Low salinity need help raising it up

[kavie_44]

My salinity is low around 1.023, I’m gonna add saltwater to my auto top off but am unsure how much I should add. The ato is a 5 gallon drum on a 65 gallon tank. I’m terrible at math and don’t wanna f this up.

 

[Pome]

My salinity is low around 1.023, I’m gonna add saltwater to my auto top off but am unsure how much I should add. The ato is a 5 gallon drum on a 65 gallon tank. I’m terrible at math and don’t wanna f this up.

Don’t add salt water to your ato, it can easily go out of control & end up with high salinity. What are you checking salinity with? Are you sure it’s calibrated correctly? If so, just dissolve a little reef salt, in RO water, and add to the tank, ideally in the sump. A little at a time, until desired level is reached. Make sure the salt is fully dissolved before adding though.

 

[Pome]

Remember, your ATO tops off evaporated water, the salts remain. If you put any salt in your ato, you are asking for further issues.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Just turn off the ATO and wait a few days for the salinity to increase to 1.025, then add new saltwater at 1.025 to raise the water level where you want it. Then turn on the ATO again

 

[overseascarson]

Don’t add salt water to your ato, it can easily go out of control & end up with high salinity. What are you checking salinity with? Are you sure it’s calibrated correctly? If so, just dissolve a little reef salt, in RO water, and add to the tank, ideally in the sump. A little at a time, until desired level is reached. Make sure the salt is fully dissolved before adding though.

To build off this, a refractometer is a good place to begin measuring salinity. They're not too crazy; I picked one up at Petco for around $35.00. Always test the parameter you want to adjust!

 

[KStatefan]

Adding it to you top off is a fine way to slowly increase you salinity.

Use this calculator

https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/SaltwaterTopOff.php

 

[Robatusan]

Just turn off the ATO and wait a few days for the salinity to increase to 1.025, then add new saltwater at 1.025 to raise the water level where you want it. Then turn on the ATO again

This is what I always do. Works great!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I agree that adding salt water to the ATO is a perfect way to go.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Remember, your ATO tops off evaporated water, the salts remain. If you put any salt in your ato, you are asking for further issues.

Sorry, I just don’t see how anything bad happens. What exact scenario are you suggesting leads to a problem?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

FWIW, use a calculation to determine how much salt or salt water is needed, put that into any additional amount of fresh water you want, and let it run via ATO.

 

[Stelioshah]

sorry wrong post