Aquarium at 1.0205 need HELP raising SG

snookman88 · 11/27/2017, 08:00 PM

Hello all I just realized my water in my 40 gallon breeder reef is at 1.0205 sg and I would like to raise it to 1.025. I am wondering if anyone knows the math and could tell me what sg 5 gallons of water needs to be to raise my 40b to 1.025. Ill estimate 35 gallons of water in tank at 1.0205 then I will remove 5 gallons. So what sg of 5 gallons of water added to 1.0205 sg of 30 gallons will produce 35 gallons of 1.025 sg water. Thanks!

Daddi0 · 11/27/2017, 08:04 PM

I would not do it all at once. I would change out 5 gallons a day of properly mixed water til salinity is correct.
Cheers! Mark

snookman88 · 11/27/2017, 08:16 PM

Thanks for the advice and I totally agree with you. Let me ask you this, I have a fish coming in tomorrow from divers den and they keep their water at 1.025. It was my preparation for this fish that caused me to realize my waters sg was so low. I will definitely do a 5 gallon water change to try and raise the sg a little but obviously it will still be low. How should I acclimate my new fish from 1.025 to my tanks water? I do not have a qt tank. Thanks!

Daddi0 · 11/27/2017, 08:20 PM

I am by no means an expert, but as I understand it, critters acclimate quicker to lower salinity. And the problem arises from raising salinity. Perhaps someone with more knowledge will chime in?

snookman88 · 11/27/2017, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daddi0

I am by no means an expert, but as I understand it, critters acclimate quicker to lower salinity. And the problem arises from raising salinity. Perhaps someone with more knowledge will chime in?

Thanks man, I need a biologist and chemist rolled into one of this lol

der_wille_zur_macht · 11/27/2017, 08:53 PM

Do you have any livestock in the tank now? If not, just do a few 5g water changes with high salinity water until it's right. I don't like mixing water higher than about 1.035 because there's a risk of certain components coming back out of solution.

If there's livestock, I'd aim for getting halfway there by the time the new fish arrive, then drip acclimate them for at least an hour to get them used to the salinity difference.

If you had more time, the easiest way (IMHO) to raise salinity is to top off with saltwater instead of freshwater. This is pretty slow though and probably won't get you there by tomorrow.

snookman88 · 11/27/2017, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by der_wille_zur_macht

Do you have any livestock in the tank now? If not, just do a few 5g water changes with high salinity water until it's right. I don't like mixing water higher than about 1.035 because there's a risk of certain components coming back out of solution.

If there's livestock, I'd aim for getting halfway there by the time the new fish arrive, then drip acclimate them for at least an hour to get them used to the salinity difference.

If you had more time, the easiest way (IMHO) to raise salinity is to top off with saltwater instead of freshwater. This is pretty slow though and probably won't get you there by tomorrow.

Thanks for the reply! I do have livestock BTW. Thanks for the advice!

snookman88 · 11/28/2017, 08:23 PM

Decided to give an update about my situation. I did a five gallon water change with water at 1.030 sg and then waited 4 hours and did another 5 gallon water change at 1.026 sg. The next morning (today) I did another 5 gallon water change at 1.026 sg. My water is now sitting 1.024 and an I will do one 5 gallon water change per day until my water is at 1.026. My fish arrived from DD and it came in water at 1.025 sg and I followed DD's acclamation guide and introduced the specimen once the bags water reached 1.024 sg. The fish is happy and eating showing no signs of negative symptons. Thanks for everyone's help!

Daddi0 · 11/28/2017, 08:44 PM

Cool!

Lsufan · 11/28/2017, 10:11 PM

One easy way to go about raising salinity is by topping off with saltwater instead of freshwater. If my salinity ever gets low I just turn off the ato & top off manually with saltwater for a couple days until it Is back to 1.026

SAT · 11/29/2017, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lsufan

One easy way to go about raising salinity is by topping off with saltwater instead of freshwater. If my salinity ever gets low I just turn off the ato & top off manually with saltwater for a couple days until it Is back to 1.026

+1
Also, as Daddi0 indicated, fish can adapt rapidly to reduced salinity. It's increases that are problematic.

