low salinity a few questions

[pembro]

so at the moment I don't have a ro unit, so at the advice of my LFS I used sea pora natural sea water, it came in 5g jugs. so I added the sand, live rock and the water on sunday. so I test the saltwater with my hydrometer and its reading 1.021..so my question is. was it bad to use that water? how would I go about raising the salinity? should I go back to mixing my salt? can I still do that? tank has no fiish or anything in it yet. thanks in advance everyone

 

[theyangman]

you can add salt slowly and begin raising the salinity. You wanna be closer to 1.026

Also get rid of that junk Hydrometer and buy a refractometer. They give piss poor readings over time.

 

[pembro]

So should I buy salt and add it? I still have a jug of that sea water, but I don't think adding that would help right? I am in the process of getting one actually.

 

[pulpfiction1]

i would of figured store bought water like that would of been 1.023 or better myself but.....try a different hydrometer or get a refractomer to be sure

 

[pembro]

Went and got my water tested and tested the hydrometer to a refractomer and the hydrometer was reading accurate.

 

[pulpfiction1]

as your water evaporates the salinity will rise,i would adjust it slow untill you get it where you want it

 

[pembro]

Ok so while it evaporates I add more saltwater instead of ro?

 

[pulpfiction1]

i would add salt water untill i reached where i want it,i have mine around 1.025 most of the time

 

[spyd]

Without anything in the tank, you may as well just add salt mix to the water until it reaches 1.025. Nothing to harm.

 

[pembro]

That's what I was gonna do. So I guess it's best to go back to mixing my water instead of this pre made stuff

 

[spyd]

It will be WAY more cost effective to purchase an RO/DI unit. More money upfront but a huge cost savings. I then stock up on my salt mix for the year at Big Als during their Boxing Day sales. Considering you ned to top off water constantly and bi-weekly water changes, the unit will pay for itself in no time.

 

[pulpfiction1]

ro/di are very afordable anymore,i didnt read through completley,nothing in there so up or down at any speed wont matter

 

[pembro]

I'm trying to convince the wife to get one lol. Does it matter that we don't have a water softener? I've checked a few places like water depot and they wanted 600. I know they are cheaper but where?

 

[pulpfiction1]

BRS,royal aquariums,think there were a couple on here as well

 

[Petercar (RIP Dec 2017)]

Heres the most popular ones...http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/bulk-reverse-osmosis-filters-systems/reverse-osmosis-systems.html

 

[dale]

royal aquariums may still have them on sale if they havnt closed yet... you can pay any where from $100 for fish only tanks up to $300 or so if you are running an sps setup and anywhere in between plus bells and whistles.. imo something like a 4 stage 75gpd setup is good for the average reefer..

 

[dale]

till then find a corner store with an r/o dispenser and buy salt... instant ocean is popular and easy to find..

 

[pembro]

Thanks dale, that is what I did with my last tank. i just picked up some ro water. For the ro unit does it matter if I don't have a water softener?

 

[Petercar (RIP Dec 2017)]

I think yu may need to put yur rodi unit b4 the water softener

 

[pembro]

I do not have a water softner,can I still get a ro unit?