How much salt?

[iworkforanLFS]

Sorry I am sure you have had similar questions all the time, but I have looked through a lot of threads and looked at lot of online calculators(which don't seem to work with Vista) and still have no idea how to calculate this. I've seen you talk about this in other forums so I thought you could probably help me figure it out.

The owner of the LFS I am working for doesn't think it is a smart decision to raise the salinity in our 500g coral system from 1.024 to 1.026 just to keep xenia alive.(I recently read that xenia doesn't typically tolerate lower salinities and thought it was worth a try raising the salinity) Though I think 1.026 matches reef salinity more and would benefit many animals, I'd rather not debate that here.

I just wanted to calculate the amount of salt in pounds or grams that it would take to change the salinity of a 500g system form 1.024 to 1.026 Then I can figure out how much salt that would take and figure out how little he would pay for it.

Thanks

 

[mcvicker]

500g of pure water is 4000 pounds
times the sg difference of 0.002
equals 8 pounds....

I am pretty sure that is right

 

[mmn_usn]

My xenia has thrived in 1.024 and maybe even lower. What I have found, is that my xenia does not like pristine water. My xenia would not grow when I was running a skimmer and keeping the sand and back of the tank clean... So... lower water quality... great growing xenia and zoanthids.

Good luck.

 

[atavus]

My xenia has thrived in 1.024 and maybe even lower. What I have found, is that my xenia does not like pristine water. My xenia would not grow when I was running a skimmer and keeping the sand and back of the tank clean... So... lower water quality... great growing xenia and zoanthids.

Good luck.

FWIW, I have a silver tip and a white xenia in 1.022. moderately skimmed (65g with a remora). Amonia, nitrite, nitrate are 0. I don't clean the sand regularly, but I do have a sifting goby. The tank is only a few months old, but the silver tip is at least 5x the size I got it (2-3 months ago) and the white xenia is about 3 times in 1.5 months. The tank is also relatively low lights (200W PC), but a bit over fed.

I don't think it's the salinity or "lower water quality". Possibly the higher nutrient content in the water, but from what I've read xenia don't have a functioning stomach. Though there seems to be some debate about this.

 

[leebca]

Although the poundage of salt is an interesting concept, the best adjustment method is to raise the salinity a little bit with each water change or, no faster than once a week.

If you perform a 10% water change per week, then the 'new' water would need to be 1.027 to start with, then 1.028 on the next change, then leveling off at 1.029, until the main system water reaches the goal specific gravity.

The greater the percentage of water change, the lower the difference in salinity should be. If you performed a 20% water change, then the new water would be 1.026; then leveling at 1.027 until the goal sp. gr. is achieved.

I don't know that much about Xenia. Mine always enjoyed nutrient rich FOWLR water the best.

I would post your question in Boomer's forum: Reef Chemistry Discussion with Boomer