Reef Discussion
My refractometer reads 1.029.
All I know is that I have very little evaporation and my tank water's refractive index remains pretty much the same as the water I collect from the sea.
It may be a bit high, but if any coral I get can't handle it, they die! Harsh but simple rule for my tank. Let all ye corals know this.
All I know is that I have very little evaporation and my tank water's refractive index remains pretty much the same as the water I collect from the sea.
It may be a bit high, but if any coral I get can't handle it, they die! Harsh but simple rule for my tank. Let all ye corals know this.
What he said. Or if it looks similar to detritus, its regurgitating food.
FYI your salinity is fine Dean, and also @Lesley. Savage Henry on the other hand I wouldn't leave it high like that for too long, corals don't like it and the margin for error should the salinity rise further is zero.
Agreed if its long brown strings then its zoox, Tank could be experiencing an increase in temps or lighting?
Yep corals eat, so what follows is poop ;) hammers in low flow areas it can be a problem if you feed the coral a chunky food the poop can be chunky too. If it don't break free and flow away it can lead to a necrosis from the mouth. I have lost a few this way..... Yes they poo out their mouth eeeew.:eek
Thanks for the response.
I guess I either need to get my refractometer calibrated or I should just take a sample of freshly collected sea water from my collection point (Malabar) and have it tested.
My point is that my salinity is always constant, equal to that of naturally collected sea water.
I have read of people suggesting that the salinity of some parts of Sydney is quite high. I would be interested in what others have to say about this, particularly anyone who might collect from Malabar. As an aside, commercial collectors often collect from Malabar for those who buy their NSW.
Even if my refractometer is correct and the water is at 1.029, I wouldn't bother adjusting my water. I am happy with what corals live well in my tank. If they don't look like they are doing well, I am happy to give them away when they are at a stage where they are still useful to someone else.
Once I get a tank journal up (when I set up my new tank) I'll show you what has done well in my tank and maybe that will show up deficiencies in my water quality. Needless to say, I think my tank is more of the salty polluted tropical lagoon style rather than the pristine reef we see in pictures from the barrier reef.
One point along this theme though, have you all seen the pictures a guy on MASA has posted off his collections of corals from near Darwin? Have a look at them, they might change your idea of the conditions our corals are able to endure.
It's all about stability, if they go from 1.025 to 1.035 over a couple of days with a two degree temp rise I bet you'll find RTN happens quickly.
Same goes for alkalinity, if your coral are conditioned to handle 11kh and you consistently do water changes at that number then you should find they always look great.
Furthermore nothing wrong with using a consistent location for water collection, seen the best tanks run on this principle.
I have never had an ATO on my tank and I top off fresh water by eye so my experience has been that every now and then I notice the corals aren't expanding as much as usual or the Xenia is looking a little unhappy. Its subtle and I can never quite put my finger on the problem immediately. I also notice my shrimp will sit around a lot instead of their usual activity, they may shed and not survive the shed. Every time this has happened its been high salinity 1.029 or 1.030. I don't have a high evaporation rate being in Melbourne so the salinity creeps up over a week.
Higher salinity also seems to slow down healing in fish with wounds (probably due to dehydration) and ich seem to thrive in a high salinity environment. You'll notice if a new fish has a minor level of visible ich on it that the ich will often drop off and not return, with no treatment used but observation in QT. If the salinity is on the higher end they will multiply and the infestation will worsen. You see bad ich infestations in run down tanks where the salinity has been allowed to creep up over time and water quality is low from lack of water changes. So those are my reasons for believing high salinity is harmful to a tank.
The local waters may have a higher salinity, though I do find that strange depending on how far out from the shore it is collected, considering we humans love to divert all of our fresh waste water out into our bays. Would be interesting to take your refractometer to the beach one day! I understand about just keeping whatever does well in the tank as I do the same. I believe you could have a higher mortality rate as a result however and there is no harm in adding a little fresh water when you do a water change or top off. Just my thoughts!
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