Salt is at 38?

[Jeffcb]

On my Reefer 250 the Salt is at 38ppt. I have not checked it in a month or so but its always at 35 and was last time I checked. I have not done a water change since Nov of 2021. I was thinking of doing 10 gallons soon. I change 40 gals every other week on my 240 FOWLR and usually just check the reef tank because I have the checker out and to see if its still calibrated. Today its at 38. The FOWLR is at 33 as usual.

I used a freshly calibrated Hanna checker and a refractor calibrated with 35 fluid to make sure.

On the reef tank I dose Red Sea ABC, AB+, ABCD trace elements and some home grow made Phyto from the LFS. Everything looks happy.

What would make the salt increase so much?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

What would make the salt increase so much?

Is it possible you accidentally added saltwater to your ATO?

 

[Spare time]

One way the salt could rise is the build up of sodium over time from dosing. I don't know the math off the top of my head but randy has an article or two about the topic. Essentially, all of the thigs you dose such as calcium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate, all add sodium over time.

 

[polyppal]

Evaporation/dosing, some imbalance over time is normal. Just RODI it back down to 35 over a day or two

 

[lazyd00d]

Salinity creep from dosing 2 part.

 

[ZombieEngineer]

One way the salt could rise is the build up of sodium over time from dosing. I don't know the math off the top of my head but randy has an article or two about the topic. Essentially, all of the thigs you dose such as calcium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate, all add sodium over time.

This. I have to remove about 500ml a week from my 65g to account for this effect. Thinking of starting the balling method because of this.

 

[Sean Clark]

Don't trust your Hanna Salinity Checker. Get another method prior to making any changes.

 

[Jeffcb]

Is it possible you accidentally added saltwater to your ATO?

No salt water in the ATO.

 

[Jeffcb]

Don't trust your Hanna Salinity Checker. Get another method prior to making any changes.

I used a refractor also calibrated with 35 fluid. It says the same.

 

[Spare time]

This. I have to remove about 500ml a week from my 65g to account for this effect. Thinking of starting the balling method because of this.

This is one reason why I am wanting to do an icp test as I have been dosing all for reef with practically no water changes for almost a year, though I dosed other things before without it. I wonder if I can add part C of balling to all for reef

 

[Sean Clark]

I wish there was a thinking emoji.

 

[ZombieEngineer]

This is one reason why I am wanting to do an icp test as I have been dosing all for reef with practically no water changes for almost a year, though I dosed other things before without it. I wonder if I can add part C of balling to all for reef

All for reef has part C balling built into it.

 

[Jeffcb]

I dose All for Reef in my fowlr just to keep the coraline growing. No issues.

 

[Spare time]

All for reef has part C balling built into it.

I'm pretty sure it has K and A elements but not the balling as these are meant to add trace elements not maintain them in the correction from adding sodium. The DIY all for reef does not use part C but rather the two trace element supplements

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

All for reef has part C balling built into it.

Not really. It claims to have magnesium and some other elements in it to offset consumption, but it has no need for a material of the exact composition of Balling Part C, which has no purpose other than offsetting the accumulation of sodium and chloride from dosing sodium bicarbonate/carbonate/hydroxide and calcium chloride, not to offset any consumption.

 

[Jeffcb]

Thank you all for answers. I have increased Red Sea A-calcium but that is all I have changed.

Its hard to be leave it would jump 3ppt in a month or 2. I wonder if I got a bad or hot batch?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thank you all for answers. I have increased Red Sea A-calcium but that is all I have changed.

Its hard to be leave it would jump 3ppt in a month or 2. I wonder if I got a bad or hot batch?

Heres from a calculation I did for my two part, which will be similar:

After one year of adding 8 ppm of calcium and the accompanying 0.4 meq/L (1.1 dKH) of alkalinity per day (41 mL of both parts per day or 4 gallons of both parts per year in a 50-gallon aquarium, including the effect of the magnesium part #3A, 2440 mL/year), the following residue (Table 2) would remain after calcification and adjustment for salinity (there is roughly a 32% rise in salinity over a year using this addition rate without water changes).

 

[ZombieEngineer]

Thank you all for answers. I have increased Red Sea A-calcium but that is all I have changed.

Its hard to be leave it would jump 3ppt in a month or 2. I wonder if I got a bad or hot batch?

15 ppm of Ca+ from calcium chloride use per day combining with equivalent moles of sodium carbonate should, if I did my math correct generate roughly 19 ppm of additional NaCl per day or approximately 0.57 ppt of additional salinity per month if you have no salt creep or wet skimming.

I don't know how much you are adding each day, so this could be plus or minus based on your calcium demand.

 

[Jeffcb]

I will defiantly start checking my salinity more often.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

15 ppm of Ca+ from calcium chloride use per day combining with equivalent moles of sodium carbonate should, if I did my math correct generate roughly 30 ppm of additional NaCl per day or approximately 0.90 ppt of additional salinity per month if you have no salt creep or wet skimming.

I don't know how much you are adding each day, so this could be plus or minus based on your calcium demand.

15 ppm (0.135 millimoles/L) calcium chloride--> 9.6 ppm chloride
14.3 ppm Na2CO3 (0.135 millimoles/L) --> 6.2 ppm sodium

Gives an extra 19 ppm (0.016 ppt) of salinity per day or 0.5 ppt per month