Salinity needs raised

[Justinv201]

I just set up my new tank. Been runing for a week with nothing in it but live rock and live sand. NO corals or fish in it. I have been testing it every other day. Levels are good. Ph is slightly low but im adding marine buffer to raise it. Ammonia is 0 and everything is good. Tested the salinity today and its at 1.015. I bought the pre made saltwater from my lfs. How do i raise it to make it safe for corals and fish ? I will be running the tank for one more week before i add hermit crabs and snails to it. And 2 more weeks before i add my fish and corals from my established tank.

 

[ZombieEngineer]

How did you test the salinity? It is much more likely test error than your LFS giving you water that far off. Some of them will mix at 1.022 vs the 1.026 of natural seawater, but 1.015 would take a really incompetent LFS to happen.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Assuming your test result is correct, at this point since you have no livestock in the tank, you can raise the salinity as quickly as you want. Here's a calculator that will help.

Target Salinity Calculator

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

www.hamzasreef.com

 

[Spare time]

Don't use a buffer for the purpose of raising pH. This only temporarily works and can cause serious issues for corals down the road.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Don't use a buffer for the purpose of raising pH. This only temporarily works and can cause serious issues for corals down the road.

??? He wants to raise salinity.

 

[Spare time]

??? He wants to raise salinity.

They mentioned dosing buffer to raise their pH. I am hoping the lfs didn't tell them to do this as that is bad advice right from the start

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

They mentioned dosing buffer to raise their pH. I am hoping the lfs didn't tell them to do this as that is bad advice right from the start

MY BAD!! Sorry, I totally missed that!

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Don't use a buffer for the purpose of raising pH. This only temporarily works and can cause serious issues for corals down the road.

Agree with this 100%. With the salinity (possibly) off, and this being a brand new tank, I wouldn't worry about pH unless it drops close to 7. Even then, a water change will likely correct things.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I just set up my new tank. Been runing for a week with nothing in it but live rock and live sand. NO corals or fish in it. I have been testing it every other day. Levels are good. Ph is slightly low but im adding marine buffer to raise it. Ammonia is 0 and everything is good. Tested the salinity today and its at 1.015. I bought the pre made saltwater from my lfs. How do i raise it to make it safe for corals and fish ? I will be running the tank for one more week before i add hermit crabs and snails to it. And 2 more weeks before i add my fish and corals from my established tank.

How big is your established tank, and what size is this one? Depending on your WC schedule for your established tank, you could just start replacing water in the new one with your WC water... It won't have any measurable benefit re: the cycle, but will save you mixing new SW for both tanks.

 

[Spare time]

Agree with this 100%. With the salinity (possibly) off, and this being a brand new tank, I wouldn't worry about pH unless it drops close to 7. Even then, a water change will likely correct things.

7 would be bad but typically under 7.8 is a no go. Under 7.8 would be detrimental to calficying organisms

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

7 would be bad but typically under 7.8 is a no go. Under 7.8 would be detrimental to calficying organisms

I meant at this point where the OP has no livestock.

 

[Karen00]

Did your LFS say what they mix to? As mentioned that is really low (it's brackish) so either something has gone wrong with their mixing or you have a testing error. I can't imagine they would sell saltwater with a salinity this low. The only way to raise it is by adding marine salt or they give you new saltwater that is a higher salinity and you do water changes or they give you new saltwater at the usual 1.026 and you do water changes but that will take more changes than getting saltwater that is more saturated.

 

[Forty-Two]

Sometimes it’s easiest to let the tank water evaporate - which raises salinity, and then top off with 1.025 water - which over a week or so should bring it up

 

[T-J]

Sometimes it’s easiest to let the tank water evaporate - which raises salinity, and then top off with 1.025 water - which over a week or so should bring it up

This. Right here. Let is naturally evap and get to 35ppt. Then add 35ppt water to top it off.
If you have an established tank, you've had to have had salinity issues in the past. I'm shook that this isn't something you've had to deal with before.

 

[melonheadorion]

if you raise your salinity, it will, or should, help raise the pH as well. obviously not huge amounts, but to get you closer to a proper level, albeit maybe only for a short period of time. salinity, at this point, the easiest way to raise it is probably to remove water from the tank, add salt to the water you removed, then add it back to the tank. if you have no fish, you could probably just add salt to the tank and mix as you add. have to be careful with this one tho because once you put the salt in, there is no taking it back. you will then have to dilute water thats in the tank.

 

[Dburr1014]

How big is your established tank, and what size is this one? Depending on your WC schedule for your established tank, you could just start replacing water in the new one with your WC water... It won't have any measurable benefit re: the cycle, but will save you mixing new SW for both tanks.

The big benefit of using old water from the old tank into the new tank is the water will be close to the same when the OP is ready to make the switch. So that is a hugh measurable benefit.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

The big benefit of using old water from the old tank into the new tank is the water will be close to the same when the OP is ready to make the switch. So that is a hugh measurable benefit.

This is true; my point was that there will only be negligible amounts of nitrifying bacteria in the water, so this won't help with cycling the new tank.

 

[ReefLife_Guy]

if you have no fish, you could probably just add salt to the tank and mix as you add

Probably not the best idea since there is sand in the tank. It will be difficult to do this way. Removing water then adding is better but only do this once you confirm you are measuring accurately.

I would probably do the following:
1. Contact LFS and ask what salinity they mixed the water that you purchased from them
2. If it is higher than what you are measuring, I would either calibrate your device or bring a sample of the water and your device to their store and ask them to measure with their device.
3. If they measured lower and you didn't add any RODI water to the tank then I would talk to them about it (maybe they had a mixing issue), then they can either replace the water you purchased or can give you the salt to make up the difference.
4. If it measures like they said and you trust them, then you can either try to calibrate with some standard for your method or just calibrate with their water, so you know if it changes from what it originally was. I personally would prefer to have a standard than to trust anyone even if they are a really good LFS.

 

[Justinv201]

So i made my own water and got the salinity to 1.0125 which is good. I did a water change today. Took out about 4 gallons and put my own water in the tank. Seeing as i dont have any fish or coral in it, how long will it take to raise it to the proper level ? I dont plan on adding anything to it for another 2 weeks so i got time, or should i add something to it soon ? Like hermits and snails. Any help would be awesome, thanks.

 

[Justinv201]

So i made my own water and got the salinity to 1.0125 which is good. I did a water change today. Took out about 4 gallons and put my own water in the tank. Seeing as i dont have any fish or coral in it, how long will it take to raise it to the proper level ? I dont plan on adding anything to it for another 2 weeks so i got time, or should i add something to it soon ? Like hermits and snails. Any help would be awesome, thanks.

Sorry i meant 1.025