# salt level



## aquaholic4fun (Feb 24, 2012)

Just when I think things are going good. I have a 35 gal. reef and fish tank, for some reason my salt level dropped to 0.1017 I made 5 gallons of water which according to my brand should have been 1/2 cup of salt per gallon. I added an extra 1/4 cup not per gallon but for the whole 5. I added this to the tank and my level went up to 0.1019. My question is this what is the best or easiest way to bring up the salt level and how often does this occur. When I have had to add water I added fresh instead of salt thinking that the water would evaporate but the salt would not. Thanking you in advance Charles


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

aquaholic4fun said:


> Just when I think things are going good. I have a 35 gal. reef and fish tank, for some reason my salt level dropped to 0.1017 I made 5 gallons of water which according to my brand should have been 1/2 cup of salt per gallon. I added an extra 1/4 cup not per gallon but for the whole 5. I added this to the tank and my level went up to 0.1019. My question is this what is the best or easiest way to bring up the salt level and how often does this occur. When I have had to add water I added fresh instead of salt thinking that the water would evaporate but the salt would not. Thanking you in advance Charles


You added water to your tank correctly. You don't want to add water with salt in it as this will raise your levels through the roof. Only reason why your salinity would drop off so much is that you are running your skimmer to wet. In order to get your levels up, you will have to get your 5 gallon bucket up quite a bit then add, or you can do what you just did, add slightly more than suggested, and do this a few times in one week toget it up. I put in alot more than is needed to get mine to jump that much. Evaporated water does not carry with it salt, so your skimer would be my guess as to why you lost so much, as this wet skimmate takes alot of water with it.


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## aquaholic4fun (Feb 24, 2012)

I do not have a skimmer


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## aquaholic4fun (Feb 24, 2012)

I will add more this pm and see where it takes me thanks again


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## NeonShark666 (Dec 13, 2010)

I always mix my Salt Water in a different container first and make sure its salinity is what I want (1.020). A local fish shop also sells pre-mixed salt water for $1.30 a gallon. Always use a Hydometer to make sue your Salinity of you new Saltwater is right, not the instuctions on the Salt package.


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

aquaholic4fun said:


> I do not have a skimmer


Are you using a Hydrometer to test the salt levels then? Only other thing that could go haywire.
Refractometer is a much better instrument to measure salinity. If thats not the case, i'm stumped as to how your salinity could gotten that far off. But, if you just have fish and are not worrying about corals, then your salinity mark error is much bigger, you can have it between 1.017 to 1.026.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

FWIW if you're using a swing arm hydrometer (or even a float type for that matter) make sure you rinse it first to remove any salt creep on the arm and it swings freely.

with a refractometer you have to insure it is calibrated correctly.


my .02


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## aquaholic4fun (Feb 24, 2012)

I assume i am using a hydrometer, u hold it under water to a certain level and it has a big arrow that points to the level. It was the only one that was at the store


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

aquaholic4fun said:


> I assume i am using a hydrometer, u hold it under water to a certain level and it has a big arrow that points to the level. It was the only one that was at the store


Yea, those are alittle rough on accuracy.


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## fishguy2727 (Sep 5, 2011)

Definitely invest in a refractometer. They are around $35 shipped on eBay or you can support your local shop so it is still open next year and get one for around $50. 

If you are topping off with RO water and doing weekly 10% water changes you should not have to alter the salinity more than slightly. You would do this by doing water changes with a slightly higher or lower salinity.


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