BIG mistake

I was using a cheap hydrometer for a long time. It read an ok salinity for a reef tank of 1.023. I got took some water to the LFS and they used a spectrometer to more accuratly test SG. Turns out my SG is acctually 1.031! I was wondering why my corals were not looking so good!

How fast can I safely reduce salinity using the drip method?

Thanks!

 

I dont have to tell you that you should do it slowly. I personaly would do water changes, depending how big your tank is.

 

I'd say, depending on your livestock of course; maybe take 32 ounces of tank water out and replace with 32 ounces of RO/DI water every 8 hours for the first day, and see if you can decrease the time interval to once every 6 hours the next day.

Lather rinse repeat until hair is shiny and manageable. ;D;D

 

I was thinking of replacing SW with pure DI water. If I do this, specifically, how fast can I lower salinty without doing more harm than good? (0.001/day ect)

 

Depends on the type of livestock you have currently. I think with constant vigilant observation on your part, you can pick a volume, such as 32 oz., and go with this over a day like Saturday, providing you're off work all day. As long as you keep an eye on things, nothing should happen so fast that you can't correct with a shot or two freshly mixed saltwater. Maybe someone with more experience could chime in on a reasonable rate at which to decrease salinity.

 

Hydrometers should be outlawed, not the first time I've heard of this happening!! This is discussed on another thread right now, you just can't cut corners in SW.
As for the dosing, no clue!;D;D

 

Absolutely! Before embarking on this enterprise, owning a refractometer is a must. I got mine on eBay for less than $40 including shipping.

 

holy @#$!$ I made another noob mistake. I got too excited over the issue and brought my SG down to 0.0129 in two hours! I hope I have not killed my sps, lps, softies and BTAs! It will be interesting to see what pulls through this mess... Ill post an update in a couple of weeks.

BTW, apparent symptoms of hyper salinity (my other parameters were fine) in my case were the gradual bleaching of LPS/SPS, death of some sofies (excluding xenia) and a couple of angry BTA's. I am suprised more was not affected

 

with live stock in the tank you shuld do like 2 points every day or 2. example 1.031 go to 1.029. i did this with a tank when i took it from brackish to salt only i had to go up. i had some shrimp in the tank and they did fine that way the same should be ok going the oppisite direction. you dont want to raise or lower to fast and put your critters into some type of shock.

 

You should be fine.. Just keep an Eye on things...