Salinity levels, why 35 ppt

[Beats001]

i'm curious...

what are the major parameter for your tank water at 32ppt?

what salt mix are you using?

J.

I use AquaForest probiotic reef salt. At 32 ppt i get
Ca 425
Mg 1425
Kh 7.2
this matches what I keep my tank params at. I could gradually bring my tank params up, but I run Aquaforest balling and have my ions balanced and set, hence the reason i don't want to alter. Plus the lowering affect of nitrate and phosophate using this salt.

It is interesting to hear what people are doing, as each batch of salt is different.

 

[jda]

I do use regular IO. The calcium is slightly low at 1.026 or 35 ppt. I add just a bit. The alk is high, but I use muratic acid to bring it down. Magnesium is about perfect.

I do not know of any way to lower calcium in mixed saltwater, so I would rather have it low since I can always add some.

To lower alk with Muratic Acid, the formula: desired dKh drop * gallons * .123 = mls of muratic acid to use. It does drop the pH a lot and can take about a day to blow off the extra co2 when aerated. This does add a day to mix time, but I plan ahead and have all kinds of time. You can test after you add it and add more if you did not use enough, or add in some baking soda if you used too much. I use a skimmer pump with the venturi (sedra 5000) to blow off the co2 and stir the water. I have also use just some airline in the bottom of a Mag 12 which introduces a good amount of air.

 

[jurgenph]

I use AquaForest probiotic reef salt. At 32 ppt i get
Ca 425
Mg 1425
Kh 7.2
this matches what I keep my tank params at. I could gradually bring my tank params up, but I run Aquaforest balling and have my ions balanced and set, hence the reason i don't want to alter. Plus the lowering affect of nitrate and phosophate using this salt.

It is interesting to hear what people are doing, as each batch of salt is different.

had to look up their salt on the AF website.
it seems they advertise all their parameters at 33ppt.
so your 32 may just be within testing range error.

not sure why they don't suggest mixing their salt at the more widely accepted 35ppt range.

if it was me, i'd slowly raise it over time to 35 ppt.
doesn't need to be drastic, just top off with some salt water for a while until you're at 35ppt.

J.

 

[bluprntguy]

I would doubt that doing a partial water change with water a tiny bit above your normal parameters is going to do anything to change your parameters.

if you are concerned about maintaining your exact parameters, it seems like it would be easier to just skip a dose of your additives following a water change.

 

[EMeyer]

not sure why they don't suggest mixing their salt at the more widely accepted 35ppt range.

Dishonest marketing. It lets them claim the box produces more gallons than it actually does.

Its like how some processed foods advertise a low calorie count but if you read the fine print you find out its based on a nonsense serving size like "half the cup of yogurt" or "1/4 of the bag of chips" when these are obviously single-serving products in reality.

 

[Beats001]

Some companies seem to quote params at 20 degrees celcius. Why they do this I don't know, given everyone runs their reef tanks at around 26.

I'm interested to hear about someone that has mixed to a lower salinity and then raised salinity manually.

 

[laumil87]

Higher salinity has more elements. With that being said Fish only systems generally run a lower level as it’s believed to keep some diseases at bay. Hypo salinity helps lower the chances of marine ich, possibly velvet etc that could be introduced with feeder fish or feeder shrimp. Many of the high end SPS dealers run higher salinity then 1.025 BattleCorals for example I believe said on their website they run closer to 1.028

I have the glass salinity thing you look through and then I have the digital one you put in the water. The glass one says 1.025 but the digital one says 28.1 ppt. What am I supposed to do??

 

[Reef.]

Thanks all that have replied.
It seems there are a mix of people that are concerned with salinity levels and others element levels.
In an ideal world when we mix up a batch of salt at 35 ppt it would be consistent every time, but unfortunately this is never the case.

I run a balling method and it has taken time to get ions balanced, now doing water changes can throw this out.
So I am considering lowering the ppt in my water change water to match my tank params. Given batches of salt are always different i may have to mix to say 32 -37 potentially.

Just wanted to see what peoples thoughts were.
Also is salinity a measure of all elements or just salt in water?

So could i mix to 33 ppt then add some pure salt additive to raise the salinity but not the other elements?

You are overthinking this, 35 is just an average, some seas are higher some lower, what ever you pick, just keep it consistent, if you go 35, test your lvls of mag, calcium and alk and keep them consistent, your corals will be using the elements at different rates anyway so you will be adjusting them most likely at some point, so stressing about salinity now is really pointless.