salinity

[tonyponty]

hi every one my salinity is 1.022 /1.023
is this to high

[Dons1903]

Anywhere between 1.021 and 1.026 is fine.

[tonyponty]

ok thx donns

[Gillybaby]

A fish only tank would be fine at a lower sg but imo 1.026 or 35ppt (ie the same as NSW) is more beneficial when keeping corals. Both of my tanks are kept at 35ppt. JMO

[tonyponty]

well i will be hopefully adding some corals well some easy ones to start with thats its been up and running 11 mth
do you think i should up it a bit then thx tony

[marcoz]

specific gravity should be kept between 1.020 and 1.024 for a fish only tank, and 1.023 and 1.026 for invertebrates and corals :grin:

[Gillybaby]

It probably does need to be upped a bit for corals. I'd recommend doing this slowly over a couple of weeks, maybe use salted water instead of topping up with RO. You don't want to shock the inhabitants you have.

[tonyponty]

ok thank you all

[flying Jock]

Hi

NSW levels of salinity are normally around 1.026.

If you want to raise your salinity do it slowly and i would always use a refactometer to get your measurement of salinity spot on.

The key is always stability with your reef :wink:

FJ

[subz88]

I kept a fish only tank for many years at 1.019 . My LFS advised me to maintain this low salinity with the explanation that it creates less stress on the fish (they don't have to work as hard to excrete salt from their bodies - look up "osmoregulation" and all that palaver :sleepy: ).

For my reef system I maintain 35ppt (parts per thousand = 35g per litre of RO water) == 1.026sg @ 26degC

Don't forget salinity changes with temperature. It drops about 0.00035sg per 1degC increase. For example if your tank is 1.026 @ 26degC, the same salt concentration will produce an sg of 1.024 @ 29degC, or 1.027 @ 23degC.

If you're interested you can have a read of:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-07/rhf/index.php

[Chris, Reef Ranch]

As some one has already mentioned, 35 PPT or just below 1.026 S.G. is natural seawater. Higher than 1.023 = more trace elements and harder water. Corals and things like this!