lower salinity issues

[W31Olds]

K, your goal should be to make your own SW. That eliminates a variable if a problem occurs.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I think some people buy natural or premixed as a convenience. I don’t see it as a glaring issue.

 

[Uncle99]

Because I want coral...I do not think I need to wait 3 months before adding corals. So since my other parameters are all great, this is the only factor limiting me from adding coral.

Thanks

Not just parameters, it’s the population of good algae’s and bacteria needed to carry nutrients to corals as it relates mostly to phosphates.

This good guy stuff takes time.

 

[klr0808]

Not just parameters, it’s the population of good algae’s and bacteria needed to carry nutrients to corals as it relates mostly to phosphates.

This good guy stuff takes time.

All nutrients have been appropriate as well.

I hear you though- I have a really good bacteria build up with the well established live rock I have :)

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

A 20 gallon Aquarium is 4 gallons, with a 20% water change. Get a Bucket of Instant Ocean or Reef Crystals. Put the Salt in large Ziplock bags. Use the Five Gallon bucket and a small pump to mix the salt.

 

[klr0808]

A 20 gallon Aquarium is 4 gallons, with a 20% water change. Get a Bucket of Instant Ocean or Reef Crystals. Put the Salt in large Ziplock bags. Use the Five Gallon bucket and a small pump to mix the salt.

yes thank you I am aware of the process to make saltwater, I just do not have an RODI, and of course was swayed not to depend on distilled water by the gallon.

I had hoped that the lfs would be better, but learned very quickly I need to check and check again behind them regardless of their reviews :)

For this small system, I did not want to get a 75 gpd RODI, that is just too much for me, but I sure wasnt expecting the LFS to not be as accurate as they claim. Small hiccup but correcting it thankfully isnt difficult.

 

[Fish Fan]

i actually never considered buying distilled water from a local grocery store. I was just getting that at the LFS too. So simply distilled water is all we need?

Thanks for this!

Yep, that’s all you need!

 

[Fish Fan]

and of course was swayed not to depend on distilled water by the gallon.

I don’t know who suggested that to you, but distilled water is absolute fine to use for your tank

 

[klr0808]

I don’t know who suggested that to you, but distilled water is absolute fine to use for your tank

Thank you and it was somewhere within all of these forms. I saw someone did not recommend it, but I don’t remember why.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

I just noticed you are in Raleigh, they just opened a 16 million dollar water testing lab, maybe they could give you a report on the Municipal Water. Sometimes I have problems when traveling with the water. My frequent visits to Raleigh, had no problems. Municipal water with slight aeration to disperse the Chlorine and Fluoride, maybe fine for your Aquarium.

 

[EricR]

Not sure if this has been asked so:
Does the store you're buying saltwater from sell corals?
If so, and if they're selling you saltwater from the bulk that they use in the store, I wouldn't expect the salinity to be that low.
*just make sure your salinity check method isn't what's flawed

If you ask the store and they confirm they mix to that (lower) salinity, then OK.

If I'm reading all of this correctly, I think easiest first step would be to start buying RODI from your LFS (fish store) and mix your own saltwater.
*long term, pretty much everyone ends up with their own RODI system but that can wait for now

 

[klr0808]

Not sure if this has been asked so:
Does the store you're buying saltwater from sell corals?
If so, and if they're selling you saltwater from the bulk that they use in the store, I wouldn't expect the salinity to be that low.
*just make sure your salinity check method isn't what's flawed

If you ask the store and they confirm they mix to that (lower) salinity, then OK.

If I'm reading all of this correctly, I think easiest first step would be to start buying RODI from your LFS (fish store) and mix your own saltwater.
*long term, pretty much everyone ends up with their own RODI system but that can wait for now

That is a really fair point. They do sell coral.

I guess it’s weird as how I have tested it low and so has another local fish store.

I will start mixing on my own though. I just did not want to stress up all of that in addition to everything else I wanted to do that eventually.

 

[W31Olds]

They probably run 2 separate systems. One for fish so they can run therapeutic copper levels and one for inverts with higher salinity and no copper.

 

[EricR]

They probably run 2 separate systems. One for fish so they can run therapeutic copper levels and one for inverts with higher salinity and no copper.

Good thought,,, makes sense.
My LFS runs all of their fish and coral systems at normal salinity and sells bulk saltwater from their same supply, so hadn't considered that.
*if I were in OP's position, I'd still ask about expected salinity of the purchased saltwater, just for peace of mind

 

[W31Olds]

I agree, and if there selling SW at low salinity your not getting what you paid for.

 

[MNscoe]

Related question from new tanker: I have a 55gal tank on a cannister filter, initial water loaded in 2 months ago, first two fish 1 month ago and nothing since. Parameters are stable. Open screen-covered top, low lights for now. Evaporating about 1/2 gal/day.

I was told the salt doesn’t evaporate so just top off with RODI, which I do. But I’ve noticed twice now my salinity has dropped from 34ppt to 32ppt and I’ve had to add saltwater / water change to bring it up.

Is this normal? What causes salinity to go down? Just trying to learn what’s normal and what’s a problem.
Thanks!

 

[Catawba_Valley_Reef]

Related question from new tanker: I have a 55gal tank on a cannister filter, initial water loaded in 2 months ago, first two fish 1 month ago and nothing since. Parameters are stable. Open screen-covered top, low lights for now. Evaporating about 1/2 gal/day.

I was told the salt doesn’t evaporate so just top off with RODI, which I do. But I’ve noticed twice now my salinity has dropped from 34ppt to 32ppt and I’ve had to add saltwater / water change to bring it up.

Is this normal? What causes salinity to go down? Just trying to learn what’s normal and what’s a problem.
Thanks!

Are you topping off the same amount of ro/di every time? Since it sounds like you don’t have a sump, you need to draw a line (with a piece of tape or something similar) on your tank of where the water level should be and only top off to that level.

Your salinity should stay consistent with this approach. It also depends on when you are testing salinity. Is it before topping off, after?

 

[MNscoe]

Are you topping off the same amount of ro/di every time? Since it sounds like you don’t have a sump, you need to draw a line (with a piece of tape or something similar) on your tank of where the water level should be and only top off to that level.

Your salinity should stay consistent with this approach. It also depends on when you are testing salinity. Is it before topping off, after?

Good questions. I haven’t been that precise so far. I add 0.25 - 0.5 gallons of RODI each morning. I have a spot on the rim I kinda eyeball for consistent water level.

I measure salinity before adding new RODI. Using an Aqualife Pro.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thank you and it was somewhere within all of these forms. I saw someone did not recommend it, but I don’t remember why.

Distilled water is likely ok, especially in the US, but the distillation process as used for cheap commercial water does not entirely ensure that the condensation coils do not release metals into the water.

 

[Fish Fan]

Distilled water is likely ok, especially in the US, but the distillation process as used for cheap commercial water does not entirely ensure that the condensation coils do not release metals into the water.

I had thought the distilled water we buy at the store was a steam distillation, and very pure. Do you not recommend using distilled water for those that don't have an RODI? I've used it at times myself without any issues I knew about. Thank you in advance!