Cali Kid Corals

Tanks with high salinity (according to tank sitter)

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richiev

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I have a neighbor watching my tank while out of town. Mostly that involves making sure the automation is working, and topping off water. However, I also have them occasionally checking salinity + alk (hanna checkers).

When they checked the salinity, they're seeing high numbers on both tanks. This is using a Hanna salinity tester, so I assumed they must've hit CAL and messed up the calibration. I then amazon'ed them a Milwaukee tester as a second option. They setup the Milwaukee and I walked them through calibrating the Hanna. The values they got:
  • peninsula:
    • alk: 8.1 (slightly high)
    • hanna (pre-calibrate a couple days ago): 37.6ppt @25.0C
    • milwaukee: 37
    • hanna (post-calibrate): 37.6ppt @25.5C
  • frag tank:
    • alk: 7.5 (right where I want it)
    • hanna (pre-calibrate): 36.6ppt @25.4C
    • milwaukee: 38
    • hanna (post-calibrate): 36.6ppt @25.2C
I usually run at ~34.5ppt. From pics everything looks good, so I asked them to not change anything, but any thoughts on that?

From the cameras I have on the tanks I can see the water line is good and top-off is working. I also had them test the RO top-off and it's reading 0ppt on the Hanna. Finally, from the pics all the corals look as healthy as ever. The only odd thing is I did have a clownfish in the peninsula surprisingly die, but the other fish seem fine, including some Anthias which I would expect to be the first to die off if something went awry.

I'm inclined to leave it as-is, and have them re-test. As long as the numbers stay stable I'll assume either it doesn't matter or it's a measurement error.

Any thoughts?
 
My two guesses are Overdosing some stuff or replacing top-off water with salt water.

It seems odd that both testers showed high salinity, but it could still be the wrong measurement. My Milwaukee measures more accurately under the PSU setting.

Since salinity is critical and might point to a more significant issue, maybe one of us could test your water to rule out any other problems as a simple testing error.
 
My salinity recently and surprisingly had crept up to about 37.5 too. Didn’t notice any problems, tank seemed fine.

I was lazy and not using the hydrometer for a while. My guess is my last couple water changes were just slightly high and my Milwaukee read slightly low.
 
I imagine it would be fine I would only want to have them check again to ensure it's not a ato issue of some sort like sensor shifted postions something similar. The biggest part is having them retest even with the same testers it would definitely show if it was increasing. You just want to ensure it's not something that will continue to rise the longer your away.

I'm not sure where you stay in the bay area yet I would bet alot of money a member near you wouldn’t mind meeting one of your neighbors at your place to check things out for you if it seems to be a growing problem.

I leave for two weeks in the 15th heck Reading your post I think I should set up a tank camera something I've never even considered before.
 
I'm pretty sure it's not from dosing or bad salinity in previous water changes, since I tested things before I left. I'm pretty confident it's just measurement error somehow.

Regarding having someone check it, I'd always be cool with that, but I don't think I'm in a situation where I'd try and call upon the masses for help yet. I find it hard to believe something wouldn't be freaking out if it'd bumped up from 34.5-37.5 for realzies.

Does anyone know if petco will test saltwater salinity? I have a different person borrowing my car while we're gone, and maybe I could ask them to run a cup over to get it tested.
 
MichaelB said:
I leave for two weeks in the 15th heck Reading your post I think I should set up a tank camera something I've never even considered before.
Click to expand...
off-topic: I'm very pro camera on tank when gone. I had a variety of nest cams I got from folks when we had small kids, and used them on previous trips. It's useful to have a bit of recording.

This time however I bought two wyze, 2k, $35 streaming cameras. The 1080p nest cams are too low resolution to make things out.

I moved my ATO and dosing containers all together, right next to my inkbird, all next to my stand, positioned so I can see the water line in the sump and the tank. With that and the wyze cam I can easily tell that my ATO is working right (water level in sump + ATO container), how much dosing is going on (if the containers are slowly draining), my tank temp (heater controller read outs), and kinda see fish swimming. I also happen to have a reef-pi controller with a lot of that info too, but the ability to quickly see what's going on is very helpful.

It's also helpful to have the cameras in case someone is doing stuff with your tank. You can guide them through steps without having to deal with both of you doing video calls (though I haven't yet tested the audio).

> consistent / check
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if things keep moving in a weird direction I'll react, but for now hoping it's a fluke. Unless someone has a low-effort, secondary way to test.

Anyone ever successfully shipped a Hydrometer to their house? I've in the past ordered these from BRS and every time they've arrived broken. Seems like it'd be the most absolutely fool-proof test. Alternatively anyone have familiarity with the other variations available on amazon, including the various beer making ones?

1720017366597.png
 
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The average Petco near me would probably have a teenager using the old useless plastic tester with the plastic floating needle. Better to get a sample to a nearby member or a lfs partner if your not to far from one.
 
richiev said:
off-topic: I'm very pro camera on tank when gone. I had a variety of nest cams I got from folks when we had small kids, and used them on previous trips. It's useful to have a bit of recording.

