Salinty dropped after 5 gallon water change

[MZTICTX]

I did a thorough clean of my jbj rl rimless 20g tank. I am waiting for my order of tropic marin so I didn't have any saltwater mixed for the water change so i used fresh RODI water. I noticed my corals are all drawn in and my cleaner shrimp is stretched out dead in the tank. I checked the salinity and its at 1.015 which its usually at 1.025. Any ideas of how/what to do to save my corals and purple firefish please.

 

[tankstudy]

So you did a straight up RODI water change?

Get some salt, big retail pet stores should still be open, ignore the brand at this point.

 

[Mike from TN]

Ouch!
Thats a drastic salinity drop. I’m curious as to why you attempted to do a water change with no sea water on hand.
Are you anywhere near a Petco? They sell 5 gallon boxes of sea water that you could use to house your fish and corals in until you have your salt mix and get your parameters back to where they should be.
Hopefully, you can get them into some properly mixed water before you have any more losses. Keeping my fingers crossed for you. Keep us posted

 

[MZTICTX]

So you did a straight up RODI water change?

Get some salt, big retail pet stores should still be open, ignore the brand at this point.

I've never mixed my own salt since I dropped so low what is an acceptable number to raise it to without shocking the system even more?

 

[40g Nano]

Just ease it back up

 

[MZTICTX]

I'

Ouch!
Thats a drastic salinity drop. I’m curious as to why you attempted to do a water change with no sea water on hand.
Are you anywhere near a Petco? They sell 5 gallon boxes of sea water that you could use to house your fish and corals in until you have your salt mix and get your parameters back to where they should be.
Hopefully, you can get them into some properly mixed water before you have any more losses. Keeping my fingers crossed for you. Keep us posted
[/QUOTE

Hey Mike I'm still learning saltwater do's and dont's a guy at my lfs said to do top off with fresh water and for some reason my mind said to do water changes with fresh water also... smh... ive been up and running for three months now and always had a jug of salt water on hand but since I brought my own RODI system all saltwater was gone.

 

[tankstudy]

I've never mixed my own salt since I dropped so low what is an acceptable number to raise it to without shocking the system even more?

Returning it to normal quickly will not be as damaging as leaving it for a prolong period in 1.015 salinity.

 

[40g Nano]

I think that it should go up gradually (over a week time) to prevent more stressing of the fish.

 

[John08007]

I wouldn't bring it up slowly, you gotta get it back to normal asap

 

[MZTICTX]

Returning it to normal quickly will not be as damaging as leaving it for a prolong period in 1.015 salinity.

Thanks im working on it now should the saltwater be tank water temp also? I'm so unprepared for this i was getting everything I needed to do saltwater changes by Monday but the tank was becoming unsightly.

 

[Snoopy 67]

Dropping salinity quickly is OK. Raising it quickly is NOT OK.
Get it up to 1.018, & keep upping it in increments of .002 daily, not more.
The fish can tolerate water lower than 1.015 but not the corals.

 

[John08007]

Randy Holmes is our resident chemist expert,how do we tag him for insight on best action.

 

[Ray Laneville]

Make some super salty water and use it to top off until it's right

 

[ScubaFish802]

Randy Holmes is our resident chemist expert,how do we tag him for insight on best action.

@Randy Holmes-Farley @ReefSquad

 

[40g Nano]

Dropping salinity quickly is OK. Raising it quickly is NOT OK.
Get it up to 1.018, & keep upping it in increments of .002 daily, not more.
The fish can tolerate water lower than 1.015 but not the corals.

I agree

 

[RobB'z Reef]

I did a thorough clean of my jbj rl rimless 20g tank. I am waiting for my order of tropic marin so I didn't have any saltwater mixed for the water change so i used fresh RODI water. I noticed my corals are all drawn in and my cleaner shrimp is stretched out dead in the tank. I checked the salinity and its at 1.015 which its usually at 1.025. Any ideas of how/what to do to save my corals and purple firefish please.

Just curious, why did you think this was a good idea?

 

[40g Nano]

He said it was a newbie mistake

 

[Arthacker87]

I wouldn't ease it i would shoot it back. Thats way to low. Never do a water change w straight ro, get a digital hannah salinity checker march salinity to 1.025 and temp 76 to 79. Water and salt mix in bucket for at least a couple hours to make sure all salt dissolves

 

[ScubaFish802]

just to explain, RODI creates purified water (the level of purity depends on different factors) then use your preferred salt mix to create saltwater (usually each salt mix will have mixing instructions on the packaging. For instance mine is 1/2 cup of salt mix per gallon of RODI water.) I mix the saltwater in a 5 gallon bucket with a powerhead or pump (I usually start this the day before I will use the water). I also use a small heater in the bucket to get the temp to the same as the tank.
Then before I add to my tank I test my tank water and the freshly mixed water to verify they are the same, then I add the new water to the tank.

 

[reefer024]

You never add straight rodi water to the tank unless your topping it off from evaporation. As water evaporates the waters salinity will rise because the salt doesn't evaporate. Please do a little research so you understand how this works. Or ask more questions. Sucks you have to go through this.