Hyposalinity To 1.026

Mister_Palmer · 07/31/2012, 03:18 PM

I just bought a blenny, and haven't really gone from hyposalinity to 1.025/6 before.
Usually I see the store's water at like 1.020 maybe, perhaps even 1.025

So, I need to make a 16 "point" jump. Just do it over a few hours? It seems like a big jump, but I guess they can handle it?

bradleym · 07/31/2012, 03:24 PM

I've done it with mysis in 2 hours with no trouble, so the fish should be able to take it pretty well also.

Mister_Palmer · 07/31/2012, 03:28 PM

Cool, thanks.
I was just concerned because it seemed like a big jump in salinity.

I wasn't sure if it was like a 4 hour thing or what.

rackman · 07/31/2012, 03:56 PM

what was the store's at? raising salinity does need to be done slowly. do you have a drip line that you use?

Mister_Palmer · 07/31/2012, 03:58 PM

Yeah, it's slowly dripping.
I called the store back and they seemed to know it was that low.

Just like I said, never seen it That low.

It's been like an hour and I have it up 4.
So it may take 4 hours...

rackman · 07/31/2012, 04:01 PM

so what was the store's water at? be sure to keep an eye on the temperature difference between the tank and drip container.

Mister_Palmer · 07/31/2012, 04:08 PM

Store was at 1.010 according to my refrac.
Mine is 1.026

Temp should be fine since its crazy hot out again

Mister_Palmer · 07/31/2012, 05:17 PM

We're getting there....
1.020 now.

About 2 hours in.
Going to slow it down a bit now, and I'm adding a bag of hot water inside a ziplock to keep the temp right.

PITA

frenchie · 07/31/2012, 05:37 PM

was that the fish you bought today, didn't know they kept it that low, wow.

Mister_Palmer · 07/31/2012, 06:09 PM

Yeah, it was...
I called them, and said something like, "I'm not sure if my refractometer is off, but do you keep your water at 1.010 or so?"
And I think he said "Absolutely" or something like that. I guess for disease, but it does seem low.

Not a huge problem, just seemed low and took a lot longer to acclimate than I thought.

Fish is in, hanging out at the bottom, but no insta-death. So that's good.

u4ick · 07/31/2012, 08:31 PM

I have heard some folks say that you shouldn't raise salinity on a fish more than .001 per day. That's not an easy thing to do for most. I will say, that going that much of a jump...I'd take as long as you are able to. You can lower the Sg on a fish much much quicker than you can raising it.
Changing any parameter quickly will always induce some level of stress on the animal, that is why it's best to make the stress the least stressful as you can.

I would also consider lowering the Sg in your tank down to about 1.023 (less is ok too if you don't have any delicate corals, generally you would not see full polyp extension under 23)

Here is why I'm recommending you do that.
1st off, a sudden change in salinity to a fish is for the most part irrelevant to the fish....in terms of will he swim around fine, will it "burn" him, can he see strait, ect.?

Where the real stress of raising salinity comes from is this.
Fresh water fish absorb water through their skin and therefore generally do not drink water.
Saltwater fish however do actually drink water the same way we do. So they therefore are in a dire need of getting rid of all this excess salt that they tank in. This is done mostly through the gills and also through urine. So when changing salinity on a fish weather it be 2 hours or 5, you're really not giving the fish's internal organs (namely the kidney's) a reasonable amount of time to adapt to a higher concentration of salt after they had been "used to" a lower concentration. (in your blennies case, MUCH lower). This is the reason for the "takes days" recommendation, to give ample enough time to gradually get used to normal salinity. I mean after all, these fish were doning just fine in 25-26 water that we snatched them up out of right? Then the all knowing distributors, and LFS's put them in Hypo to hopefully stave off disease long enough so that should the fish die, it happens to you and not them. (can't blame them too much though, it's an economics thing)

So this is why I recommend lowering the salt in the display tank you're adding the new guy to.
1) it's not going to bother anyone at all that's already in the tank.
2) this helps to close the gap from where you are and where you need to be.