This time however I bought two wyze, 2k, $35 streaming cameras. The 1080p nest cams are too low resolution to make things out.

I moved my ATO and dosing containers all together, right next to my inkbird, all next to my stand, positioned so I can see the water line in the sump and the tank. With that and the wyze cam I can easily tell that my ATO is working right (water level in sump + ATO container), how much dosing is going on (if the containers are slowly draining), my tank temp (heater controller read outs), and kinda see fish swimming. I also happen to have a reef-pi controller with a lot of that info too, but the ability to quickly see what's going on is very helpful.

It's also helpful to have the cameras in case someone is doing stuff with your tank. You can guide them through steps without having to deal with both of you doing video calls (though I haven't yet tested the audio).


if things keep moving in a weird direction I'll react, but for now hoping it's a fluke. Unless someone has a low-effort, secondary way to test.
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Yea I have a few older waze cameras from when I upgraded others that I can hook up. I have a 32 gallon tank no sump, and i'm15 only ones with living stuff currently so I probably only need to use 1 or 2. My wife and kids will still be home whileI'm away so I can always do a video call.
 
richiev said:
off-topic: I'm very pro camera on tank when gone. I had a variety of nest cams I got from folks when we had small kids, and used them on previous trips. It's useful to have a bit of recording.

This time however I bought two wyze, 2k, $35 streaming cameras. The 1080p nest cams are too low resolution to make things out.

I moved my ATO and dosing containers all together, right next to my inkbird, all next to my stand, positioned so I can see the water line in the sump and the tank. With that and the wyze cam I can easily tell that my ATO is working right (water level in sump + ATO container), how much dosing is going on (if the containers are slowly draining), my tank temp (heater controller read outs), and kinda see fish swimming. I also happen to have a reef-pi controller with a lot of that info too, but the ability to quickly see what's going on is very helpful.

It's also helpful to have the cameras in case someone is doing stuff with your tank. You can guide them through steps without having to deal with both of you doing video calls (though I haven't yet tested the audio).


if things keep moving in a weird direction I'll react, but for now hoping it's a fluke. Unless someone has a low-effort, secondary way to test.

Anyone ever successfully shipped a Hydrometer to their house? I've in the past ordered these from BRS and every time they've arrived broken. Seems like it'd be the most absolutely fool-proof test. Alternatively anyone have familiarity with the other variations available on amazon, including the various beer making ones?

View attachment 58090
Click to expand...

I ordered this exact same one, showed up without issue. This is the ONLY thing I trust 100% when testing salinity.
 
I bought that TM hydrometer from BRS and it arrived safely. It is my gold standard when I start to doubt my easier readings and for periodic calibration. Before having it, I would go down unproductive rabbit holes of which of the many data points (including calibration solutions) to trust. Since you want a gold standard and not something else you may or may not be able to trust (like the other ones on Amazon), just get this one.

Or borrow it. You can borrow mine when you get back if you want. I thought about having one as club borrowable equipment but I think it’s too fragile for that rotation.
 
Interesting. I ordered two in the past, both arrived totally shattered. Maybe you have friendlier delivery people? Maybe I'll give BRS one more shipment try.
 
Milwaukee should work if properly used/calibrated and even if not, it would not be off by a lot. I had tested mine over the past two years, probably five times with Triton ICP and now three times with Fauna Marin ICP. Their results agree with the Milwaukee - Fauna Marin uses a very expensive device only to test salinity (which I saw in person while I was in their lab), but I assume Triton has the same equipment. I am intrigued by that little hydrometer to add to my salinity checker collection.

Instead of driving it to Petco, the person can drive it to me. I am available today and can test this quickly.
 
I can swing by or a sanity check if you’d like. Maybe the temperature of the devices tank sitter is using could cause reading discrepancies?
My Milwaukee reads consistently different at different temps. Higher when warmer
 
Coral reefer said:
My Milwaukee reads consistently different at different temps. Higher when warmer
Click to expand...
I pre-warm the droplet tray for this reason. I fill the tray with tank water, let it sit a few seconds to warm the cold metal, remove water, then new water and click test button.
 
Patio said:
I pre-warm the droplet tray for this reason. I fill the tray with tank water, let it sit a few seconds to warm the cold metal, remove water, then new water and click test button.
Click to expand...
Better than nothing, but if it’s way warm or cold that won’t do it. For example the one I carry with me can get quite hot in the van. Best to keep the meter in a temp stable location ideally
 
Coral reefer said:
Better than nothing, but if it’s way warm or cold that won’t do it. For example the one I carry with me can get quite hot in the van. Best to keep the meter in a temp stable location ideally
Click to expand...

Yes, your variables are much greater than mine with all your tanks spread over norcal with the tool and water traveling with you.
 
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