Salinity, should I raise it

I am a very new newbie.. That said, I have a new tank setup thats less than a week. My salinity was 1.024 when I finished started but tonight its 1.022. Should I raise the level to 1.024? And if so how should I go about it?

Its a 125 gallon tank with 25 gallons of the 40 gallon sump being used.. I have about 100 pounds of live rock which brings up another question.. I noticed the live rock has bubble algae on it after I got it home.. Some are purplish round balls and some are green think long sack like.. Researching them they both look like the pictures I have seen of bubble algae. From what I have read emerald crabs will control the bubble algae but I am probably way to early in the cycle to go that route but I thought I would ask as the 6 year old would love to see the crab in the tank and the cost of them are minimal. However, if I should remove the algae by hand then I will try.. I am not beyond removng the rock from the tank to clean if needed.


1. Thoughts on my salinity
2. Thoughts on my bubble algae? (I may need to post this question in the algae forum?)

 

I'd prob let the tank cycle at that salinity, then once cycled, slowly raise your salinity to 1.025 through a few water changes. Just keep your new water at 1.025 until it raises to there, maybe do a touch higher as the tank is new.

the alge does sound like forms of bubble ague or cyano! i'd manually remove it for now and save the crabs life. ya can add 1 soon enough. watching a critter die prob isn't a great way to start the learning process off for the 6 year old. Soon enough you'll be over flowing with critters.

 

+1 wait for the cycle to end then raise salinity since you don't want to do any water changes during the cycle.

One other thing to make sure of is that when you do a water change, your new saltwater should sit overnight with a circulation pump on to keep it moving. This will help prevent salinity swings like you mentioned.

For the bubble algae, wait for the cycle, then try to remove it. I had an emerald in my previous tank, but it didnt seem to eat bubble algae. i ended up having to remove it from the rock manually. If you do this make sure the rock is out of the tank, then rinse with fresh saltwater after removal. This will prevent it from spreading in the tank.

 

You can top off from evaporation with SW instead of fresh to raise your SG during the cycle.

I'd remove the algae manually now before it has a chance to spread.