I usually like to lower the tanks salinity by over topping off with fresh water, and letting it settle back down to where it should be through evaporation.

EllieSuz · 07/31/2012, 08:53 PM

Here's another advantage to a quarantine tank. It's easier to match the QT to the store's salinity and slowly change it to match your Display tank over the six weeks or so of quarantine. I know that doesn't help you right this minute, but something to think about in the future.

Mister_Palmer · 07/31/2012, 09:27 PM

Well so far so good...
But I may take out a gallon or 2 and replace it with RO.
That should drop it down to like 1.024

Tonblogna · 08/01/2012, 04:36 AM

You can drop down salinity quickly, but need to come up slowly. I do .02 per day with bringing fish out of hypo and have never lost anything. It takes me about 2 weeks to come up from .010 to 1.024.

Mascis · 08/01/2012, 05:12 AM

I've done it a few times. Most will survive a jump like that, but sometimes it's hard to get them to eat for a while.

07/31/2012, 03:18 PM	#1
Mister_Palmer Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: St.Louis Posts: 768	Hyposalinity To 1.026 I just bought a blenny, and haven't really gone from hyposalinity to 1.025/6 before. Usually I see the store's water at like 1.020 maybe, perhaps even 1.025 So, I need to make a 16 "point" jump. Just do it over a few hours? It seems like a big jump, but I guess they can handle it?

07/31/2012, 03:24 PM	#2
bradleym Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Shrewsbury/St. Louis, Mo Posts: 3,243	I've done it with mysis in 2 hours with no trouble, so the fish should be able to take it pretty well also. __________________ lol xoxo ttfn kthanx bye ttyl :D These opinions are only opinions, and should not be treated as expert testimony. Any similarity to fact or scientific research is only a coincidence. Especially if stated as fact. Current Tank Info: I have a 210g long that is a mixed reef for as long as I can hold back my anemone addiction!

07/31/2012, 05:37 PM	#9
frenchie Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: granite city, IL Posts: 5,730	was that the fish you bought today, didn't know they kept it that low, wow. __________________ Darrick slash member 24 gallon nano cube, LED lights, zoanthids, shrooms Current Tank Info: 93 gallon cube, ecotech LED, swc 160 cone skimmer, lots of softies

07/31/2012, 08:53 PM	#12
EllieSuz Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 3,598	Here's another advantage to a quarantine tank. It's easier to match the QT to the store's salinity and slowly change it to match your Display tank over the six weeks or so of quarantine. I know that doesn't help you right this minute, but something to think about in the future. __________________ "You can't learn this hobby one question at a time." (Mr. Tuskfish) Eileen Current Tank Info: 60 gal. reef, refugium in sump, Internal Mag 9 return, SC 302 skimmer, two Maxi-Jet 1200's modded, four bulb T5 Lighting, Reefkeeper Lite Controller with three PC4's, Little Fishes GFO reactor.

08/01/2012, 04:36 AM	#14
Tonblogna Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Waterloo, IL Posts: 641	You can drop down salinity quickly, but need to come up slowly. I do .02 per day with bringing fish out of hypo and have never lost anything. It takes me about 2 weeks to come up from .010 to 1.024. __________________ Hey man you just peed your pants!! "Naaah man, I just drop it like its hot." (From my future book Booking Room Dialogues. Current Tank Info: 92 gal. corner bowfront (180 gallon system) Powder Brown Tang, Flame Angel, Bi-color Angel, and a pair of Clowns.

07/31/2012, 03:28 PM	#3
Mister_Palmer Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: St.Louis Posts: 768	Cool, thanks. I was just concerned because it seemed like a big jump in salinity. I wasn't sure if it was like a 4 hour thing or what.

07/31/2012, 03:56 PM	#4
rackman Registered Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: florissant, mo Posts: 891	what was the store's at? raising salinity does need to be done slowly. do you have a drip line that you use?

