Salinity: 1.023 or 1.026?

[MrWellington]

From all my reading, Reef and mixed tanks say they should be 1.026, but LFS and Aquaculture sites recommend 1.023 for FOWLR.
I'm curious why this is? I'd like to stick with one salinity in my mixing station but don't want to risk livestock health of course.

 

[D E N I N O]

High salinity leads to higher levels of elements in the water.

For coral this is good, for fish it doesn't matter

 

[MrWellington]

So... are there any downsides (other than cost) in keeping both the reef and FOWLR at 1.026?

 

[BanZI29]

Not really. typical average for most of what I have seen is 1.025. not much of a difference.
typical range for any tank is 1.023 - 1.027

 

[sc50964]

IME, fish actually like slightly lower salinity like 1.020 as it helps them to retain water within easier.

 

[bushdoc]

Agree with above, there's some thought that fish use less energy to mantain homeostasis if salinity is slightly lower.

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

it’s cheaper on salt mix to run 1.023 is why stores do it, but i don’t see any advantage to it Unless you have very large system

 

[Reeflix]

I would run it lower. It saves money and if you forget to top it off it provides a buffer

 

[Monsaas]

I have always run my fowlr tanks at 1.025 and have a tunze ato to keep it in balance

 

[Miami Reef]

Around 1.0266 or 35ppt is the average ocean and reef tank salinity. The fish evolved just fine with natural sea water. They don’t need extra help to regulate osmosis.

Most fish can tolerate lower salinities better than invertebrates and corals. If you don’t keep inverts (CUC, snails etc), and it’s fish only, you can use lower salinity to save money on salt.

If you have multiple tanks and want to keep one salinity for all: around 1.025 to 1.027 is a good range.