Raising salinity safely?
 

Decided to check my salinity during tonights top up and discovered it was real low(1.019).Over what period of time should I raise it back to normal?Was thinking of doing it over the next 5 nights.I don't want to raise it to fast and stress things out more then they already are.
Note to self: check levels more often :(

I've raised it from there to the propper amount in a matter of hours without any ill affects. :)

Jim,

I would bring it up by a point a day, that should help reduce the stress on both the fish and your corals.

These situations are sort of a catch 22. Skewed parameters can be harmful yet so can dramatic corrections. IMO If your tank is not showing signs of distress then you have some leeway to make the changes gradually; on the other hand if things are looking bad then immediate action would be the best course.

Raised it 2 points last night over a couple of hours and things look ok today,a few of the mushrooms are a little shriveled back,but otherwise,things look ok.The zenia and zoos fed this morning,so will try to raise levels again today.
I have no sps or lps,just softies.Thanks for the advice,we'll see how things go over the next day or so.:)

add to top off
 

jim
you can add salt to your top-off water and your salinity will evitably climb very slowly back to your desired salinity. little on the extreme in terms of slow acclimitization but just an idea

My top off stuck open two days ago, I found it when the sump was on the vergo of overflowing. I checked the salinity and found it at 1.015. Lots of things looked not so good. I added salt directly to the overflow so that it would mix by the time it was returned to the tank, then started draining the sump. Raised salinity back to 1.025 and drained about 15 gallons total. My anemone, corals, shrimp and fish returned to normal behavior within half an hour. The total event happened in less than two hours, but i would get the salinity up quickly if it were me, especially with just softies.

I had a 10 gal nano setup that would raise two points a day just with evap. If I did not top it off one day then it would be up four points. 1.020 - 1.024. The softies are tough but other inverts will not like the drop, especially shrimp IME.

Mike