Dried salt everywhere

[Edroeg]

Sorry if this has been asked, I tried looking but couldn't find anything. My daughter and I are new to keeping a reef tank and the one problem I cannot get past is the amount of water that ends up on the edge of the tank and lid that eventually dries and leaves salt everywhere. We have a lid that is almost fully covering the tank but it won't stop. I know it's coming from her filter where the water enters the tank and drops about 2-3 inches causing constant splashing. I guess my question is, do you need the water to splash that much or can it enter the tank at the surface level to eliminate the splashing. I feel this would resolve the problem, but being new to saltwater I didn't know if that would cause an issue with enough oxygen in the water.

 

[Cell]

Sometimes a lid can enhance salt creep due to wicking. Can you take a picture of your system? Water shouldn't be dropping so far from the filter, i'm assuming HOB, that it's splashing significantly. Raising the water level or dialing back the flow from the filter if possible are potential solutions.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Sorry if this has been asked, I tried looking but couldn't find anything. My daughter and I are new to keeping a reef tank and the one problem I cannot get past is the amount of water that ends up on the edge of the tank and lid that eventually dries and leaves salt everywhere. We have a lid that is almost fully covering the tank but it won't stop. I know it's coming from her filter where the water enters the tank and drops about 2-3 inches causing constant splashing. I guess my question is, do you need the water to splash that much or can it enter the tank at the surface level to eliminate the splashing. I feel this would resolve the problem, but being new to saltwater I didn't know if that would cause an issue with enough oxygen in the water.

Hello, okay, well yes, you want some surface agitation as that is the means of gas exchange. There is no getting away from "salt creep". One thing you need to know is that as salt water evaporates, which is what REALLY causes the salt creep, the salinity in the tank will go up. Therefore you will need to top the tank with fresh, unsalted RODI water pretty much daily. You should constantly test your salinity to keep this in check. I hope this helps.

 

[DED65]

Raise the water level so it meets the bottom of the outlet on the hob. You need surface movement, not splashing to oxygenate the water. If you need to control the salt creep even more, you can use a piece of sponge filter or floss to limit it more.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

If you are using that for surface agitation, better to just use a powerhead and point it at the surface. There should be flow in the water anyway, more than could be provided by a hob.

 

[KrisReef]

All that salt creep is going to mess with your salinity.

Make sure you top off with RODI and add salt if the salinity drops. The water doesn't need to drop and splash to move the surface.

 

[Edroeg]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I can say that my daughter is religious about checking her salinity, testing the water and topping it off. She works for a local pet retailer called that fish place. They have 700 aquariums and a biologist on staff so she definitely takes it seriously. She gets RO water there and mixes the salt based off what she measured. There is also an agitator in the tank so between the filter and the agitator there is plenty of current. Based off the responses I think that the outlet may be too far above the water. I was thinking about raising the level to the bottom of the outlet but wanted to make sure I wouldn't kill fish by eliminating oxygen. I think I'll give that a try and see how it goes. I know that we'll always have salt creep but what is there now is excessive lol.

 

[scrappy35]

My tank with a lid has way more salt creep that the one that doesn’t.