Just Did Something Monumentally Stupid

peekay · 12/05/2018, 07:43 PM

Newbie mistake: Trying to raise my salinity a tad and I scooped a 1/4 cup of IO into my display and the salt rushed across my hammer and polyps and they immediately got ****ED OFF

, closed up and started secreting mucus. Hopefully they'll be OK.

With that said, what is the best method to raise salinity in the tank without shocking the crap out of the living things in there?

PK

aurora.k · 12/05/2018, 08:26 PM

I’m not an expert, but someone once told me to just do it with your water changes. You can just add extra water (more than you remove) and then as the extra water evaporates to your ATO level it will slowly increase the salinity. I did it that way but I had the water change water a little extra salty (but not much) to make it go faster.

At a minimum, I would mix the salt into water (extra high salinity) before pouring it in the tank.

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albano · 12/05/2018, 08:38 PM

Never add salt directly to tank...mix it first

Quote:

Originally Posted by aurora.k

I’m not an expert, but someone once told me to just do it with your water changes. You can just add extra water (more than you remove) and then as the extra water evaporates to your ATO level it will slowly increase the salinity.

Adding extra water will REDUCE salinity, when it evaporates to 'normal' level you will be back to the salinity that you had before you added the fresh water.

Anemone · 12/05/2018, 09:14 PM

Just add saltwater as your evaporative make-up (rather than freshwater).

Kevin

mcgyvr · 12/06/2018, 05:48 AM

Yep... Safest is to just use saltwater in your "top off water" until the salinity is where you want it..

I just add salt in the return pump section of my sump...

peekay · 12/06/2018, 08:14 AM

Thanks all. I don't think I did irreparable damage, as the hammer and polyps are opening up this morning. (whew!)

Learning as I go.

albano · 12/06/2018, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peekay

Newbie mistake

Learning as I go.

Just wondering about your 'newness'... Did you have a tank when you joined RC 18 yrs ago?

peekay · 12/06/2018, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by albano

Just wondering about your 'newness'... Did you have a tank when you joined RC 18 yrs ago?

Albano:. Yes! I had FOWLR for about a year. That was a lifetime ago, things have changed considerably since then. Re-learning with a reef now.

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jlmawp · 12/06/2018, 01:35 PM

Depending on the size of the tank (due to amount of time needed for this), you can also take out some existing tank water, add more salt to it, and slowly add that water into the tank, in the event you just did a water change.

I do this on occasion, but add the water back VERY slowly. Like, with a turkey baster, but I have a nano.

lapin · 12/06/2018, 02:04 PM

The salt produces a chemical reaction when it hits the water. Depending on the salt mix, it can raise the temp significantly. This could be what happened to your coral.

peekay · 12/06/2018, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lapin

The salt produces a chemical reaction when it hits the water. Depending on the salt mix, it can raise the temp significantly. This could be what happened to your coral.

Yeah, I'll be more deliberate about it next time. They seem to have forgiven me, for now

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windlasher · 12/07/2018, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peekay

Newbie mistake: Trying to raise my salinity a tad and I scooped a 1/4 cup of IO into my display and the salt rushed across my hammer and polyps and they immediately got ****ED OFF

, closed up and started secreting mucus. Hopefully they'll be OK.

With that said, what is the best method to raise salinity in the tank without shocking the crap out of the living things in there?

PK

I had to do this recently. I mixed up a gallon of highly saturated salt water and added a cup or so at a time to my sump. I waited a few hours between each cup until it was where I wanted it and then scooped out enough to get the line in the sump back where I wanted it. Worked great.

aurora.k · 12/08/2018, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by albano

Never add salt directly to tank...mix it first

Adding extra water will REDUCE salinity, when it evaporates to 'normal' level you will be back to the salinity that you had before you added the fresh water.

Obviously. I said to do it with a water change and to add extra water . Do you do your water changes with fresh water? Most people use salt water.

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manateemark · 12/10/2018, 11:39 AM

You could also have just removed a couple of gallons of water from the tank into a 5 gallon bucked, added the salt in there, mixed it up, and then once the salt is mixed put the same water back into the tank

12/05/2018, 07:43 PM	#1
peekay Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Libertyville, IL Posts: 73	Just Did Something Monumentally Stupid Newbie mistake: Trying to raise my salinity a tad and I scooped a 1/4 cup of IO into my display and the salt rushed across my hammer and polyps and they immediately got ****ED OFF , closed up and started secreting mucus. Hopefully they'll be OK. With that said, what is the best method to raise salinity in the tank without shocking the crap out of the living things in there? PK

12/05/2018, 09:14 PM	#4
Anemone Cloning Around Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Valencia, California Posts: 25,267	Just add saltwater as your evaporative make-up (rather than freshwater). Kevin __________________ Back in the pool, swimming with the sharks... Current Tank Info: Red Sea 425XL w/Kessil AP700, Vertex 180i Skimmer, 2 x Vortech MP40s

12/06/2018, 05:48 AM	#5
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	Yep... Safest is to just use saltwater in your "top off water" until the salinity is where you want it.. I just add salt in the return pump section of my sump... __________________ Who me?

12/06/2018, 02:04 PM	#10
lapin Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2017 Location: Austin Posts: 801	The salt produces a chemical reaction when it hits the water. Depending on the salt mix, it can raise the temp significantly. This could be what happened to your coral. __________________ Tank sizes, 2-10's a 55 and one that's about 500gal Current Tank Info: Interior decorating happening

12/05/2018, 08:26 PM	#2
aurora.k Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2018 Posts: 6	I’m not an expert, but someone once told me to just do it with your water changes. You can just add extra water (more than you remove) and then as the extra water evaporates to your ATO level it will slowly increase the salinity. I did it that way but I had the water change water a little extra salty (but not much) to make it go faster. At a minimum, I would mix the salt into water (extra high salinity) before pouring it in the tank. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

12/06/2018, 08:14 AM	#6
peekay Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Libertyville, IL Posts: 73	Thanks all. I don't think I did irreparable damage, as the hammer and polyps are opening up this morning. (whew!) Learning as I go.

12/06/2018, 01:35 PM	#9
jlmawp Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Posts: 595	Depending on the size of the tank (due to amount of time needed for this), you can also take out some existing tank water, add more salt to it, and slowly add that water into the tank, in the event you just did a water change. I do this on occasion, but add the water back VERY slowly. Like, with a turkey baster, but I have a nano.

12/10/2018, 11:39 AM	#14
manateemark Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 52	You could also have just removed a couple of gallons of water from the tank into a 5 gallon bucked, added the salt in there, mixed it up, and then once the salt is mixed put the same water back into the tank