# Salinity Spike



## irreality (Jan 31, 2009)

Ive just recently upgraded my 35 gallon Marine to a 70 gallon. Now Ive cycled the aquarium for a week and a half, Bought some more live rock on the weekend. And i have 2 triggers in there. Orange stripe and Niger, however I did loose a fish just yesterday. (I told my GF not to buy it but she didnt want to listen). Now the ****** are fine, however the Yellow tang she bought the day before, just croaked. 

For some reason the salinity spiked... like overnight, to 1.03 from 1.022. I cant believe this is a common occurance, and I dont think it would have anything to do with the rock I put in. 

Any Ideas why the salinity would spike so fast ?

PS. I have a microbubble problem... any idears ?


----------



## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

That isn't a spike, thats a drop:
1.030 --> 1.022.

Unless you meant 1.003 to 1.022, in which case you were keeping them in very hyposaline conditions.


----------



## blossom112 (Mar 19, 2008)

When you have evaporation (salt dont evaporate) this will make salty higher .
cause your loosing water and not salt.........
You do loose some salt by salt creep.....but not enough to kill fish..
Because you have only cycles the tank for a week and a half ,I would suggest no more new comers ...or if you just have to have from the pet store .
You should do a water change everyday!
Test everyday.
water top off every day to prevent salt fluctuation.

Your tank did not have a full cycle and the fish are suffering , sure there are some fish people use for cycling ............
...............
Maybe just maybe you can find someone to hold on to all your fish .......and get some superbac ,man that stuff is awesome and cycle woulda been complete in a week or so .
I know tangs are so costly ..........
Good luck!


what do you mean about microbubble ???


salt dont spike over night ..... are you topping off the tank with salt water ???
to keep salt level right we top with unsalted water ....and waterchange with replacing salt water we are taking out ........

P.S . 1.022 IS GOOD .... I KEEP MINE HIGH LIKE 1.026......


----------



## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

If the orange stripe trigger looks like this, I would consider it as one of of the main causes for fish loss it as it's one of most aggressive triggers in the hobby. Especially when hungry or a weak/new fish is there, it's a voracious hunter.

I've kept one in the past and my one client that has one in his 90gal is the remaining fish. Anytime I had my hand/arm in the aquarium, I've had to keep a weary eye on where it is or else I'd loose a piece of me for it's snack.

A real beaut of a fish but too nasty for most ppl to want to keep one.

JME/2C


----------



## blossom112 (Mar 19, 2008)

Hi there wilson
Wow i dont know anything about fish !
nice fish you have there !!!

could they be eating the critters on the Live Rock then wilson ?


----------



## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

ameekplec. said:


> That isn't a spike, thats a drop:
> 1.030 --> 1.022.
> 
> Unless you meant 1.003 to 1.022, in which case you were keeping them in very hyposaline conditions.


It's a spike 

*to 1.03 from 1.022*

I guess intention was to keep it at 1.022 but for some reason it went to 1.03. That's pretty high! It would require a lot of salt in 70G to push the salinity that high.


----------



## irreality (Jan 31, 2009)

It is a spike not a drop, I think the second answer was more likely, just random flucutations from a new setup.

I know the trigger is very aggressive, however I was rest assured that the tang and the trigger would be fine together from the dude at NAFB's. they were all getting along fine in the tank so Im pretty sure that wasnt the problem. 

I didnt plan on putting any new fish in, and i told my GF that it wasnt a good time to start with new fish, but you know how some people are when they have their minds set on something. 

as for the microbubbles... I think i found the culprit, a crappy protien skimmer that needed adjustment.


----------



## blossom112 (Mar 19, 2008)

I was thinking the same thing about the bubbles lol
And ...although i dont know much about fish (reef tank lol)
I was thinking the tang shoulda been fine also as they are agressive too ...
I have seen the tangs at NAFB and they were all looking healthy to me .
And they did in my opinion give good advice .

I saw your other post and posted there ....

I know how hard it is for your g/f and my friends cant help it either .

Tangs are known for being stressed easily even just the move to home .
When you buy another , you may want to do a big waterchange b4 you bring it home then in 3 days do another w/c .

I got a purple tang ...it died ....
my friend got the same and did the changes and its still alive ... although it got ick he did get 2 doctor fish that ate the ick right off the fish and it is still alive .....and no one has ick !!
I think he is on to something there and when i get my new tank I think i will do the same ~~~~

I would suspect it could have been the tang being stressed also ...
one of these days I will have the tang that i want !!!

p.s. they are good at NAFB and will probably give you a good discount on another tang !!
Just try waterchange b4 you get it .


----------



## irreality (Jan 31, 2009)

Unfortunatley I didnt buy the tang at NAFB I got it at big als in Sauga. The guy at NAFB said he was getting some more tangs in this week so I will stop by there on the weekend. Last time i checked his prices were good on the tangs anyways. But that was over a year ago.


----------



## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

Heya Doreen . Long time for sure as I rarely have time to write anything substantial...LOL!

Not to dismiss the info from NAFB but once the undulate trigger settles down and marks of it's territory, it's going to be a challenge to add anything new, especially if it's/gets larger than 4" in a display system of less than 90gal. My 6" Undie was a NASTY MOFO and have two scars from not paying attention . TONS of character despite it's demeanor . Forget keeping any kind of inverts with one of those around  

The spike could be from using the swing arm hydrometer as they are temperature dependent. If the new salt water is warmer and you make SW of 1.0XX. When it cools to the set temp, the salinity will increase slightly, depending on the temperature difference. But that much of an increase leaves me to think that there is something more to that. Just an area to investigate.

Best that you invest in a refractometer w/automatic temp compensation (ATC), unless you already have one. Personally I use a Sybon (~$90retail)...rugged and solid unit. Milwaukee is good as well but I prefer the "heft" of the Sybon.

HTH/JME/2C


----------



## hojimoe (Mar 7, 2008)

I think there may be a mixture of things that have happened here...

I'd say , swing arm, temp difference in mixed water vs in the tank, and replacing evapourated water with salt mixed water instead of just ro/di water

tangs should be QT'd before entering a tank, unless if it's a low stocked tank, or atleast dipped/drip acclimated


----------



## UnderTheSea (Jun 2, 2008)

wtac said:


> Heya Doreen . Long time for sure as I rarely have time to write anything substantial...LOL!
> 
> Not to dismiss the info from NAFB but once the undulate trigger settles down and marks of it's territory, it's going to be a challenge to add anything new, especially if it's/gets larger than 4" in a display system of less than 90gal. My 6" Undie was a NASTY MOFO and have two scars from not paying attention . TONS of character despite it's demeanor . Forget keeping any kind of inverts with one of those around
> 
> ...


Right on, I agree with WTAC


----------



## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

conix67 said:


> It's a spike


Oops. I left my thesis in my brain.









Salinity Refractometer

Price: CAD-$ 54.95 
http://www.mops.ca/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/skus/te/TESY-J107.asp?L+scstore+wwwx2839ffd233d2+1233718138


----------

