Salinity dropping

[Calireefer92]

Hey reefers so I did a 25 gallon water on Sunday I use instant ocean and I think I have a bad bucket of salt. Here’s what’s going on I did the 25 gallons and when I added the 25 gallons it was at 102.3 I try for 102.6 so I got a 5 gallon bucket and added 2 and a half cups it was at 102.0 long story short I added over 8 cups to this 5 gallon bucket and it’s reading 102.5 my tank is at 101.4 now my salinity keeps dropping any idea what’s going on if anyone has had this problem

 

[ArmyReefer]

Hey reefers so I did a 25 gallon water on Sunday I use instant ocean and I think I have a bad bucket of salt. Here’s what’s going on I did the 25 gallons and when I added the 25 gallons it was at 102.3 I try for 102.6 so I got a 5 gallon bucket and added 2 and a half cups it was at 102.0 long story short I added over 8 cups to this 5 gallon bucket and it’s reading 102.5 my tank is at 101.4 now my salinity keeps dropping any idea what’s going on if anyone has had this problem

When was the last time you calibrated your refractometer?

 

[Calireefer92]

When was the last time you calibrated your refractometer?

Last week it’s reading fine because I checked my brother tank and it was reading his good

 

[ArmyReefer]

Last week it’s reading fine because I checked my brother tank and it was reading his good

I had an issue with mine, I use it every week. Then bam, it was off by a ton. You can do a quick test with RODI water. If it’s exactly at zero you should be fine. If not, adjust to zero and re test

 

[Calireefer92]

I had an issue with mine, I use it every week. Then bam, it was off by a ton. You can do a quick test with RODI water. If it’s exactly at zero you should be fine. If not, adjust to zero and re test

Yeah I checked my rodi and it was reading 1.000

 

[ArmyReefer]

Yeah I checked my rodi and it was reading 1.000

So it’s not reading zero?

 

[ArmyReefer]

So it’s not reading zero?

Only other thing i can think of is that your ATO failed and is dumping freshwater in your tank. I had a gallon of fresh get dumped in my 120 and it brought it from 26 to almost 24

 

[W1ngz]

Low salinity in a tank is because of a few possible things:

-Saltwater is leaking, and the ATO is replacing it with fresh water
-ATO dumped more than it should
-incorrectly mixed new salt water in a water change
-Testing error. This seems to be common when trying to calibrate a refractometer with water, instead of calibration solution that is at or near the normal specific gravity that you're testing. A lot of instruction leaflets say to use RODI, but best practice according to the resident chemist on here is to calibrate in the range of what you're testing.

 

[Calireefer92]

Only other thing i can think of is that your ATO failed and is dumping freshwater in your tank. I had a gallon of fresh get dumped in my 120 and it brought it from 26 to almost 24

I have the icecap pen salinity and at Zero that’s what it’s reads. It’s been that way since I got it and it’s always been accurate I haven’t filled my ato up at all yet