Adding Salt

Hi guys ive had my tank for about a week and my salt levels are @ 1.018 im trying to increase it to the adequate range ( 1.020-1.024 ) any ideas on how i can do this?? BTW i have about 20 pounds of live rock 1 damsel 3 snails and 1 crab i just added the snails and crab yesterday and the damsel the day i added the live rock, i have a 30 gallon biocube, and i was shocked to measure today my ammonia levels and they are @ 0! any tips on how to increase the salt???

 

What size of tank do you have? You're not too far off from your goal so it should'nt take much. I would probably remove about 5gals of water from your tank. Pre-mix a fresh 5gals of water with a little higher salinity content (say, 1.026 to 1.028) to compensate for the low level in your tank. Add this mixture to your tank and let it circulate for a bit (maybe 30 minutes or so) then check your salinity level again. If it's still low, repeat the process.

Hope this helps,

Cowboy

 

Typically when my salinity is a little low I use my regular saltwater instead of plain RO/DI for topping off - this is a slow and effective way of raising salinity levels and doesn't seem to bother my critters!

 

Great Idea Bouraganes! That would make a subtle increase over time. You definitely don't want to shock them by uping it to quickly. Follow what Bouraganes said and your salinity should be at the correct level in a day or two.

 

I do the same and it works great

 

I have a 29 gallon tank.

 

Which ever way you decide to go with...Do it slowly as many inverts especially don't handle changes in water parameters very well.

 

If this is going to be a reef tank, then I would target the s.g. for a range of 1.025-1.026.