Extremely low salinity Updated!!!

[bigmac]

So after three years; I finally decided to purchase a refractometer (after relying totally on a Deep six beginnner plastic toy). I figured I'd better get with the game as far as testing.
After calibrating it three times to make sure my readings were correct; I have tested my water now 4 times and i now know why my past ich issues disappeared...........wait for it.......... 1.005. There, i said it.
I'm appalled and shocked at my lack of proper testing.

So over the next two weeks I will very slowly start to raise it to proper levels. I just thought I'd post this for everyone to see and shame myself into "bringing it to the next level".

[Skimmerking]

what i would do is get a 2 gal pail and make a huge strong batch of SALT water and drip it over 1 night. then wait 12 hours and do it again

hey man what is the size of your tank
you have a sump with it

[FitoPharmer]

can you mix salt at a super high salinity without damaging the nutrient levels in the salt? i found even if i leave a small pile of salt in my sump for long enough the calcium will sometimes precipitate into flakes instead of being properly absorbed. and that only took a few hours.

[Skimmerking]

hey man ya i just mix up say double the salinty and then drip it i know of some guys on RC that warm the water up to get more salt in to the water.

[Zoaelite]

Wow funny that this happened to you as the EXACT opposite happened when I purchased my refractometer. I re-calibrated it like 4 times because I thought that 1.030 had to be a misreading but apparently it was correct so over 4 days I dropped it down to 1.024.
Levi

[BlueTang<3]

i guess the tank was fish only nows the time if you got some mollys to throw them in lol

[bigmac]

My tank is 100 gallons display with a 30 gallon sump.
The weird thing is that my Rose Bubble tip anenomes and elephant ear (false coral) don't seem to mind. Anyways, I have started the rise in salinity with a 30 gallon water change at 1.015 so as not to shock my system too much.

I plan on changing 30 gallons every couple of days (with higher salinity each time) until I reach the desired result in the display of 1.024 to 1.026.

[PuffLuv]

That is amazing!! I'm very surprised that your anemone survived. Do you know how long it was at that level for? On a side note, you probably saved a bit of cash on salt, maybe enough to cover the cost of the refractometer...:mrgreen:

[bigmac]

So after second guessing all of my results thus far; I went out and purchased some distilled water to start over (thinking that the calibration fluid was somehow compromised).
Long story short; I recalibrated with distilled and lo and behold my salinity level was perfectly fine where it was.
Now looking at the calibration fluid directions (on the bottle) and the pamphlet directions (that came with the refractometer); they differ quite a bit. Ultimately this boils down to me not properly learning how to use new equipment before adjusting my methods.

So now; my salinity is too high (murphy's law) at 1.035. I've moved my ATO float switch higher so that it adds more water and brings it back down to respectful levels. The moral of this story.......sometimes keeping status quo and not touching anything is the best method.

[Zoaelite]

Calibration fluid? I was told just to use distilled water right off the bat, only thing is I used RO/DI water so I have a feeling my calibration might be off. Well what ever happened my corals are now happier than before (No more closed up zoas and angry acans) so I have a feeling that it was a step in the right direction. Bigmac are your corals showing any stress?
Levi

[Myka]

You're actually supposed to use calibration fluid instead of distilled or RO/DI water. You should use a fluid that is close to the salinity you are measuring (as with any calibration fluid). I use Pinpoint Salinity which is 35 ppt (~1.026). Works very well.

[Zoaelite]

You're actually supposed to use calibration fluid instead of distilled or RO/DI water. You should use a fluid that is close to the salinity you are measuring (as with any calibration fluid). I use Pinpoint Salinity which is 35 ppt (~1.026). Works very well.

Wait I'm confused, I thought you used distilled water as a 1.000 gradient (Which set the scale) and then that was the comparison to your salt water. Ahah watch my salinity is actually at 1.015 oh dear crash here I come.

Edit* Just checked my instruction pamphlet (On a Vertex Refractometer) and it says to use distilled water, what type of meter do you use myka?
Levi

[bvlester]

mine uses distilled water also and I believe most do I have checked out quite a few Refractometers. Mine came with distilled water measures to 1.000 gradient also. I have checked freskly mixed satlwater and some that has been mixed for a week or 2 wating to be used.

Bill

[bigmac]

The problem I encountered was that the paper instructions said to use distilled water for calibration; yet the calibration fluid had different directions on the bottle (which i didn't fully read until it was too late).
Distilled water = calibrate to 1.000
Calibration fluid = calibrate to 35 ppt (or 1.026)

So I used the fluid and calibrated it to 1.000 instead of 1.026 (35 ppt); and threw my readings out of whack.

I was worried about the fluid because when it arrived (via UPS) it was frozen; therefore i wasn't sure if it could be trusted for accuracy.

So far the corals seem okay. I just my readings again and it has gone from 1.035 to 1.033 overnight; so slowly but surely its going back down (due to raising my ATO float switch). Another water change later today (with approx. 1.020 water) should help.