SG Spiking again!

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I used the brs calibration fluid. Both refractometers read identical. Ive got it down to 1.028 or so. Doing a few gallons a day. I’ve lost some hammers.

I suggest a diy fluid. Might be the fluid, not the devices. Some folks report issues with it.

 

[jhadaway]

Hate to beat a dead horse…
Almost 2 weeks post water change. Salinity has gone from 37 ppt to 45ppt. Dosing brs2 part with balling part c. A&k as well. Im not dumping in salt. Been with this tank almost 4 years. Corals are looking pretty bad. 2 different devices read the same. Work tank and new tank show salinity is fine.
Is there anything else that could be in the water causing false salinity readings? Red slime algea is coming in as well. Trust me, i know how this sounds. Wouldn't my fish be dead by now???

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Top off for evaporation is with what?

 

[Mebbid]

Hate to beat a dead horse…
Almost 2 weeks post water change. Salinity has gone from 37 ppt to 45ppt. Dosing brs2 part with balling part c. A&k as well. Im not dumping in salt. Been with this tank almost 4 years. Corals are looking pretty bad. 2 different devices read the same. Work tank and new tank show salinity is fine.
Is there anything else that could be in the water causing false salinity readings? Red slime algea is coming in as well. Trust me, i know how this sounds. Wouldn't my fish be dead by now???

How do you store your mixed salt water and ro/di water?
Are you adding anything else to the tank like amino acids?
Are you running activated carbon?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

For salinity to rise from 37 ppt to 45 ppt could be accomplished by adding 1.5% of the tank volume daily with salt water for 2 weeks.

 

[WalleyeGuy]

Ok, having SG spikes when your using RODI water that reads 0tds on an ato means it has got to be coming from the dosing or water changes. on such a small tank - you can't be dosing the amount that would cause such spikes. Now, test both refractometers on your tank water and they should be the same. Now take and pull a small amount of water from your tank and add some RODI to it and repeated the test (doesn't mater what they read really) - confirm both are still the same each other just lower. If they are then you know your refractometers are for sure not your issue. Next, get a High Precision Hydrometer from somewhere. Those floating hydrometers are dead bang acurate - get your reading and calibrate you refractometers to that reading. I use a Tropic Marin one i got from BRS years ago to keep my refractometer and Hana checker for SG calibrated and works awesome for my mixing water as I can tell how to adjust my reading based on the temp of the water. My water mixing tank is in a closet and the back wall is on a not so well insulated outside wall so in the winter the water can be around 62-65 degrees and in the summer on hot day it can be 80+ but the floating hydrometer tells me not just what is says but the temp and then i look at the chart and find the reading+temp for the actual SG. I know my water change fresh mix water is always dead bang on 1.025 just like i keep my tank. Hope the idea helps :)

 

[jhadaway]

Just checked alk on the hanna and it was 69. That’s 3.866. I found a crack in the tubing. Pump died a week ago and a dosing head blew out a few days before that. Tank is trying to kill itself. I got the alk back to 6 tonight. This might be a crash.

 

[TokenReefer]

Am I reading this right? You got 69 dkh on a Hannah checker and have since reduced alk by 63 dkh?

Whats 3.866?

 

[jhadaway]

I have a floating hydrometer from my beer making days. I’ll bring them in too. One of the refractos is brand now too. I just got to clip back these corals so o don't have to dose this much. This is crazy

Thanjs for the ideas

 

[jhadaway]

Am I reading this right? You got 69 dkh on a Hannah checker and have since reduced alk by 63 dkh?

Whats 3.866?

A 69 reading. 69x0.056=3.864. I’ve pushed it up to a reading of 104 for now. 5.824. Id have to tally up my dosing but i’ve got to be over 3.5dkh per day

 

[Justdrew]

Am I reading this right? You got 69 dkh on a Hannah checker and have since reduced alk by 63 dkh?

Whats 3.866?

Older Hanna's measures ALK in ppm. 69ppm = 3.866 dKh

 

[TokenReefer]

Ok thanks. I did not know that

 

[jhadaway]

The 100.3 has about 73 gallons in the system.

