Sudden drop in salinity overnight....affirm my strategy

[kennedpa]

Still unsure what happened but system went low and RO was filling during the night. Luckily had SW on hand. I went from 1.025 to 1.020.

How fast should I re-raise the waters SG? Worried about SPS. This was over 8 hours roughly.

 

[kennedpa]

@ tag anyone you think would be a expert and around if you're unsure. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[cmcoker]

Have you checked for a leak, or know where that water went?

#reefsquad should get you some helpful eyeballs on it

 

[kennedpa]

I did a bunch of husbandry last night and a water change, Not sure if things just didn't catch up or if the ATO failed. I have been unable to find a leak anywhere and I am confident that when I made this system it is bomb proof unless a bulkhead fails (which none have). With that said it is what it is right now. Not concerned about this, just want some input on the rate bringing it back since it was an acute event.

 

[Alfrareef]

Never gone thru that but I imagine the fish should also suffer.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If there's no leak, and you didn't remove a lot of water, the salinity can't have dropped. Be certain it really is low and not a measurement error. Most of us have "corrected" problems that didn't really exist and thereby created a problem.

That said, I'd raise it back to normal by topping off for evaporation with salt water. That will take a while.

 

[Alfrareef]

Like Sherlock Holmes... if you remove the unexplainable the answer should be the obvious... eheheh

 

[kennedpa]

Yeah, it's a paradox to me right now. I can't figure it out. If there is a leak I cannot find it. I'm working on this all day just waiting to see if anything reveals itself. To complicate matters, my RO waste line came out of the work sink wetting the floor, so, now that it's dry I am on the hunt.

Regarding confirmation I have calibration solution and have verified my refractometer and also used a hydrometer which were within .001 of each other.

I was going to drip salt water. You don't think since it was acute I should do it over a day?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Yeah, it's a paradox to me right now. I can't figure it out. If there is a leak I cannot find it. I'm working on this all day just waiting to see if anything reveals itself. To complicate matters, my RO waste line came out of the work sink wetting the floor, so, now that it's dry I am on the hunt.

Regarding confirmation I have calibration solution and have verified my refractometer and also used a hydrometer which were within .001 of each other.

I was going to drip salt water. You don't think since it was acute I should do it over a day?

No, I would not boost it back fast. Animals are already equilibrated to the new salinity. If it was 1.009, I'd go faster, but 1.020 is not an emergency.

 

[kennedpa]

Cool, thanks. Never had to worry about this with my SPS before. When I figure out what the H3!! happened I'll post back.

 

[mstockmaster]

If you're using an ato with a container maybe you can top off with salt water instead of fresh. That will raise your salinity back up gradually.

 

[kennedpa]

That's what Randy was saying. That's what I'm doing. Wasn't sure if since it was acute if I should get up a couple points fast.

 

[kennedpa]

Update - Apparently in all my wisdom the last piece of return pipe wasn't glued in. There is a dehumidifier in the basement which must have been facilitating evaporation as fast as it was leaking. This coincided with recent manipulation of that pipe with filter sock placement during a current dino outbreak.

Problem solved.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Glad to hear you have it worked out.