Salt Level Doubled

[tat2life]

hey guys/girls
i had my salt level at about 1.26 did 10% water change about a week later checked salt level and it was right up as high as the hydrometer would go.. all the fish and inverts are fine though wich is a lil wierd. does anyone know why it rose by so much ? the 10% water i mixed i added 1.25 of salt then poured into the tank.. is that too much ? i thought whatever the salt level is at you match it in the water change. i managed to get it down a bit by adding water without any salt and il put some more water in tomorrow without any salt til it gets to around 1.26. i know to add the water VERY slowly so the drop in salinity doesnt effect the fish/inverts. im just not sure what caused it to rise so much. one other quick question... what can i use to clean the tank the filters doesnt seem to be doing such a good job all it does it push the dirt to the bottom of the tank. noticed parts of the sand are turning brown and some left over food on the living rock. not sure how i would clean that cus a gravel vacuum probally wouldnt work on the sand... well its crushed coral but nearly as fine grained as sand. any advice welcomed. thanls

 

[fmxmatt]

2 Possibilities

1, you have a faulty hydrometer. Not uncommon at all. Its certainly worth forking out the $ for a refractometer. It is far more accurate and you'll probably find that ur hydrometer reading is WAYYY off when you get one.

2, loss in temperature. Specific Gravity is different at different temperatures. The lower the temp, the higher the specific gravity.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

I'm going to try and help but I'm sure someone else will be along soon who will be of more use.

First thing is can I double check you mean 1.025 and not 1.25?

Sorry lots of question now but just trying to find out what went wrong.

When you made up the fresh water how long was it left before adding it to the tank? Did you heat the water as well?
Did you remove water from the tank at the water change or just top up what had evaporated with the new salt water?
Have you had a lot of evaporation of water from the tank since the last water change? If so have you topped up with Ro water?

If you are gettign a lot of left over food then cut down on your feeding. The CUC should be able to take care of any little bits of left over food.

The brown bits on the sand are more likely diatoms and is normal, especially for newer tanks. Eventually it will go away by itself.

 

[tat2life]

could be the temprature mate, my dad did unplug the heater by accident so it went without any heat for about 20 hours... luckily i noticed the temp was down and checked all plugs and noticed it was unplugged. all fish/inverts survived luckily... but could explain the salt level rising... didnt know it rose due to loss of temprature. hydrometer seems to be working great i tested it 3 times in the tank same reading everytime. then i added salt to a bucket of water and tested it and it was accurate to the amount of salt per liters of water.. so i dont think its faulty or broken or any bubbles in it.

barny yes i mean 1.025, i left the water for 3 days before adding it to the tank... but i checked the salt level BEFORE adding the fresh water... so the tank was already double the salt level before i did a water change today. i use tap water and let it distill for a few days add some water purifier then add salt. and i topped up the tank due to water evaporating and yup it seems to evaporate pretty quickly.. not sure why. thanks for all the advice. at the moment i have no clean up crew so im going to get some on the weekend whilst im at the LFS. probally only a few crabs though i dont wanna spend £15 of a boxing shrimp when i buy a starfish, urchin, coral frag, or decent fish for that price lol the shrimps dont appeal to me all but if its a huge part of the cuc then i guess il have to get one. though il prob get the sand shifting starfish first if its still there.

 

[andywg]

1, you have a faulty hydrometer. Not uncommon at all. Its certainly worth forking out the $ for a refractometer. It is far more accurate and you'll probably find that ur hydrometer reading is WAYYY off when you get one.

Actually, when tested against a known value, the sort of refractometers we purchase in the hobby are likely to be less accurate than a similar priced hydrometer. Refractometers are easier to read for most people, but almost all of them will give an incorrect reading of marine water if calibrated to 0 with RO water.

To truly use a refractometer with any surety of accuracy one must calibrate with a known solution which will have the same refractive index as sea water.

The most important thign is to be sure one knows how to use the measuring device one has.

 

[fmxmatt]

 

[tat2life]

tested water again this morning... seems the 10% change didnt do nothing at all the salt level is still way to high, starfish doesnt look great, feather duster is hardly moving but fish look fine. i think im gonna just have to add water straight from the tap over the next few hours. i dont drive so i cant get any RO water or even distilled water til the weekend wich i dont think the starfish or duster will last. il keep this updated

 

[Adrinal]

How long do you mix your NSW?
What do you mix it in and with what tools?
Sepperate issue... but your using tap water instead of RO?

Swing arm hydrometers are fine.

 

[tat2life]

not sure what NSW means... im guessing new salt water. i mix it by hand in a bucket and leave it 1 day. im using tap water now yes... i dont drive so theres no way i can get to the LFS that sells RO water. i can get there in 2 days but i dont want to leave it that long because i dont think the starfish or duster will last 2 days. the way i see it i can chance leaving the salt level way to high for 2 days and risk killing the inverts... or i can reduce salt level by adding tap water... wich may harm.. possibly kill the inverts. tap water seems the best choice until i can get to the LFS on the weekend. il do a 25% water change then wich should correct the salt level completly and reduce most the tap water.

 

[Musho3210]

NSW = Natural Sea Water but i guess in this case it means New Salt Water. Works either way.

 

[tat2life]

ah thats what it means lol thanks, well i put more tap water in again the salt dropped a tiny bit but still way to high... the starfish have moved a lil bit and has opend up the slits in legs so i can see all its lil tentacle thingys now so he seems to be happier. duster is moving a lil more aswell now so il put 1 maybe 2 more jugs of water on and see what happens tommorow. hopefully i can get a ride to the LFS tommorow to get some RO water so it might work out after all.

 

[sophos9]

To truly use a refractometer with any surety of accuracy one must calibrate with a known solution which will have the same refractive index as sea water...

Andy, I live next to the beach. If I go get a sample of water and drop it on the refractometer I can calibrate that way?

 

[andywg]

To truly use a refractometer with any surety of accuracy one must calibrate with a known solution which will have the same refractive index as sea water...

Andy, I live next to the beach. If I go get a sample of water and drop it on the refractometer I can calibrate that way?

Do you know for sure what that salinity is?

 

[sophos9]

Do you know for sure what that salinity is?

I'm guessing that all seawater does not have a perfect 1.025 so that kind of answers the question. Can you buy calibration fluid at 1.025?

 

[andywg]

There is a fluid you can make. I think Ski knows the recipe.