Evaporation vs Salinity Stability

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OneFishTwoFish

Active Member
PREMIUM
I'm having an issue with maintaining my Salinity at a stable level. I know that evaporation has increased in the past two weeks. I believe that this is due to using more central heating in the house (winter has finally arrived in NJ). I've got a Tunze ATO in the sump that keeps the water level extremely stable (labels and marks on the glass confirm this). My understanding is "replace evaporation losses with RO/DI water and Salinity will remain stable". I do not know the quantity of 'makeup water' that the ATO is adding. I have my Spectrapure RO/DI System feeding into a 35 gallon storage tank, and the ATO pump is in that tank. So there's an unlimited supply of 'makeup water' available.

Some data:
Sunday 12/27, 35.2 PPT, measured by Apex
Sunday 1/3, 34.6 PPT, Apex
Saturday 1/9, 34.1 PPT, Apex
I've confirmed the Apex measurements with a Milwaukee Digital Refractometer -- pretty close.

Every Sunday, I do a 15 - 20 gallon water change with the replacement water mixed to 35 PPT.

I've checked everywhere for leaks -- found nothing. I do have some "salt spray" around the top of my filter socks, where the tank drains into the sump, but I've always had that.

I did not have this issue last winter. Of course, there are a few differences from last winter to present day:
  • Switched Salt from Red Sea Coral Pro to Tropic Marin Bio Actif
  • Running RowaPhos full time in a Nextreef Reactor
  • Running GAC full time in a Nextreef reactor
Other parameters: Temp 78, PH 8.1, Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 8, Calcium 400, Alkalinity 2.4, Phosphates 0.06, Magnesium 1240, ORP 340

Any suggestions ?

Thanks
---Frank
 
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
If your not having any other issues, and it's just this minor drop in salinity, I'd just mix a 5 gal bucket of SW and let the ATO use that until your level is back to where you want it. I have found that this seems to sometimes happens in reef systems, and as long as there isn't a leak and the change in minor, don't worry about it.
 
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