Reef nutrition

Salinity to 1.024, need to raise it. Safest fastest method?

kinetic

kinetic

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Accidentally let my auto water changer run out, drained a ton of water out, dumped 10g of RO/DI water in through the topoff, now I'm at 1.024. I've been doing continuous water changes at 1.027, but alas it's not making a dent.

I now have the salinity up to 1.030 in the new water reservoir, dosing 25 L/day. Can I have a math genius help me think through how long it would take to go back up to 1.026?

I'm thinking of just brute forcing it by doing a big 50g water change, but not sure if 1.024 to 1.026 in a day is going to be safe.

What would you suggest?
 
Whenver I let my salt get a little lower than usual Art, I just dump a cup or so in sump, wait 6 hours and retest. I have had my tank get down to 1.022 so 1.024 is nothing to sweat. I know that this is nothing fancy, but it works for me.
 
((tank volume - 25L) * current sG + (25L) * 1.030) / (Tank volume) = Change per day.

Now the rate will change as your current sG changes but to give you an idea, elos 120 = 120g? If so that's approximately 450 liters


((450-25) * 1.024 + 25 * 1.030) / 450 = 1 .02433 after one day.

Popping those values into an excel spreadsheet, it would take ~7 days to get to 1.025978518
(basically 1.026) ;)

But I wouldn't sweat it having the it drop to 1.024.

*note* I just woke up, so I do not guarantee the accuracy of my math :D Although I'd say it's spot on... from a slightly sleepy point of view.
 
*sigh* silly Europeans... I'm guessing the 120 stands for how many cm the length is... such a silly numbering system even if it's true!

Ok, some googling showed me Elos 120 = 90 gallons... (and yeah seems the number does correspond to the length), in that case you're looking at about 5 days instead of 7.
 
You could just sell everything to me Art for a penny on the dollar :) You know you want a new tank :lol:
 
I throw salt directly into my overflow. It usually takes a few hours to fully dissolve in the overflow chamber. By the time it makes it into the tank I figure it's pretty well mixed.
 
You do know some salts do elevate ammonia while mixing don't you?
 
90 in tank? Your coral and rock doesn't displace any water? You must reveal your secret, I think the Navy would pay top dollar :)
 
I've brought 1.028 to 1.026 over a 24 hour period and it did not hurt any of my corals. I just replace a gallon of RO/DI water with the tank water every hour 5 or 6 times and that did the trick. I'm running a 125g mixed reef, mostly sps and a sebae. All seemed to take it pretty well without any noticeable changes.
 
No, did not realize that some salt raise the ammonia. That said I've read that a lot of experienced reefers do the salt directly in the sump trick (Mike, Ian, Melev, etc.) and I've yet to experience any problems. All that said, it's probably better to do a proper water change, but I'll admit I'm lazy. :)
 
GreshamH said:
You do know some salts do elevate ammonia while mixing don't you?
Click to expand...
So you're saying peeing in the tank is probably a bad idea too? I mean its got the nitrifying bacteria and all in it, figured I'd save on some water by not flushing as much
 
sfsuphysics said:
GreshamH said:
You do know some salts do elevate ammonia while mixing don't you?
Click to expand...
So you're saying peeing in the tank is probably a bad idea too? I mean its got the nitrifying bacteria and all in it, figured I'd save on some water by not flushing as much
Click to expand...

Sometimes the bathroom is so damn far away! Cheaper than dosing Amino Acids too...
 
sfsuphysics said:
GreshamH said:
You do know some salts do elevate ammonia while mixing don't you?
Click to expand...
So you're saying peeing in the tank is probably a bad idea too? I mean its got the nitrifying bacteria and all in it, figured I'd save on some water by not flushing as much
Click to expand...

Urea is a great feed for clams, micro and macro algae.
 
Eight said:
That said I've read that a lot of experienced reefers do the salt directly in the sump trick (Mike, Ian, Melev, etc.)
Click to expand...

Melev is a friend of mine but he's far less technical then several in our club, myself included. Many experienced reefers take issue with what he suggests. I mean Miracle Grow? Come on.
 
For growing phytoplankton and then adding to your tank. There is actually cheaper methods ( Gulliards F/2) that are proper and he still chooses to keep this info on his website. He lost a lot of my respect for doing this. The proper stuff is specifically made for phyto and in the right quantities. Miracle Grow is made for terrestrial plants and as such is not formulated for algae and will have left over nutrients. Not to mention the phyto grown from MG is not nutritious as it does not have the proper elements.
 
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