What harm can elevated Salinity do for long periods

[stubbsz]

I've had all sorts of issues with my tank and was getting no where fast( well slow really)... Lots of fading-bleaching and algae growing (despite undetectable nitrates and phosphates) I went to my local and good LFS to do a get a second read on the water. Everything he did matched what I read.. basically good parameters, but his refractometer read 1.030 where I'd been reading constantly 1.026 on my cheap home kit. I did some serious soaking and it still reads the same. Refractometer should be here soon.

But what effects would you expect to see from high salinity... what I'm seeing is the easy answer but would you have expected that and are there any papers that document the effects?

-Adrian

 

[SnowManSnow]

IMO while 1.030 is a little high it isn't cause for alarm if it has been kept the same for a long period.

I think, in your quest for perfect salinity, you do have a danger though of dropping the salinity too fast when you make the change. Take your time and drop it over a period of a week.

As far as documents to record the effects.... i donno.

b

 

[Brian5000]

Well, if you kept raising salinity it could eventually get to a point where Na/K pumps in cells couldn't keep up and critters would die. 1.030 isn't that high though.

Sudden shifts in salinity do the same thing as critters don't have time to adjust.

In general, I read that higher salinity is a stressor to fish. Their bodies have to work overtime to keep their internal environment stable, and they (particularly new additions) may be more prone to disease and fatality.
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Mercedes C291

 

[camaroracer214]

1.030 isn't too high, but there are lethal limits. the too large or too low amount of salt in the tank screws with the animal's ability to osmoregulate. if too little salt, the fish will take on water, swell, and die. if too much salt, the fish's cells will lose water and eventually cause death.

in the open ocean, the usual salinity is around 35 ppt or 1.025 spec. grav. the closer we get to nature, the better the animals thrive in our home aquariums.

 

[stubbsz]

1.030 isn't too high, but there are lethal limits. the too large or too low amount of salt in the tank screws with the animal's ability to osmoregulate. if too little salt, the fish will take on water, swell, and die. if too much salt, the fish's cells will lose water and eventually cause death.

in the open ocean, the usual salinity is around 35 ppt or 1.025 spec. grav. the closer we get to nature, the better the animals thrive in our home aquariums.

What's too high then if 1.030 is not too high? How high before negative effects kick in?

I wish I could find more on this.
-Adrian

 

[sihaya]

Prolonged 1.030 is too high. I remember reading some research on this (though I don't quite remember where). But it seems that it's actually easier to have salinity that's too high than too low (i.e. more damage with too high salinity than too low salinity by the same degrees-- over the same time period).

 

[camaroracer214]

by saying 1.030 is not too high, i mean it's not too high unless it stays this way for a very long time. if it has been this way for a long period, don't just do a huge water change and bring it back down all at once. do it slowly, over several water changes.

i've seen one person in particular keep their salinity that high for an extended period with no problems. she actually had a beautiful reef tank. but in the long run, it's not very healthy for the inhabitants of the tank.

bring it back down slowly.

 

[Brian5000]

This is the article I remember seeing. It doesn't quite match our topic, but it explains a lot about the affects of salinity on fish:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/6/ ... posalinity
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[Kasey]

On the flip side, what is too low of a level for prolonged periods?

 

[stubbsz]

Well, I posted it on my local forum so I'll post it here too. I dropped the salinity by a small amount, while waiting for Refractometer to get here. (I only dropped it to about 1.0295 (just tested it three times with the new instrument) and it made a significant difference...in a hurry. I was frankly amazed. Pocilliporas that I thought were happy anyway, became happier in a matter of hours. A Zoa colony (just one was suffering much) that was half closed all the time, opened up by the next morning. Some blue zoas got a little bigger and brighter. Acros that have lost a lot of color and were barely showing a polyp were showing polyps. My Christmas Favia looks brighter.

Man oh man, it is extraordinary and I encourage everyone to double check their salinity when everything else seems fine and you're running out of hair to pull out.

Still can't believe that such a small drop caused that much response and SO quickly. I've taken out another gallon tonight and will do it again tomorrow; targeting 1.026 or 27 eventually.

I'm very happy again, I barely swore more than 10 times when I knocked that xmas favia through the rock work while siphoning.

-Adrian