salinity

[knoxtnreef]

my LFS told me 1.029 salinity was way too high, but I read in multiple places sea salinity in reefs is between 1.028-1.029...I keep my salinity at 1.025 but I wanted the communities thoughts on what my LFS told me. I asked them their salinity because I am going to buy a clown from them and wanted to make sure acclimation went smoothly and to be honest, they were pretty rude about my suggestion of water @ 1.029 so I'm not entirely sure I want to give them my business.

[Vinny Kreyling]

Even The Red Sea is not that high.

[knoxtnreef]

Originally Posted by Vinny Kreyling

Even The Red Sea is not that high.

ok, so the consensus seems to be 1.29 is not advised, thanks for the response.

[Timfish]

COrals can tolerate fairly high salinities, certainly higher than 1.029. But that doesn't mean we should expose corals to higher salinities. FWIW research presented in the paper below suggests the "ideal" salinity is 1.0286 or 38 PSU. Keep in mindthere are likely differences depending on both coral and simbiont species. I'd suggest using google scholar to research more.

https://www.int-res.com/articles/meps/181/m181p309.pdf

[knoxtnreef]

Originally Posted by Timfish

COrals can tolerate fairly high salinities, certainly higher than 1.029. But that doesn't mean we should expose corals to higher salinities. FWIW research presented in the paper below suggests the "ideal" salinity is 1.0286 or 38 PSU. Keep in mindthere are likely differences depending on both coral and simbiont species. I'd suggest using google scholar to research more.

https://www.int-res.com/articles/meps/181/m181p309.pdf

if you dont mind i have a separate question. I got this seneye and i dont really trust it...it's reading my ph as 7.61 so since i'm at the end of my cycle i did the customary..70% or so water change. This changed my ph to 7.71. nh03 is 0.001 and nh4 went from 44 to 38. o2 is 8.3...something doesn't seem right about this ph #. API shows around a 7.9. Should I buy a pinpoint and return this thing?

[kurt_n]

I can't really speak to the Seneye versus Pinpoint question, but will just offer some free advise for what it's worth.

Don't get too hung up on the *actual* pH value. If you're using a commercial salt mix, mixed to around 1.025ish, and don't have some crazy huge number of fish for the tank size you have, and do weekly or biweekly water changes... your pH will be what your pH is going to be. And things will be fine.

I chased pH early in my tank and it took me a while to get my parameters back in check. From then on, I realized the "ideal" numbers that are written about are "ideal" but not required.

If you just finished up cycling, it's going to take a month or so for parameters to settle down to where they want to be. Watch your pH to get to know what "normal" is for your tank and you should find it's pretty consistent. If it varies from normal too much (like .2 or .3) then you might want to look around and see what's up.

[knoxtnreef]

Originally Posted by kurt_n

I can't really speak to the Seneye versus Pinpoint question, but will just offer some free advise for what it's worth.

Don't get too hung up on the *actual* pH value. If you're using a commercial salt mix, mixed to around 1.025ish, and don't have some crazy huge number of fish for the tank size you have, and do weekly or biweekly water changes... your pH will be what your pH is going to be. And things will be fine.

I chased pH early in my tank and it took me a while to get my parameters back in check. From then on, I realized the "ideal" numbers that are written about are "ideal" but not required.

If you just finished up cycling, it's going to take a month or so for parameters to settle down to where they want to be. Watch your pH to get to know what "normal" is for your tank and you should find it's pretty consistent. If it varies from normal too much (like .2 or .3) then you might want to look around and see what's up.

Thank you for the response, I removed the trim for 'marine tank' and it appears to be more accurate now. I also did a water change and dosed kalk as I believe I'm nearly if not already cycled but I am providing stats of my current readings if anyone has thoughts. Though I did a WC, I have no plans to add livestock for a couple more weeks as I wait for the ppm/ph to level out.

temp: 77.7
ph: 8.33
nh3: 0.0005
nh4: 9.10
o2: 8.1

[Timfish]

I use API's pH test kit and haven't used Seneye or Pinpoint. For pH what I look for are long term trends and while I typically test weekly along with alkalinity if it's off from the previous week I'm not going to worry about it, there's too many things including weather that can influence weather day to day or week to week. I'm sure you've seen this elsewhere but the four tests every newbie should run weekly to get a better understanding of how their system works are pH, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium, of these I consider alkalinity the most important.

Since you're new these videos you might find informative:

"Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R2BMEfQGjU

Changing Seas - Mysterious Microbes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7hsp0dENEA

Nitrogen cycling in hte coral holobiont
https://youtu.be/DWItFGRQJL4

BActeria and Sponges
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oLDclO7UcM

Maintenance of Coral Reef Health (refferences at the end)
https://youtu.be/dGIPveFJ_0Q

Optical Feedback Loop in Colorful Coral Bleaching
https://youtu.be/oadKezUYkJE

Richard Ross What's up with phosphate"
https://youtu.be/ZRIKW-9d2xI

[knoxtnreef]

Originally Posted by Timfish

I use API's pH test kit and haven't used Seneye or Pinpoint. For pH what I look for are long term trends and while I typically test weekly along with alkalinity if it's off from the previous week I'm not going to worry about it, there's too many things including weather that can influence weather day to day or week to week. I'm sure you've seen this elsewhere but the four tests every newbie should run weekly to get a better understanding of how their system works are pH, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium, of these I consider alkalinity the most important.

Since you're new these videos you might find informative:

"Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R2BMEfQGjU

Changing Seas - Mysterious Microbes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7hsp0dENEA

Nitrogen cycling in hte coral holobiont
https://youtu.be/DWItFGRQJL4

BActeria and Sponges
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oLDclO7UcM

Maintenance of Coral Reef Health (refferences at the end)
https://youtu.be/dGIPveFJ_0Q

Optical Feedback Loop in Colorful Coral Bleaching
https://youtu.be/oadKezUYkJE

Richard Ross What's up with phosphate"
https://youtu.be/ZRIKW-9d2xI

At the moment i'm using the API Master Kit as well. Like you I want to have a backup or second opinion per say. When I was in the hobby years ago i used the same kit on a reef tank and I never lost a fish.

[vsiege]

Originally Posted by kurt_n

I can't really speak to the Seneye versus Pinpoint question, but will just offer some free advise for what it's worth.



Don't get too hung up on the *actual* pH value. If you're using a commercial salt mix, mixed to around 1.025ish, and don't have some crazy huge number of fish for the tank size you have, and do weekly or biweekly water changes... your pH will be what your pH is going to be. And things will be fine.



I chased pH early in my tank and it took me a while to get my parameters back in check. From then on, I realized the "ideal" numbers that are written about are "ideal" but not required.



If you just finished up cycling, it's going to take a month or so for parameters to settle down to where they want to be. Watch your pH to get to know what "normal" is for your tank and you should find it's pretty consistent. If it varies from normal too much (like .2 or .3) then you might want to look around and see what's up.

Agreed . My ph has been what others might say is on the low side since I started. I tried a bunch of methods to raise it safely, and in the end, nothing was really wrong. My tank was doing just fine and corals were growing from what I can tell. I stopped doing all that and focused squarely on a good water change routine. Never looked back. Listen to what your tank is saying was the biggest thing I learned from that experience.