Top offs vs water changes

Mickie · Aug 22, 2016

Hi! I just set my my 60 gallon FOWLR...50/50 live vs dry rock and live sand. My water level has decreased over the last 3 days...but my salinity has not changed at all...1.026...did my rocks soak up that water? If it did evaporate, wouldn't my salinity go up?

I don't want to add more RO water if it'll drop my salinity.

Thanks in advance! Oh! And anyone know what this little guy is?

Psiber_Syn · Aug 22, 2016

I add 1 gal of rodi water every day and my salinity is always at 1.025 ish

Edit the pic is kinda hard to tell any more info on it? Size color etc

dbl · Aug 22, 2016

First of all, welcome to R2R. Always top off with RODI. The water evaporates but the salt doesn't.

@Lionfish Lair is a critter expert, she may have an idea of what that creature may be.

Salty1962 · Aug 23, 2016

Welcome to R2R! As mentioned by @dbl, always use RODI water for topoff.

Mickie · Aug 23, 2016

Thank you everybody! I'm getting some RODI water on Wednesday... My husband and I are figuring out how much it would be to get an RODI filter here vs travdlling to buy some. Our water rates here are astronomical...and our water psi is like an old man with a prostate problem.

reeftanker17 · Aug 23, 2016

Mickie said:
Thank you everybody! I'm getting some RODI water on Wednesday... My husband and I are figuring out how much it would be to get an RODI filter here vs travdlling to buy some. Our water rates here are astronomical...and our water psi is like an old man with a prostate problem.

Bahah welcome to r2r!

Sabellafella · Aug 23, 2016

Mickie said:
Hi! I just set my my 60 gallon FOWLR...50/50 live vs dry rock and live sand. My water level has decreased over the last 3 days...but my salinity has not changed at all...1.026...did my rocks soak up that water? If it did evaporate, wouldn't my salinity go up?

I don't want to add more RO water if it'll drop my salinity.

Thanks in advance! Oh! And anyone know what this little guy is?

Welcome aboard! Yes evaporation needs to be topped off with regular water, not saltwater. Going to need a clear photo off the little fella lol. Theres something you can buy called an ATO (automatic top off) that will replenish the evaporated water for you to make your life easyer lol.

Mickie · Aug 23, 2016

Sabellafella said:
Welcome aboard! Yes evaporation needs to be topped off with regular water, not saltwater. Going to need a clear photo off the little fella lol. Theres something you can buy called an ATO (automatic top off) that will replenish the evaporated water for you to make your life easyer lol.

The little booger is hard to photograph...I may need to break out the good camera.

Good idea! I'll look into that.

Anthony Wood · Aug 23, 2016

Mickie said:
And our water psi is like an old man with a prostate problem.

A water pressure booster pump into the RO/DI filter fixes that issue lol

Mickie · Aug 23, 2016

Does it help to say my little mystery guy opens and closes depending on time/lighting?

ReeferBob · Aug 23, 2016

Mickie said:
Does it help to say my little mystery guy opens and closes depending on time/lighting?

Some sort of clam or scallop perhaps?

revhtree · Aug 23, 2016

Welcome to R2R!

Mickie · Aug 23, 2016

Thank you everybody! I'm excited for my adventure!

Kungpaoshizi · Aug 23, 2016

Does it have a hole in the center of it? Look at tunicates.

Welcome to R2r

Mickie · Aug 23, 2016

Kungpaoshizi said:
Does it have a hole in the center of it? Look at tunicates.

Welcome to R2r

Nope, no hole...it's just "ribbed" in the middle.

Thank you!

AZDesertRat · Aug 23, 2016

Look up Chiton, that may be what it is.
As far as RO/DI, a new reef quality system would cost you about $120-$150 and would require a minimum of 40 psi to operate efficiently. Sediment and carbon filters last 6 months to a year depending on your tap water quality. The RO membrane should last at least 3-5 years and better systems up to 10 years, I'm on year 9 on my RO membrane. The average cost nationwide to produce your own RO/DI water is about a nickel a gallon which includes the cost of replacement filters and DI resin as well as average water and sewer rates. You certainly can't buy purewater from a vendor for that.

Mickie · Aug 23, 2016

AZDesertRat said:
Look up Chiton, that may be what it is.
As far as RO/DI, a new reef quality system would cost you about $120-$150 and would require a minimum of 40 psi to operate efficiently. Sediment and carbon filters last 6 months to a year depending on your tap water quality. The RO membrane should last at least 3-5 years and better systems up to 10 years, I'm on year 9 on my RO membrane. The average cost nationwide to produce your own RO/DI water is about a nickel a gallon which includes the cost of replacement filters and DI resin as well as average water and sewer rates. You certainly can't buy purewater from a vendor for that.

Thank you! We'll probably need to buy a booster pump with it ...our psi, if somebody on the block is running water, is 20...pretty bad. Lol.