07/31/2012, 03:58 PM	#5
Mister_Palmer Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: St.Louis Posts: 768	Yeah, it's slowly dripping. I called the store back and they seemed to know it was that low. Just like I said, never seen it That low. It's been like an hour and I have it up 4. So it may take 4 hours...

07/31/2012, 04:01 PM	#6
rackman Registered Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: florissant, mo Posts: 891	so what was the store's water at? be sure to keep an eye on the temperature difference between the tank and drip container.

07/31/2012, 04:08 PM	#7
Mister_Palmer Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: St.Louis Posts: 768	Store was at 1.010 according to my refrac. Mine is 1.026 Temp should be fine since its crazy hot out again

07/31/2012, 05:17 PM	#8
Mister_Palmer Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: St.Louis Posts: 768	We're getting there.... 1.020 now. About 2 hours in. Going to slow it down a bit now, and I'm adding a bag of hot water inside a ziplock to keep the temp right. PITA

07/31/2012, 06:09 PM	#10
Mister_Palmer Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: St.Louis Posts: 768	Yeah, it was... I called them, and said something like, "I'm not sure if my refractometer is off, but do you keep your water at 1.010 or so?" And I think he said "Absolutely" or something like that. I guess for disease, but it does seem low. Not a huge problem, just seemed low and took a lot longer to acclimate than I thought. Fish is in, hanging out at the bottom, but no insta-death. So that's good.

07/31/2012, 08:31 PM	#11
u4ick Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: St. Peters MO, 63376 Posts: 633	I have heard some folks say that you shouldn't raise salinity on a fish more than .001 per day. That's not an easy thing to do for most. I will say, that going that much of a jump...I'd take as long as you are able to. You can lower the Sg on a fish much much quicker than you can raising it. Changing any parameter quickly will always induce some level of stress on the animal, that is why it's best to make the stress the least stressful as you can. I would also consider lowering the Sg in your tank down to about 1.023 (less is ok too if you don't have any delicate corals, generally you would not see full polyp extension under 23) Here is why I'm recommending you do that. 1st off, a sudden change in salinity to a fish is for the most part irrelevant to the fish....in terms of will he swim around fine, will it "burn" him, can he see strait, ect.? Where the real stress of raising salinity comes from is this. Fresh water fish absorb water through their skin and therefore generally do not drink water. Saltwater fish however do actually drink water the same way we do. So they therefore are in a dire need of getting rid of all this excess salt that they tank in. This is done mostly through the gills and also through urine. So when changing salinity on a fish weather it be 2 hours or 5, you're really not giving the fish's internal organs (namely the kidney's) a reasonable amount of time to adapt to a higher concentration of salt after they had been "used to" a lower concentration. (in your blennies case, MUCH lower). This is the reason for the "takes days" recommendation, to give ample enough time to gradually get used to normal salinity. I mean after all, these fish were doning just fine in 25-26 water that we snatched them up out of right? Then the all knowing distributors, and LFS's put them in Hypo to hopefully stave off disease long enough so that should the fish die, it happens to you and not them. (can't blame them too much though, it's an economics thing) So this is why I recommend lowering the salt in the display tank you're adding the new guy to. 1) it's not going to bother anyone at all that's already in the tank. 2) this helps to close the gap from where you are and where you need to be. I usually like to lower the tanks salinity by over topping off with fresh water, and letting it settle back down to where it should be through evaporation.

07/31/2012, 09:27 PM	#13
Mister_Palmer Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: St.Louis Posts: 768	Well so far so good... But I may take out a gallon or 2 and replace it with RO. That should drop it down to like 1.024

08/01/2012, 05:12 AM	#15
Mascis Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Collinsville, IL Posts: 175	I've done it a few times. Most will survive a jump like that, but sometimes it's hard to get them to eat for a while. __________________ Tim Ignorant Novice Current Tank Info: 75g reef & 27g cube reef.