Salinity creeps quickly

[twotons06]

new to the hobby. have a 13.5 fluval mini tank. with a couple clowns and some zoa. nothing crazy. I try to maintain 1.024 and check almost daily after 6 months from new. now im noticing that my salinity creeps up to 1.030 very quickly sometimes within a few days. using a refractometer that is calibrated before each use.
thoughts?

 

[Saltyreef]

new to the hobby. have a 13.5 fluval mini tank. with a couple clowns and some zoa. nothing crazy. I try to maintain 1.024 and check almost daily after 6 months from new. now im noticing that my salinity creeps up to 1.030 very quickly sometimes within a few days. using a refractometer that is calibrated before each use.
thoughts?

Do you have an auto top off on the tank?

A small tank will swing in salinity very easily without one.

 

[twotons06]

no any recommendations? like i said pretty new to the hobby

 

[Saltyreef]

no any recommendations? like i said pretty new to the hobby

I like my xp aqua duetto

 

[partlycloudy531]

The water evaporates but the salt does not, so you will need to top off the tank with fresh RODI water on a daily basis.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Are you topping off daily? Water evaporates , but not salt, so salinity will always increase. You need to add freshwater daily to maintain the salinity. It’s a chore but it’s vitality important, as mentioned above, an automatic top off system will do the work for you.

 

[twotons06]

i have not been topping off daily. doesnt seem to be much loss. any recommendations for amount?

 

[twotons06]

I like my xp aqua duetto

i look into one thanks

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

i have not been topping off daily. doesnt seem to be much loss. any recommendations for amount?

Put a piece of tape or something to mark the water level on the tank. Or use your hydrometer to measure and add enough water to keep the salinity at 1.024. Depending how hot/dry your home is, water can evaporate very quickly.

 

[Saltyreef]

Put a piece of tape or something to mark the water level on the tank. Or use your hydrometer to measure and add enough water to keep the salinity at 1.024. Depending how hot/dry your home is, water can evaporate very quickly.

Sharpie marks on sumps FTW!

 

[partlycloudy531]

i have not been topping off daily. doesnt seem to be much loss. any recommendations for amount?

For your tank, the level is going to go down in the back chamber where your pump is located. The main tank level will not go down so it will appear that you aren’t losing that much water. Just top off however much you need to keep the back chamber level the same.

 

[twotons06]

s

Put a piece of tape or something to mark the water level on the tank. Or use your hydrometer to measure and add enough water to keep the salinity at 1.024. Depending how hot/dry your home is, water can evaporate very quickly.

starting to learn this quickly.

For your tank, the level is going to go down in the back chamber where your pump is located. The main tank level will not go down so it will appear that you aren’t losing that much water. Just top off however much you need to keep the back chamber level the same.

your 100% right hadn’t noticed early on.

 

[Saltyreef]

s

starting to learn this quickly.

your 100% right hadn’t noticed early on.

Also, fill this return chamber up all the way just before the water stops cascading into it. That should be your full level to refill to if there are no markings.

 

[twotons06]

whats the preferred method for daily top offs with a nano tank like this? fresh R/o water?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

whats the preferred method for daily top offs with a nano tank like this? fresh R/o water?

Definitely. Don't use tap.

 

[Coolcasino]

whats the preferred method for daily top offs with a nano tank like this? fresh R/o water?

Yes. You are replacing the evaporated water. If you top off with salt water you will increase your salinity. As stated before only water evaporates... not the salt. That's why you are experiencing the salinity spikes. With such a small volume of water you should have an ato. Doesn't take much evaporation to change the salinity in that amount of water. Also by adding too much RO you can decrease the salinity. Thats why an ato would benefit you tremendously.

 

[twotons06]

after further investigation and taken into consideration the input ive gotten from you guys

Yes. You are replacing the evaporated water. If you top off with salt water you will increase your salinity. As stated before only water evaporates... not the salt. That's why you are experiencing the salinity spikes. With such a small volume of water you should have an ato. Doesn't take much evaporation to change the salinity in that amount of water. Also by adding too much RO you can decrease the salinity. Thats why an ato would benefit you tremendously.

what about add salt water of a lower level as appose to fresh R/O water? like a level of 1.015?

 

[partlycloudy531]

after further investigation and taken into consideration the input ive gotten from you guys

what about add salt water of a lower level as appose to fresh R/O water? like a level of 1.015?

The salt does not evaporate, so if you start off with the proper salinity, you would not want to add any more salt into the aquarium. The water that evaporates is pure water so you should replace it only with pure water (RODI). The only time you want to add saltwater is if you are replacing water that you manually removed, like with a water change.