with my swing arm hydrometer. Dangerously high.

J062682l · Dec 25, 2013

Find someone with a refractometer and calibrate yours !

CountrySideCoral · Dec 25, 2013

You need to be careful with distilled water. If it is made with copper tubes at the distiller it is possible the distilled water will have trace amounts of copper.

Spendley · Dec 27, 2013

ugh my hydrometer would always read around .025 or .025, finally got a refractometer for Xmas and it is telling me I am at .030!!! I used the 35ppt solution to calibrate at .026 specific gravity. Refractometer measured my bucket of 'new salt water' at .025 which is what I aim for…so I guess all those weeks of saying 'oh don't worry about topping off, I'll just refill with salt water next water change' has really caught up to me! Yikes!

I also just got ro/di unit but it'll take a while to get it set up, to the store for distilled water for me. If I have approx 25 gallons (biocube 29) and a salinity of .030, I need to replace 4 total gallons with distilled water to get my levels back to .025ish. 1/2 gallon every five days?