SAT · 11/29/2017, 08:04 AM

BTW, I have found that the salinity of water from LiveAquaria can vary considerably, so don't assume it's really coming in at 1.025. I test the bag water. If it's lower than my quarantine tank, I adjust the QT accordingly. If it's higher, I leave the QT salinity alone. You are using a quarantine tank, RIGHT?

snookman88 · 11/29/2017, 09:09 AM

No quarantine tank. I purchase fish so infrequently and have had great success with them that I feel I have no need for one. I have had my YWG for 8 years, my coral beauty that just passed for 6 years (bought full size so IDK what its age was), and a bangaii cardinal that I bought last year.

Also I did test the water in the bag and it was close to 1.025 (hard to get exact meausrement with hydrometer)

thanks for advice!

ca1ore · 11/29/2017, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SAT

BTW, I have found that the salinity of water from LiveAquaria can vary considerably.

Fish from DD will be at about 1.025; fish from LA in California more like 1.018. Been pretty consistent for me.

gargoylenest · 11/29/2017, 10:52 AM

google "hamza reef". there s a water change calculator that does exactly what you are trying to figure out, and by experience, its pretty pinpoint.

der_wille_zur_macht · 11/29/2017, 12:18 PM

If you're testing bag water for specific gravity, make sure are correctly compensating for temperature. For example, if you have a so-called auto temperature compensation refractometer, you need to leave the sample on the prism for 45 seconds before you take the reading. It's common for bag water temps to be significantly different than tank water temps and if you're not compensating while trying to match salinity, you're going to be off.

snookman88 · 11/29/2017, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by der_wille_zur_macht

If you're testing bag water for specific gravity, make sure are correctly compensating for temperature. For example, if you have a so-called auto temperature compensation refractometer, you need to leave the sample on the prism for 45 seconds before you take the reading. It's common for bag water temps to be significantly different than tank water temps and if you're not compensating while trying to match salinity, you're going to be off.

I tested bags salinity after floating in my tank for 30 minutes. Hopefully the bag water had adjusted to my tank water temperature.

der_wille_zur_macht · 11/29/2017, 03:05 PM

Sounds good!

11/27/2017, 08:00 PM	#1
snookman88 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 101	Aquarium at 1.0205 need HELP raising SG Hello all I just realized my water in my 40 gallon breeder reef is at 1.0205 sg and I would like to raise it to 1.025. I am wondering if anyone knows the math and could tell me what sg 5 gallons of water needs to be to raise my 40b to 1.025. Ill estimate 35 gallons of water in tank at 1.0205 then I will remove 5 gallons. So what sg of 5 gallons of water added to 1.0205 sg of 30 gallons will produce 35 gallons of 1.025 sg water. Thanks! __________________ I like fish. Current Tank Info: 40B mixed reef

11/27/2017, 08:04 PM	#2
Daddi0 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Redwood City Posts: 1,354	I would not do it all at once. I would change out 5 gallons a day of properly mixed water til salinity is correct. Cheers! Mark __________________ 2x 65g displays with a 30g cryptic refugium and 30g sump - 55g reef 30g Bio-cube reef - I.M. 30g reef - 45g freshwater

11/27/2017, 08:16 PM	#3
snookman88 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 101	Thanks for the advice and I totally agree with you. Let me ask you this, I have a fish coming in tomorrow from divers den and they keep their water at 1.025. It was my preparation for this fish that caused me to realize my waters sg was so low. I will definitely do a 5 gallon water change to try and raise the sg a little but obviously it will still be low. How should I acclimate my new fish from 1.025 to my tanks water? I do not have a qt tank. Thanks! __________________ I like fish. Current Tank Info: 40B mixed reef

