Salinity issues

[Atrax108]

Greetings and thank you in advance for any advice. I have always bought premixed water from my lfs. My coral is constantly in and out of stress mode especially after water change. I tested all parameters and they are perfect. Naturally I came to the conclusion that the problem may be salinity swings.
I got a refractometer calibrated it with 35ppt calibration fluid and double checked that after calibrating it red 0 with RO water. When I tested my tank it read 39PPT and SG 1.028-1.029. What is the best way to bring this down to 35 PPT. If I mix water at 35 and do my normal water changes will this bring salinity down safely or do I need to be more gradual. I don’t mean bring it down in one water change I will be doing it about 20% at a time.

 

[Lavey29]

Just take out 2 or 3 cups a day of saltwater and let your top off replace it with RODI

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Target Salinity Calculator

Aquarium calculator; Create a water-change schedule that can be used to reach a target salinity.

www.hamzasreef.com

 

[EricR]

I like both posts #2-3. (Post #2 is what I do but I've never gotten as high as you have)
One thing I'm not sure about for your case is how much salinity drop is OK to do rapidly.
*rapid salinity drop is safer than rapid rise but, since you're pretty high right now, not sure if it's better to be super aggressive or just go slow.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I like both posts #2-3. (Post #2 is what I do but I've never gotten as high as you have)
One thing I'm not sure about for your case is how much salinity drop is OK to do rapidly.
*rapid salinity drop is safer than rapid rise but, since you're pretty high right now, not sure if it's better to be super aggressive or just go slow.

1.028 is not that high... I keep my system at 1.026.

 

[Lavey29]

I like both posts #2-3. (Post #2 is what I do but I've never gotten as high as you have)
One thing I'm not sure about for your case is how much salinity drop is OK to do rapidly.
*rapid salinity drop is safer than rapid rise but, since you're pretty high right now, not sure if it's better to be super aggressive or just go slow.

His salinity is not harmful short term. He can slowly reduce it with no issues

 

[EricR]

I guess 39 ppt just "looked" high to me.
FWIW, I run 1.026 also.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

My coral is constantly in and out of stress mode especially after water change. I tested all parameters and they are perfect.

What is your normal WC schedule and how much do you change? Do you have an ATO or are you topping off manually?
When you say parameters are "perfect", do you mean the tank parameters match the new saltwater parameters? If not, "perfect" may not be, especially if water changes are causing other swings...

 

[Atrax108]

What is your normal WC schedule and how much do you change? Do you have an ATO or are you topping off manually?
When you say parameters are "perfect", do you mean the tank parameters match the new saltwater parameters? If not, "perfect" may not be, especially if water changes are causing other swings...

I do a 20% water change every Mon. So when I tested the salinity in my tank it was from water I bought a week ago and test both tank and that water both 39PPT. Then I bought some new water tested it and it was the same so all the parameters are the same from two different batches of water. I should note my tank is only 5 gal so I do test and do maintenance almost everyday. The only thing I didn’t test was salinity and found out the hard way not to just trust the lfs. As far as top off I drew a line on the side of my tank at water level I want and I check it daily if water level is below the line I top it off. I am doing that daily.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I do a 20% water change every Mon. So when I tested the salinity in my tank it was from water I bought a week ago and test both tank and that water both 39PPT. Then I bought some new water tested it and it was the same so all the parameters are the same from two different batches of water. I should note my tank is only 5 gal so I do test and do maintenance almost everyday. The only thing I didn’t test was salinity and found out the hard way not to just trust the lfs. As far as top off I drew a line on the side of my tank at water level I want and I check it daily if water level is below the line I top it off. I am doing that daily.

I still don't know what your tank parameters are...

 

[Atrax108]

I still don't know what your tank parameters are...

Temp 77
Nitrate 5ppm
Phosphate .1ppm
Ammonia 0ppm
Calcium 430ppm
DKH 8
KH 143.2ppm
Salinity 39PPT

 

[Pistondog]

That is roughly 10% too much salt in your tank.
Take out 1% each morning for 10 days. This will get close.
Presumably your ato will make up the 1% removal.
So if you have 100 gallons total system volume, remove 1 gallon of tank water and add 1 gallon of rodi manually or via ato.