what are the effects of high salinity on sps?

[asylumdown]

Originally Posted by LoJack

I agree, SPS will be the last to notice the salinity. I recently just had mine drop low (1.017) because my refractometer was out of calibration ... and it was the fish that showed the first signs that something wasn't right ... I never would have noticed because my SPS were showing no signs of stress at all.

Really? I've had exactly the opposite experience. I went out of town for a week when my tank was about 5 months old. I didn't have the ATO system set up yet so I had the R/O float switch plumbed right in to the sump. When I left I set the skimmer cup to empty right to a sewer drain. Something in the tank made the skimmer go nuts while I was gone, and when I got home my specific gravity was 1.018. I think 4 corals out of 15 survived, fish were unfazed.