11/27/2017, 08:20 PM	#4
Daddi0 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Redwood City Posts: 1,354	I am by no means an expert, but as I understand it, critters acclimate quicker to lower salinity. And the problem arises from raising salinity. Perhaps someone with more knowledge will chime in? __________________ 2x 65g displays with a 30g cryptic refugium and 30g sump - 55g reef 30g Bio-cube reef - I.M. 30g reef - 45g freshwater

11/27/2017, 08:53 PM	#6
der_wille_zur_macht Team RC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: NY Posts: 17,749	Do you have any livestock in the tank now? If not, just do a few 5g water changes with high salinity water until it's right. I don't like mixing water higher than about 1.035 because there's a risk of certain components coming back out of solution. If there's livestock, I'd aim for getting halfway there by the time the new fish arrive, then drip acclimate them for at least an hour to get them used to the salinity difference. If you had more time, the easiest way (IMHO) to raise salinity is to top off with saltwater instead of freshwater. This is pretty slow though and probably won't get you there by tomorrow. __________________ Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)

11/28/2017, 08:23 PM	#8
snookman88 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 101	Decided to give an update about my situation. I did a five gallon water change with water at 1.030 sg and then waited 4 hours and did another 5 gallon water change at 1.026 sg. The next morning (today) I did another 5 gallon water change at 1.026 sg. My water is now sitting 1.024 and an I will do one 5 gallon water change per day until my water is at 1.026. My fish arrived from DD and it came in water at 1.025 sg and I followed DD's acclamation guide and introduced the specimen once the bags water reached 1.024 sg. The fish is happy and eating showing no signs of negative symptons. Thanks for everyone's help! __________________ I like fish. Current Tank Info: 40B mixed reef

11/28/2017, 08:44 PM	#9
Daddi0 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Redwood City Posts: 1,354	Cool! __________________ 2x 65g displays with a 30g cryptic refugium and 30g sump - 55g reef 30g Bio-cube reef - I.M. 30g reef - 45g freshwater

11/28/2017, 10:11 PM	#10
Lsufan Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Baton Rouge Posts: 1,410	One easy way to go about raising salinity is by topping off with saltwater instead of freshwater. If my salinity ever gets low I just turn off the ato & top off manually with saltwater for a couple days until it Is back to 1.026

11/29/2017, 08:04 AM	#12
SAT Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Berwyn, PA Posts: 4,073 Blog Entries: 1	BTW, I have found that the salinity of water from LiveAquaria can vary considerably, so don't assume it's really coming in at 1.025. I test the bag water. If it's lower than my quarantine tank, I adjust the QT accordingly. If it's higher, I leave the QT salinity alone. You are using a quarantine tank, RIGHT? __________________ Stuart Current Tank Info: 300G Caribbean biotype reef set up in 2003.

11/29/2017, 09:09 AM	#13
snookman88 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 101	No quarantine tank. I purchase fish so infrequently and have had great success with them that I feel I have no need for one. I have had my YWG for 8 years, my coral beauty that just passed for 6 years (bought full size so IDK what its age was), and a bangaii cardinal that I bought last year. Also I did test the water in the bag and it was close to 1.025 (hard to get exact meausrement with hydrometer) thanks for advice! __________________ I like fish. Current Tank Info: 40B mixed reef

11/29/2017, 10:52 AM	#15
gargoylenest Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: montreal,canada Posts: 135	google "hamza reef". there s a water change calculator that does exactly what you are trying to figure out, and by experience, its pretty pinpoint.

11/29/2017, 12:18 PM	#16
der_wille_zur_macht Team RC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: NY Posts: 17,749	If you're testing bag water for specific gravity, make sure are correctly compensating for temperature. For example, if you have a so-called auto temperature compensation refractometer, you need to leave the sample on the prism for 45 seconds before you take the reading. It's common for bag water temps to be significantly different than tank water temps and if you're not compensating while trying to match salinity, you're going to be off. __________________ Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)

11/29/2017, 03:05 PM	#18
der_wille_zur_macht Team RC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: NY Posts: 17,749	Sounds good! __________________ Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)