Salinity- Cycling

erikaadli · Jan 11, 2022

HI All!

New here and new to salt water life, have about 5 freshwater tanks though

Question, i am cycling my Evo 32gallon tank. I added the salt/water and live sand 3 days ago. I checked the salinity yesterday and it was verrrrry high at 1.034--- so i tried to dilute it last night but woke up this morning to the same ppt

I am getting my live rock delivered today so want to make sure my tank is at the right salt measurement prior to avoid future problems in the tank.

Any advice or just do a water change here? Is there a good website to check on the salt mix metric as i read the directions and obviously it wasnt right :/

thank you!!

T-J · Jan 11, 2022

Are you using an ATO? That's the best way to keep your salinity at the correct number as it evaporates throughout the day.

Azedenkae · Jan 11, 2022

erikaadli said:
HI All!

New here and new to salt water life, have about 5 freshwater tanks though

Question, i am cycling my Evo 32gallon tank. I added the salt/water and live sand 3 days ago. I checked the salinity yesterday and it was verrrrry high at 1.034--- so i tried to dilute it last night but woke up this morning to the same ppt

I am getting my live rock delivered today so want to make sure my tank is at the right salt measurement prior to avoid future problems in the tank.

Any advice or just do a water change here? Is there a good website to check on the salt mix metric as i read the directions and obviously it wasnt right :/

thank you!!

How did you dilute your tank last night? Also 1.034 ppt or sg? Different measurements.

erikaadli · Jan 11, 2022

no i am not using one at the moment-

do you think it would be ok to add my live rock with the salinity at this measure or do a water change first ?? this is my third day so not even close to being cycled

T-J · Jan 11, 2022

Just remove some tank water and replace with RODI water until you reach your desired salinity/sg level. Personally I keep mine at 35ppt.

If you're getting live rock delivered, put it in the tank, since it's only 3 days old. You'll be cycling that tank in no time as the stuff that died in transit will be breaking down. You'll be curing the rock in the tank, which is fine when done with a new setup.

Make sure you monitor ammonia and have saltwater ready to do changes. Also, if you don't have an ATO, I strongly suggest you get one, or top off the tank throughout the day with RODI to keep your salinity in check.

T-J · Jan 11, 2022

Azedenkae said:
How did you dilute your tank last night? Also 1.034 ppt or sg? Different measurements.

It's pretty obvious they meant specific gravity, since they said 1.034. That SG puts them at about 45ppt (salinity).

erikaadli · Jan 11, 2022

T-J said:
Just remove some tank water and replace with RODI water until you reach your desired salinity/sg level. Personally I keep mine at 35ppt.

If you're getting live rock delivered, put it in the tank, since it's only 3 days old. You'll be cycling that tank in no time as the stuff that died in transit will be breaking down. You'll be curing the rock in the tank, which is fine when done with a new setup.

Make sure you monitor ammonia and have saltwater ready to do changes. Also, if you don't have an ATO, I strongly suggest you get one, or top off the tank throughout the day with RODI to keep your salinity in check.

Thank you so much! I will Do just that.

also last question does my live rock need a heater? My heater does not get here till Thursday but i keep Finding mixed answers everywhere haha

T-J · Jan 11, 2022

erikaadli said:
Thank you so much! I will Do just that.

also last question does my live rock need a heater? My heater does not get here till Thursday but i keep Finding mixed answers everywhere haha

Yes, you want a heater and a powerhead at minimum.
Do yourself a favor and order an ATO as well.

Harold999 · Jan 11, 2022

If that live rock comes from a 1.025 tank and you dump it in 1.034 you will kill 70% of the bacteria on it.
Make sure it is in the same ballpark. A little lower than 1.025 is no problem, even more a tank cycles faster when the salinity is lower. Bring it up to 1.025 before you add fish/corals.