 

[slingfox]

I used the brs calibration fluid. Both refractometers read identical. Ive got it down to 1.028 or so. Doing a few gallons a day. I’ve lost some hammers.

I doubt this is the issue but the BRS calibration fluid should not be trusted. Better to prepare your own calibration solution.

 

[Mebbid]

I doubt this is the issue but the BRS calibration fluid should not be trusted. Better to prepare your own calibration solution.

Sure, for super precise readings it shouldn't be trusted. But if you're calibrating using the same fluid you would have a consistently incorrect measurement, not one that drifts over time on multiple refractometers.

The salt level measurement is coming from somewhere, it could be that there is something in the water changing the refraction which would incorrectly change the measurement. Like previously mentioned, a hydrometer would be my next personal next step, even a cheapo swing arm hydrometer would confirm the measurement.

It's either that or you're dumping a very large amount of salt into the water unknowingly.

 

[jhadaway]

Riddle me this. I watched a video on serious reefs where Ryan was able to double the concentration of the 2 past and part C. I was running out of solution all of the time, so I switched to that method about 2 months ago. I guess about the time all the salinity issues started. Double concentration for all of it and cut dosing in half. I noticed last night there is a lot of crust on the bottom of the return pump chamber. It's hard to see in the back. As I was manually pumping in alk I noticed how white it was after hitting the water and wasn't moving as fast as I expected.
Again, I'm no chemist. Can this be precipitating out and leaving the salt behind? I'm switching back to standard strength tonight to at least eliminate the variable. Maybe the flow in the pump chamber isn't fast enough for that concentration level?
I'm still assuming I have to lewer the salinity slowly before the water change. Do I need to get this down to a certain level now because of how high it is or should slow and steady still be the approach? I worried about osmotic shock. Trying to save as much as I can. I can't imagine the acros will make it through this one.

 

[jhadaway]

Sure, for super precise readings it shouldn't be trusted. But if you're calibrating using the same fluid you would have a consistently incorrect measurement, not one that drifts over time on multiple refractometers.

The salt level measurement is coming from somewhere, it could be that there is something in the water changing the refraction which would incorrectly change the measurement. Like previously mentioned, a hydrometer would be my next personal next step, even a cheapo swing arm hydrometer would confirm the measurement.

It's either that or you're dumping a very large amount of salt into the water unknowingly.

Right on. I troubleshoot for a living and this has me baffled. Like an invisible salt dispenser above the tank. The only variable is dosing. It doesn't make sense, but it has to be. It's the only thing going in the tank after a water change. I always test after the water change and the levels were fine minus the 37ppt salinity I was still trying to drop.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Riddle me this. I watched a video on serious reefs where Ryan was able to double the concentration of the 2 past and part C. I was running out of solution all of the time, so I switched to that method about 2 months ago. I guess about the time all the salinity issues started. Double concentration for all of it and cut dosing in half. I noticed last night there is a lot of crust on the bottom of the return pump chamber. It's hard to see in the back. As I was manually pumping in alk I noticed how white it was after hitting the water and wasn't moving as fast as I expected.
Again, I'm no chemist. Can this be precipitating out and leaving the salt behind? I'm switching back to standard strength tonight to at least eliminate the variable. Maybe the flow in the pump chamber isn't fast enough for that concentration level?
I'm still assuming I have to lewer the salinity slowly before the water change. Do I need to get this down to a certain level now because of how high it is or should slow and steady still be the approach? I worried about osmotic shock. Trying to save as much as I can. I can't imagine the acros will make it through this one.

No. That is not an explanation. Overdosing part C by a massive amount could be.

 

[jhadaway]

No. That is not an explanation. Overdosing part C by a massive amount could be.

Thanks again for keeping up with me on this Randy. I dose double the amount of Part C that I dose alkalinity. I'll recalibrate the pumps again to be safe. I do it every few months.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks again for keeping up with me on this Randy. I dose double the amount of Part C that I dose alkalinity. I'll recalibrate the pumps again to be safe. I do it every few months.

How are you making the Part C solution?

What are you using for the alk solution?