Salinity going up

[Vu337]

Hello, I noticed that my salinity has been going up since I dose sodium bicarbonate and calcium chloride. Is this normal? Can I use any other substance other than those? With salinity going up and I have to dilute it with ro water will it stress the corals? Please advise thanks

 

[Iván Olalla]

Hello, I noticed that my salinity has been going up since I dose sodium bicarbonate and calcium chloride. Is this normal? Can I use any other substance other than those? With salinity going up and I have to dilute it with ro water will it stress the corals? Please advise thanks

Dosing salts will increase your salinity over time. Do you make water changes? You can adjust the salinity before to compensate. Do you use an ATO? Manual replenish of evap water might lead to lower ir higher salinity if not done accurately

 

[Vu337]

I do have an ato, I’m doing wc every 3 weeks. I was thinking I should mix my water at lower salinity too, I keep my tank at 1.026

 

[ScottR]

Hello, I noticed that my salinity has been going up since I dose sodium bicarbonate and calcium chloride. Is this normal? Can I use any other substance other than those? With salinity going up and I have to dilute it with ro water will it stress the corals? Please advise thanks

This is normal. Dosing 2 part adds sodium ions. Fun part of dosing anything

 

[Iván Olalla]

I do have an ato, I’m doing wc every 3 weeks. I was thinking I should mix my water at lower salinity too, I keep my tank at 1.026

That´s what i do, works for me

 

[nereefpat]

It's slow enough that your corals shouldn't care. You should just have to make an adjustment every once and a while.

Fun fact: kalk doesn't increase salinity over time.

 

[GainesvilleReef]

As others have said, this is normal. For me, the skimmer pulls out enough salt water that gets replaced by the ATO with fresh water to counteract the effect.

 

[Vu337]

Ok just wanted to ask the experts first before I freak out. Can I dose anything else besides sodium bicarbonate for alk consumption that doesn’t raise salinity? Besides Kalk?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Ok just wanted to ask the experts first before I freak out. Can I dose anything else besides sodium bicarbonate for alk consumption that doesn’t raise salinity? Besides Kalk?

Only calcium salts such as calcium hydroxide, calcium oxide, and calcium organics like calcium acetate or formate.

The rise is very slow. Just take out some salt water once in a while and replace with fresh.