Freshwater to Saltwater? ....

Question
Hi there!

I was told I need to add Freshwater to my Saltwater when starting up and new tank, or when doing water changes.
How much Freshwater do I add to my Natural Sea Water?

Thanks for your help.

Jade

Answer
Hello Jade,

We use freshwater to mix with salt mix, and use this to perform Water changes...

BUT we also use fresh water to REPLACE the water that evaporates out of the tank...

Im not sure what or how your system is plumbed, but you can determine the amount of fresh water that does evaporate from your tank prettey easily...

If you just have a 'simple' tank.. no sump, no 'overflow box' or anything like that, then what you do is test the salinity of your tank water... and make any adjustment to correct the salinity to what you want.. (somewhere between 1.021  - 1.026)

When you make your adjustments, you want to make the adjustments so the water level in your tank is at the top, wherever you think the water level should be... (just below or behind the trim???)

Then make a mark on the side of the tank... (or remember where the water level is).  I actually use a sharpy and mark on the glass or the trim.. a small mark, something that doesnt stand out and only you know is there...

Then after a day or two, depending on how big your tank is, and how small a peak in saliity you can tolerate, you add fresh water to raise the water level to that mark... and then test the water salinity to make sure it is where you adjusted it to be... and there you are...

If you have a sump or some external plumbing, then do the same thing on the sump.. (where the return pump is)...

adjust the salinity of the tank water and adjust the water level in the RETURN pump section of the sump, and then mark the glass on the sump...

the only change in water level will be detected in that RETURN pump section...

so, as water evaporates, you wont notice it in the display tank.. that water level should remain constant level... BUT the water level in the RETURN pump section will drop as the water evaporates.


BTW:  if you ahve a tank of saltwater, as water evaporates, the FRESH WATER evaporates, leaving teh salt behind, making the salt water left behind MORE salty, (higher salinity)

salt does not evaporate...

I hope this info helps.. If you dont have a sump, then please dont get too confused about it... but as you can see, sumps offers several advantages, a constant water level in the display tank is one of them...

if you would like to log onto my new forum at www.thelittleocean.com  there are lots of folks there that can help you with this and other questions that you might have.

WE also have a live chatroom.. (well its live when others are online at the same time...)

anyways, I will be on later on afte a few doctors appointemnts...