Salinity spike??

[troythegreat]

Hello all, i have a newly set up tank 65G, with LR and ATS. the tank is about 3 months old so fairly new. I live in a warm climate so i have to top up like 1/4 Gal of RO water every day. over the past week i noticed that the salinity has been creeping up more thank usual. Yesterday i got up and test the tank and my salinity was 1.030!!!..i know that evaporation raises salinity but i couldnt understand why it spiked from the usual 1.024 to 1.030. i got it back down to 1.026 but it keeps rising....does anyone have any ideas as to why this is happening??

 

[Lotus]

What are you using to measure salinity? Temperature will affect the salinity on some kinds of testing equipment, and perhaps your tank is warmer than it has been previously.

 

[troythegreat]

Im using an Instant Ocean Hydrometer....i keep my tank on an average at about 79, im going to lower it to 77 and test and see if there is a difference....but this is really the strangest thing, cant figure out why this is happening. i even bought a brand new on at the LFS because i thought mine was defective

 

[quaddity]

How about water changes. How long are you letting it mix for before you add to the tank? 1/4 gal a day should definitely not make it jump that much.

 

[Lotus]

My experience with the swing-arm hydrometers is that they all read differently. Mine read about 0.003 lower than my refractometer does. So, if the new reading is from the new hydrometer, see if you can have the LFS test with a refractometer to see how far off your hydrometer is.

 

[sweetpickles7]

Ur topping off with just freshwater right?

 

[troythegreat]

yeah just fresh water....really dont get it.

 

[BalaShark]

Hydrometers are a no-go in my tanks. Airbubbles can cause false readings, not having it washed out properly, only good for a short time, blah blah..........spend $65 and get a refractometer. See the following Proper Aquarium Water Quality: Refractometers: General FAQs

 

[troythegreat]

ok will do, but just in case that the hydrometer is working properly, i was wondering if there is anything at all that would case this salinity spike...even if i have high evaporation...
regards

 

[Lotus]

Not unless you added saltwater instead of freshwater, or your water level has dropped significantly. If you bought the "RO" water at a LFS, it's possible they put saltwater instead of RO, I suppose.

 

[BalaShark]

Not unless you added saltwater instead of freshwater, or your water level has dropped significantly. If you bought the "RO" water at a LFS, it's possible they put saltwater instead of RO, I suppose.

Sad, but true. Saltwater cannot increase in SG / Salinity without adding salt.
Never top up the water without measuring SG / Salinity
Don't use a hydrometer
If you have salt creep somewhere, don't wipe it into the tank. This will up the SG / Salinity as well.

 

[troythegreat]

hmmm....interesting. well right now i dont have access to a refractrometer...i live in Trinidad. i did have an idea though, i could bring a sample of water from the ocean and test it...maybe it might give me an idea as to whether or not the hydrometers are faulty.

 

[Lotus]

You could always try testing seawater with your hydrometers. Natural seawater should be around 1.0265.

 

[Whiskers]

just another though but don't know if it would have a effect since i don't have a salt tank yet, but, do you have a water softener and use water out of tap. i'm thinking maybe the brine water that comes through might be adding some salt to tank. just a thought. does anyone know, so i and others have future reference that this will or will not affect salt tank.

 

[troythegreat]

nah, i use RO from a water company, dont think that thats the issue...its really low, like 0.5ppm, close to distilled water