Seriously confused

KLS1993 · Mar 6, 2021

So my salinity started dropping like a rock around 8:00 p.m. tonight... I use Aquaforest balling method (components 1 2 3) I've never had an issue with them... I use Neptune equipment... The ATK is working fine and has not overdosed the tank with fresh water... The salinity is currently still dropping & about to hit 30ppt, at which point I'm going to move my favorite fish to my small quarantine tank to save them.... There is no leak as far as I can tell everything outside the tank is bone dry... Totally baffled as to what is causing this... If anybody has any tips on emergency fish saving that would be greatly appreciated

SPR1968 · Mar 6, 2021

Before doing anything, if your relying on the Apex salinity probe, double check the salinity with something else like a basic refractometer before deciding what to do.

I use the probe as a monitor and that’s it. If it needs cleaning that will affect things, mine was reading 49 2 weeks ago. It needed cleaning

KLS1993 · Mar 6, 2021

SPR1968 said:
Before doing anything, if your relying on the Apex salinity probe, double check the salinity with something else like a basic refractometer before deciding what to do.

I use the probe as a monitor and that’s it. If it needs cleaning that will affect things, mine was reading 49 2 weeks ago. It needed cleaning

Thanks for the response, I've triple-checked it with my (freshly calibrated) reflectometer... The apex is right.... This is seriously crazy... I consider myself pretty seasoned in the reef hobby and I've never had this happen before

Auquanut · Mar 6, 2021

Salinity doesn't drop on it's own. There's either a serious evacuation of salt water from the tank that is being compensated by the ATO, or your monitoring system has a problem. Have you noticed the ATO reservoir being depleted more than expected?

KLS1993 · Mar 6, 2021

Auquanut said:
Salinity doesn't drop on it's own. There's either a serious evacuation of salt water from the tank that is being compensated by the ATO, or your monitoring system has a problem. Have you noticed the ATO reservoir being depleted more than expected?

The ATO reservoir doesn't appear to be using any more than it usually is... I'm looking everywhere for a leak because common sense says that's what it has to be... But there's not a drop of water anywhere... I should say earlier today I added KH+ ( an alkalinity booster) to the tank... Could that be throwing off the salinity somehow?

xxkenny90xx · Mar 6, 2021

Auquanut said:
Salinity doesn't drop on it's own. There's either a serious evacuation of salt water from the tank that is being compensated by the ATO, or your monitoring system has a problem. Have you noticed the ATO reservoir being depleted more than expected?

+1

KLS1993 · Mar 6, 2021

Just a heads up, I'm dead tired.... I got my favorite clowns (that I've had for 7 years) safe in quarantine tank, they are just as confused as I am lol.... Currently mixing up enough water to do a 50% water change... After that I'm probably going to crash in bed... I'll be sure to check back here first thing in the morning though, goodnight everybody

Auquanut · Mar 6, 2021

If the KH booster caused precipitation in the system, it could bind a certain amount of salt as well, but I can't imagine you would see that kind of drop. Do you have an AWC system? If so, maybe that's where the problem lies. Of course, you'd still see an increase in ATO consumption. Good night.

mermaid_life · Mar 6, 2021

What about temp?

My heater recently went out and temp dropped with salinity on apex. Obviously actual salinity didn't change.... Just the temp which affected the way the neptune probe reads salinity.

Reef. · Mar 6, 2021

How did you calibrate the refractometer? Double and triple check it’s correct, even make your own solution to check the refractometer is reading correctly.

KLS1993 · Mar 6, 2021

Thank you so much to everybody offering help, you all are going to think I'm such a doof lol.... After double checking and triple checking that the salinity was indeed falling I was totally convinced there was a leak somewhere... Earlier in the day I had done some maintenance on the tank and forgot to wash my hands... Apparently the lotion on my hands caused my skimmer to go absolutely crazy, I didn't notice it because my skimmer drains out into a collection reservoir that can hold up to 3 gallons....The reservoir was completely full and starting to back up the line....I guess the moral of the story is always wash your hands before you work on your reef or you're going to be doing a water changes at 3:00 in the morning and your significant other is going to think you're crazy