An Idiot Inherits a Tank - Two Big Lessons Learned This Week

First, I learned that my refractometer needs to be calibrated. I ordered a specific gravity standard of 1.025, but in the meantime I used distilled water and found my offset was about 0.004. That means that my tank is really 1.029 when I thought it was 1.025.

With this new found calibration power, I tested both my bucket of fresh salt water and my tank. My bucket of saltwater is 1.020, while my tank is about 1.030. I didn't have to think very long to realize why this might be. Evaporation slowly concentrates the tank!

A quick search on the web and I realized top off water has to be FRESH to maintain proper salinity. Duh! Do you guys top off very slowly in your sump so the animals don't get hit with a big slug of fresh water?

 

Is it better to change the specific gravity immediately down to 1.026, which I can do with a water change and clever salt math? Or is it better to adjust the salinity down very slowly? If so, over what period of time?

 

Change it slowly (over a few days). I never worried about adding fresh water too slowly, but now I use an ATO and that does seem to be a lot better all around. You can get one fairly cheap and it may be one of the most life on the reef changing devices ever.

 

THREE THINGS! My sump pump was barely pushing any water. I guess I need to clean the filter on the end more often. Do those filters get replaced or just cleaned out? And it would seem every time I start and stop my pump a bunch of white debris blasts out of the nozzles in the tank. Kinda looks flakey.

 

What you mean you were not born with this knowledge, I did chuckle.

The flakes could very possibly be calcium carbonate build up, it happens. Yeah you got to check pumps at least monthly.

Routine maintenance is really important, hence the reason the majority of people leave the hobby after a couple months. You got to love it.

You seem like a natural though.

 

I'm still overwhelmed by all the things I need to keep track of, but I thrive on watching complex projects produce results. The high salinity probably explains why my Mg and Ca values are so high. And the lack of flow through my system probably explains the nitrates.

 

I think with this hobby you never stop learning. We all have hiccups and some are easier to solve than others.

The white flakes sound like calcium buildup.

I don't have a sump but if you are running floss, then yes, you want to change it regularly or you will run into a nitrate issue.
I change my floss at least once a week

 

you never really do stop learning in saltwater. slow changes are always better, the general line of thought is: it is much less stressful on animals to suddenly drop salinity than it is to raise it. with this being said, did you not follow dosing instructions that came with your salt? youre having me tripping now since i never calibraited my refracto with a designaited solution. I did it with ro/di water as suggested in the manuel...... 1.029 is on the high end of things but isnt catastropic yet, but i would defenitly bring it back down.... youre shwoing a motivation to learn, change and adapt...and thats already a large part of the work done. keep reading, keep researching

 

I followed the instructions from my salt . . . or rather my cousin's recommendation, which puts the concentration somewhat low. I would caution you against calibrating with distilled water. That assumes that the calibration offset is consistent throughout the measurement range. It may not be. A very good case in point - although my calibration with distilled water said that my refractometer was off by 0.004, I just re-calibrated with a 1.026 reference standard that I received today, and it dropped back down another 0.003. It would be best to calibrate against a known standard that is very close to your desired specific gravity. That way, you don't have to worry about the linearity or offset issues from an imperfect refractometer.

 

As far as an ATO goes;
My ATO only tickles in what evaporates or is lost.
Mine seems to be the anomaly though as is is only gravity driven, and the resevoir is constantly refilled by my RO/DI as needed.
No pumps, sensors, electricity, etc.