Neptune Aquatics

35 ppt Salinity Standard

JAR

Guest
I was testing my water for the usual stuff and saw the nice little bottle I picked up at the frag swap.
I just tested my refractometer with the BAR 35 ppt Salinity Standard.
It seems as though it was off (the refractometer) giving me a low reading. s)
I have been running my tank at about 37.8 ppt. or 1.028 specific gravity.
How reliable is the standard?
My tank seems to be fine. All corals,kritters and fish are fine for well over a year now.
Should I drop the salinity?
 
I have a friend who's salinity was higher, can't remember how high but corals got p**** after it was corrected gradually then after a few months they were adjusted and happy again to the new salinity.
I checked the refractometer and read 35 with the solution from the swap my SG ~1.026/1.025
 
xcaret, Thanks for double checking the solution.
I will lower the salinity slowly. I hope my corals don't get p****!!!!
Or worse than that ********! LOL
 
JAR said:
How reliable is the standard?

I used lab equipment for weighing and measuring the materials for the standards.

Should be good if you've kept the bottle tightly capped to prevent leakage and evaporation loss.

At higher salinity, the corals can lose a little color. Stuff can be ok at 1.028, but that's getting close to having problems.
 
FWIW I got one that had been sitting on it's side in the BAR gear (not this batch) and it had salt creep on the outside and it was tightly capped. It was well off :(
 
The friction safety seals used in those cheap caps are not a good vapor block, especially if there is salt wanting to migrate out. I have better seals for the next round, just remind me when your ready :) We may have to cut them down a little though.
 
I was running my tank at 1.030 for over a year, I had my share of losses but overall the corals looked ok (I didn't know since I was using a hyrdometer which was off by .005), however 1 day after I got lazy and didn't do a WC it rose, now at the time I thought it had just rose to 1.027 but in fact it was 1.032 and my tank had a massive crash as coral died left and right.

I have since gotten a refractor meter and run the tank at 1.026, my tank has NEVER looked so good, and the growth is outta control to everything I ever experenced.

Point is as 1.028 might be OK, you run out fuge room faster, and once you run out, it can be a diaster
 
My bottle had no salt creep and seemed to be in good shape.
I am slowly lowering the salinity to 1.026.
Thanks guys
BTW, when you say "run out fuge room" what do you mean?
 
Mr. Ugly said:
I took that to be "run out of fudge room", meaning less margin for error if you let things go on your tank.

Basicly, when I say Fuge room, I mean you go from the "I perfer to run at this level" to "this level is not OK for my tank to contunie to keep living animals"
 
Room for error. Suppose a tank will crash a 1.029. If you are at 1.025, you have 0.004 of a safety net on the high side. If you are 1.028, you have 1/4 of that safety margin. Your ATO could run out on a weekend you are away and you would be nuked with a 1.028 tank but would be safe (albeit angry corals) with starting at 1.025


(numbers are purely illustrative)
 
I get it guys!
Like tires rated at 100mph. If you go that fast, your probably breaking the law, If you go faster, something is gonna give.
 
Gomer said:
Room for error. Suppose a tank will crash a 1.029. If you are at 1.025, you have 0.004 of a safety net on the high side. If you are 1.028, you have 1/4 of that safety margin. Your ATO could run out on a weekend you are away and you would be nuked with a 1.028 tank but would be safe (albeit angry corals) with starting at 1.025


(numbers are purely illustrative)

thank you, ^^ thats exactly what I was fumbling trying to say
 
So I have a silly question. Why can't one just use distilled water to make sure it is at zero? The instructions that came with my Refractometer state to use distilled water to calibrate. Why do I have to do it with the 35 ppt salinity standard? :~
 
distilled calibrates zero ppt perfectly. It only works perfectly at 35ppt if the graticule in the refractometer are perfect

Extreme example. Lets say that the refractometer markings increase at 1/2 the normal rate

If you calibrate zero ppm to zero, 35ppt on the refractometer is acually 70ppt!
If you have this same horrible refractometer calibrated at 35ppt with a 35ppt standard, then all you have to do is adjust your waterchange water till it matches 35 and you are golden. If you are low are high, you will know it. Sure you won't know the absolute amount, but that doesn't matter as much as getting the ppt right.

Hope this helps!
 
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