Reducing Specific Gravity

[jackthestrat]

Good afternoon.

I'm looking for speific tips for reducing specific gravity in my tank without causing shock to my inhabitants. I had been using a hydrometer to measure my SG, and today received a refractometer. My saltwater, which in my hydrometer which had been reading at 1.26, turned out to be reading in my refractometer at 1.31. Clearly, something needs to be done.

I know I can pull saltwater and replace with fresh - but what's the most you would do in a day?

All livestock is happy for now, but I would like to temper this down to NSW levels.

Thanks for any assistance you can provide.

V/r,

Matt

 

[smithcreek]

Did you calibrate the refractometer? Just thought I'd ask before you adjusted your levels.

 

[jbundas]

I went through the exact same thing, only my hydrometer was crusted up enough to say that 1.035 was right. If nothing is looking rough now, don't rush the change. In a 50g system, I probably wouldn't change out more than a gallon or two per day and add the fresh water slowly if you can. If you run an auto top-off, that's a great way to do it. Just drain out some tank water and let the top-off replace it with fresh

 

[DawnOctopus]

I had the same problem a few months ago! What I did was take out 1 gallon a day -- Then I would fill up a gallon water jug with RODI and I let it drip into the tank for an hour or so with an airline -- just like I was acclimating a critter. Just an option if you don't have an ATO

 

[stingythingy45]

Make sure that refractor is calibrated like smithcreek mentioned.
Believe it or not dropping SG is not really that stressful on fish.Corals and inverts make it a little more difficult.IMO I would drop the SG at least .002-.003 every 6 hrs. til it's down to 1.025.