Protein skimate emptying lowering salinity.

[+FluxCapacitor]

I considered today that as you empty your skimmate container and your ATO tops the tank off you will eventually lower your salinity over a period of time. Has anyone else considered this? If so, what is the answer? Water changes? Adding salt?

[Juiceman]

I don't think it's a direct issue... unless it overflows frequently or something similar.

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[JasReef]

I think it contributes to what is referred as "drift". It is a good idea to keep an eye on salinity and if I see it go down I just add a little more saltwater when I do a water change and it brings it back up. In other words, if I do a 20 gallon water change I add 22 gallons back in and with evaporation the salinity goes back up. I hope that makes sense.

Salt doesn't evaporate, only water, so the ATO should not contribute to lowering salinity.

[+FluxCapacitor]

Well, I'm saying, you are removing "salt water" when you remove water from the skimmer and dump it down the drain. I would imagine most people are not replacing this salt water and the ATO is taking up for the lost volume using plain RODI water. I think the solution here is to fill the skimmer cup back up with salt water and dump it back into the tank to replace what you removed when you dumped the dirty skimmate.

[jolt]

Also, keep in mind if you are doing something like 2 part dosing that actually increases salinity over time. So it may be that you need to keep an eye on it regardless and manually adjust.

[+FluxCapacitor]

Ah, that makes sense too.... I'm not there yet. I'm using the zeovit sea water complex for dosing currently. I was using Tropic Marin All For Reef but recently changed.

I'm going to get one of those Milwaukee salinity checkers soon so I don't have to worry about all that crazy calibration stuff all the time.

[Dan H]

Yes the skimmer will pull some salinity down, you just need to see how much over what period of time. I tend to make my new Saltwater slightly more saline just so I can let it drift down a little over time. You can also always add some more Saltwater and it will evaporate down and increase salinity.