hydrometers...

[burntjello]

I have this hydrometer...

My water was testing in the normal range at 1.021-1.022... then yesterday just for kicks I took some of my water to my LFS and to my disbelief my water's salinity was off the map... just a huge reading of salinity (I was in such shock I dont even recall the exact #, but it was barely in the highest range on their hydrometer)... I've been using pre-mixed/boxed saltwater as well... so i'm clueless as to whos salinity reading was more accurate (he used the same kind of hydrometer) and why my salinity was so high... I think its better now, but i'm searching for a better hydrometer or some other gadget that would be more accurate :rmad:

 

[sadielynn]

What are you topping off with ? you want to use either RO/DI or distilled water for top offs ....also you may look into a digi lab or a refractometer (the latter is more accurate) :mrgreen:

 

[Jennie]

What are you topping off with ? you want to use either RO/DI or distilled water for top offs ....also you may look into a digi lab or a refractometer (the latter is more accurate) :mrgreen:

She beat me to the questions I was going to ask.

 

[sadielynn]

She beat me to the questions I was going to ask

:razz:

 

[burntjello]

Well I never noticed alot of evaporation, so I never topped off with anything. Its just been the same water out of the box for 2.5 weeks...

 

[sadielynn]

you may wish to check your water that you are buying from a reputable sourse :mrgreen:

 

[Calsun]

If anything I've read from numerous sources that the 'Coralife Deep Six' hydrometer is probably the best out of the swing arm hydrometers.

 

[mutt]

My water was testing in the normal range at 1.021-1.022... then yesterday just for kicks I took some of my water to my LFS and to my disbelief my water's salinity was off the map... just a huge reading of salinity (I was in such shock I dont even recall the exact #, but it was barely in the highest range on their hydrometer)...

So was the store reading you had low salinity or high? Sometimes cheap hydrometers will have the arm stick to the side of the container, try flicking it a couple of times, it sounds like a shadetree mechanic fix but try it, and test several times before adding new water.

 

[burntjello]

you may wish to check your water that you are buying from a reputable sourse :mrgreen:

yeah, I got a hydrometer that works now.. and the salinity of the boxed premixed water i've been using from petco is really really high. So, I'm considering mixing my own water from now on. At least I caught that before I sent some fish/inverts to their death in my salt tank of doom!

 

[r00onmac]

now i have the same one and i clean it regularly to keep the build up minimal... but those swing arm hydrometers are notoriously inaccurate even if perfectly clean... apparently if you get like 6 of them fresh out of the box you will most likely get 3 different readings...refractometer coming this summer...

 

[reefman23]

now i have the same one and i clean it regularly to keep the build up minimal... but those swing arm hydrometers are notoriously inaccurate even if perfectly clean... apparently if you get like 6 of them fresh out of the box you will most likely get 3 different readings...refractometer coming this summer...

I have to agree with rOOnmac... hydrometers are not to be taken as the one and only means for SG measurement. I have a hydrometer that I have been using for 2.5 years and it is consistantly .003-.005 higher than a refractometer. Be careful, back up your readings with a refractometer... either a friend's or a LFS's.

Jesse

 

[little urchin]

i think of my refractometer as a sound investment....it will be used regularly for years and is WAY more accurate than a swing-arm hydrometer...at £35 ish it's one of the cheapest buys in this game *lol*

 

[skipm]

One thing that needs to be pointed out to you is that refractometers need to be calibrated from time to time, if your LFS doesn't calibrate theirs properly they may also be giving you a false reading. The water you are talking about from Petco if I am not mistaken is Catalina Water, it is not premixed but it is natural seawater that has been filtered and packaged. I don't think that you will find a more suitable water than natural water IMO. I will say that if you cannot afford either a refractometer or a Digilab right now then maybe you could purchase one of the floating thermometerr type hydrometers, they are pretty accurate and cost only a bit more than the swing arm models.

 

[reefman23]

Those floating hydrometers that skip mentioned are an exellent suggestion.. there is one that is made by Tropic Marin that can be bought for less than $30 as is more accurate than a hydrometer... +-0.0005 SG!

Jesse