Skimmer vs atu

[drscottchegg]

So.... after nearly 8 years I still havnt found a viable solution.... my fresh water container holds 30L and I refill it every week, my skimmer cup I clean every 3-4 days so I'm losing about half a litre of salt water every 3-4 days which is being replaced by fresh ro water. This obviously means over a couple of weeks my salinity is noticeably lower, what do people do to resolve this?
Higher salinity during water changes?
0.02 salinity instead of fresh RO?

View attachment 20190107_141524.jpg

 

[EmdeReef]

There’s a bunch of ways...I usually add a cup of salt to a 2l coke bottle filled half way with Rodi and then shake it really until all salt dissolves then slowly dose in the sump.

 

[drscottchegg]

There’s a bunch of ways...I usually add a cup of salt to a 2l coke bottle filled half way with Rodi and then shake it really until all salt dissolves then slowly dose in the sump.

Good idea, how long did it take to find the right balance? And how often do you find yourself refilling the bottle? An atu is supposed to shave off abit of tank maintenance not add more

 

[jda]

You can skim more dry if your skimmer will still perform this way - some will and some will not.

You can add a bit of dry salt to the sump and everything will be fine.

 

[EmdeReef]

Good idea, how long did it take to find the right balance? And how often do you find yourself refilling the bottle? An atu is supposed to shave off abit of tank maintenance not add more

Not very often. Every few months. Helps if you have a conductivity probe to know how much. If you’re dosing a 2 part then that also contributes a bit. You can also tune down your skimmer a bit.

 

[Tastee]

When I want to increase salinity I add the new SW to the ATO to allow it to more gradually introduce it. I just calculate what weight of salt I want to add, then mix that in some RODI and dump it in the ATO.