the water in my previous freshwater tank? A little background: I've had my 55 gal. set up for about a month now, with 2 clown fish and a bicolor angelfish thus far (all of which are doing well.) My water chemistry is perfect, with 0's across the board and 8.2-8.3 ph. My salinity is a little high (about 1.026), but I plan on lowering it later today when I do a water change. Speaking of which, I assume I should keep my salinity on the lower end, since water will evaporate in between water changes, thus increasing salinity? But anyway, getting back to my question---my saltwater tank seems to be a little bit hazier (if you will) than my previous freshwater tank. Is this normal due to salt being in the water? Don't get me wrong, overall my tank looks clear....just not as crystal clear as my previous freshwater tank. Maybe I'm being too picky, but I'm curious nonetheless. One last thing, will water clarifiers help at all, or does it sound like my tank is already as clear as I can get it? Thanks.
Should the water in my saltwater tank be as clear as..
- Thread starter tampa4
- Start date
Saltwater is not cloudier than freshwater. The Cloudiness I've experienced has generally been either a bacterial bloom, some sort of suspended particulate or algae/haze on the glass. Your tank may or may not be normal, it's very hard to tell from your description, but I would definitely NOT add any sort of clarifier or chemical treatment, with your tank being so young it may work itself out.
As far as salinity goes. Yes, the salinity rises as water evaporates. You should be topping off your tank (with dechlorinated FRESH water) several times between water changes to keep your salinity stable. Your water change water should always be the same salinity...you should not be trying to get the salinity of the tank to a certain level by guessing what mixing a low with a high results in.
As far as salinity goes. Yes, the salinity rises as water evaporates. You should be topping off your tank (with dechlorinated FRESH water) several times between water changes to keep your salinity stable. Your water change water should always be the same salinity...you should not be trying to get the salinity of the tank to a certain level by guessing what mixing a low with a high results in.
Are you running activated carbon in the system?? I run it both my tanks full time and my water is always crystal clear. I would try that before any other water treatments.
no active carbon---just a wet/dry filter with a protein skimmer. I'll probably end up waiting a few months to see if the water conditions improve (chances are they will.) Also, thanks morleyz for the water top-off suggestion---I'll try that from now on, instead of simply mixing less salt when doing water changes. As for my water, I buy RO water from my LFS. Will it be okay to let 1-2 gallons sit in an airtight container for a week or so, before using it to top off my tank, or will the water go bad within that time?
Should be fine as long as you're using a clean storage container. You'll want to keep a lid on just to keep the dust out. I know people who store RO water and already mixed saltwater for weeks. If you're storing the RO water for top off though, you'll want to make sure you're close to the same temperature before topping off...room temperature would probably be fine for small top offs, but don't store it in the garage (at least not in the midwest where I'm am) and then use it right away.