Salt levels in my tank

Question
My boyfriend and I bought a salt water tank about 2 months ago, and everything was going beautifully. We recently upgraded to a 30 gallon tank and this morning I checked the salt levels and everything. It read that the salts were too high, is this a major problem, and if so how do i lower them? Jessi

Answer
Hello Jessi,

Can you please clarify if the 30gallon tank is the tank you setup 2 months ago, or if you setup a tank 2 months ago, and then upgraded since then?

you should know that 60 days is not enough time to establish/cycle a tank, especially if you upgrade during that time...

Can you also please let me know what your 'salinity' is reading?  S.G. = ???

Also, do you know about 'water changes' AND  TOP OFF water???

You probably know about water changes... that is when you routinely remove  some 'old' salt water, and then replace it with NEW salt water...

BUT, some people dont know that you NEED to add FRESH water routinely.  (not salt water)..

You NEED to do this because water evaporates.  BUT, when water evaporates, SALT does not... so, as FRESH water evaporates, it makes the remaining water SALTIER... so you need to replace EXACTLY the same amount of water that evaporated.

This is done a few different ways.  For me to explain how to track and maintain salinity, can you please tell me a bit about your system???  do you have a filter?  Do you have a sump?  Or is it a hang on tank, or cannister type???

The S.G.  (specific gravity) should be around 1.026  (this is the average salinity of the coral reefs of the world)

Anyways, please let me know the info we need to finish explaining this answer...

ALSO:  you can join me and many other reefers at my new forum at www.thelittleocean.com

you can post your questions and get answers/feedback from me and other reefers in the community.  You can also 'chat' live with me or anyone else who maybe logged on at the time...

I hope to see you there...

bill