#BRSInvestigates Idea | Effect of different salinity levels on various coral

[DarkSky]

Howdy Ryan/Randy/everyone,

I thought of a good question to test - the effects of hypo/normal/hyper salinity on various corals!

Most people I know run their reef systems around a sg of 1.026 - Adam at @Battlecorals runs a bit higher at around 1.028-1.029, and yours truly was running at 1.020 (with little success).

I think it'd be a good experiment to have three separate tanks, one at 1.023, one at 1.026, and one at 1.029. Match temp, lighting, food, and flow. Make sure that alk/ca/mg are all held at the same values, perhaps dosing via two part?

Weigh the frags at the beginning of the experiment, and every so often to track growth. Take note of coloration.

Let's see if salinity plays a part in coral health!

 

[Cyricdark]

Couple years ago I had a protein skimmer that had a slow leak and I didn't realize it it was going onto the concrete floor and behind the walls or I couldn't tell it was leaking so I didn't notice it. My auto top off was replacing the leak water and dropping my salinity and by the time I caught it my salinity had dropped all the way down to 1.010. It killed all my corals except for a cabbage leather and these palythoa .

 

[TheHarold]

Reefs are at 1.026, give or take .001. I don't think one would see any sort of improvement by modifying that; corals have adapted to that salinity after tens of thousands of years of evolution. There is a reason we dont see the same corals in brackish water. Sure, they can survive in a slightly larger ranger, but you would think that their adaptations enable them to grow the best in their natural conditions.

 

[Mal11224]

Unless you can ensure that salinity can be kept steady at a constant specific gravity, this test would be difficult to achieve. I keep mine near 36ppt and for no real reason. It just became easy for me to hover at that range and if my salinity dropped a little, it will still be okay.

 

[DarkSky]

Reefs are at 1.026, give or take .001. I don't think one would see any sort of improvement by modifying that; corals have adapted to that salinity after tens of thousands of years of evolution. There is a reason we dont see the same corals in brackish water. Sure, they can survive in a slightly larger ranger, but you would think that their adaptations enable them to grow the best in their natural conditions.

Are you sure about that? There are reefs off the coasts if the Mississippi delta and the Amazon delta in brackish water.

Salinity can fluctuate in coastal reefs near shore. If anything I'd say they're more adapt to deal with changes than steady salinity!