Top Off Water

Oscar · #1 08-22-2008, 04:48 PM

I have had my auto top off running for about 2 months now. It is working quite well but I am seeing quite a drop in salinity in the tank.

I am attributing this drop to the skimmer water. The skimmer produces ~1 cup every two days while my top off is fresh RO. I am trying to keep salinity in ~35% range but it is now sitting ~33%.

I tried to partially bring the tank salinity back up during my last 10% water change by increasing the replacement water to ~40%. That helped slightly.

I think the other solution is to change my top off water to ~10% solution plus continue my water changes at a higher slainity until I get back into my target range.

How do others with small tanks and agressive skimmers dealing with salinity changes?

mseepman · #2 08-22-2008, 05:25 PM

I'm not sure I would mix your top off as that can quickly spiral out of control making the tank have too much salinity. I would say that most owners try to manage this through water changes.

Oscar · #3 08-22-2008, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mseepman

I'm not sure I would mix your top off as that can quickly spiral out of control making the tank have too much salinity. I would say that most owners try to manage this through water changes.

That is certainly something to watch for, but daily monitoring of the tank until it gets back into the target range should dodge that spiral.

slakker · #4 08-22-2008, 05:45 PM

What skimmer are u using, it sounds like it's skimming really wet? In my 72G, I get a cup every 4 or 5 days...

Oscar · #5 08-22-2008, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slakker

What skimmer are u using, it sounds like it's skimming really wet? In my 72G, I get a cup every 4 or 5 days...

It is indeed wet. It is a no-name pin-wheel skimmer that came with the tank, sort of looks like a Euroreef. Skimmate is a pale green tea. I would like to reduce the volume if possible.

slakker · #6 08-22-2008, 06:22 PM

Is there a way to adjust the bubble height? I have a Euroreef and they can be adjusted with the intake air or the water out flow to control the height... it tooks me about 2 weeks to really get the hang of it... but now the skim is the color of brown/dark green matcha tea...

Oscar · #7 08-22-2008, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slakker

Is there a way to adjust the bubble height? I have a Euroreef and they can be adjusted with the intake air or the water out flow to control the height... it tooks me about 2 weeks to really get the hang of it... but now the skim is the color of brown/dark green matcha tea...

Hmmm...not much in the way of control. But are you suggesting finding a way to lower bubbles in the main column? So if reducing the air intake or reduce the outflow might solve my issue?

slakker · #8 08-22-2008, 06:42 PM

reducing the bubble height should help with the wet/dry skimming. decreasing air will actually increase height, increasing outflow will decrease height (I think I got that right)

Also, if your skimmer is sitting right all the way in the water, ie; the collector cup's base is in the water... the raising and lowering of the skimmer relative to the water line will also affect the height...

But let me preface to say that I'm no skimmer expert and it did take me 2 weeks just to get mine working well...

Oscar · #9 08-22-2008, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slakker

But let me preface to say that I'm no skimmer expert and it did take me 2 weeks just to get mine working well...

Thanks, I am going to experiment some more this weekend.

Oscar · #10 08-24-2008, 03:46 AM

Between Wednesday and Saturday I topped off with saltwater instead of freshwater. Then today I did a 10% water change with a salt mix of 40% saliniity. Now I am back in the range I wanted to be.

I pulled the skimmer out, did some fidgeting, reinstalled it now it is producing a small amount of very dark skimmate. Just what I wanted to see but I have no idea what I did.

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