Hydrometer sucks! Scary Salt Level

dankolle

dankolle

Reefing newb
On the advice of that awesome fish store in Detroit, I purchased a refractometer that just arrived today. I calibrated it with RO/DI water and then tested my wank.

Hydrometer: 1.026
Refractometer: 1.029

To me that is a huge difference. I am so glad I got the more accurate instrument and I am worried about my creatures now...slowly need to lower salt levels!
 
Oh yeah, it happens. What people don't realize (myself included way back when) is that hydrometers eventually go bad, even if you rinse and maintain them...althouh, in truth, I have a hydrometer thats maybe 5 years old, and I compared it to my refractometer, and it's pretty darn accurate LOL But I wouldn't trust it for very long.
 
Test it this way. Tit the hydrometer upside down and stick it in the tank to about the half way point, then tip it up to fill it. Get a closer reading?
 
I have a hydrometer that is 15 years old!:shock: The thing works like a charm! I got worried about it about six months ago and bought a refractometer, I calibrated it and tested it against my hydrometer, with exact same results on both. I love my hydrometer but keep the refractometer just to be safe.;-)
 
pheasant29 said:
I have a hydrometer that is 15 years old!:shock: The thing works like a charm! I got worried about it about six months ago and bought a refractometer, I calibrated it and tested it against my hydrometer, with exact same results on both. I love my hydrometer but keep the refractometer just to be safe.;-)
Click to expand...
I have the same, and it also tests fine against my Refracto.:mrgreen: And mine is 10 years old.
 
Just got my refractometer yesterday from BRS. i checked the hydrometer to the refractometer and it was off but not enough to make me worry. It is nice to now have a tool i can truly trust!
 
I was using a 4 year old instant ocean hydrometer and read here that they go bad so I got a new one. My father said "Why do we have 2 hydrometers?", and I say "Because they go bad after a while", and he said "was there any difference between the two?", and I said "yah, the old one shows a s.g. 0.002 lower", and he said "that's nothing, you've been reading all this stuff that's not true!"

.....
 
i calibrated my refractometer but my tank is reading very low right now,added salt to my top off water and now my corals are very pissed,even my xenia has shrunk,could it be it liked the water at 1.016?! seems so wrong to be that low and corals and fish doing great,trying to slowly raise the salinity but not sure if i will loose my corals in the prosses
 
not to much,i added salt to my top off water at 1.020 so its only getting small doses everytime it tops off which is about 2 times per day,is this bad?
 
i was going to do that till i get my water to 1.020 then increase to 1.022 by next week,is the constant salinity change going to be bad? i was wanting to increase my total salinity to 1.024 should take about 2 weeks?
 
Can you take your water to your LFS to double check your readings? I would also check your other levels. I'm no expert, but I know lower salt really stresses them out, and 1.019 is the lowest I have ever had mine and it was really bad for them. Someone else could better explain probably.
 
i am going to go to my lfs to have everything tested to get an idea on where i stand,i wonder if i can pull the fish and 2 corals and raise up the salinity to where it needs to be then reaclimate everything,kinda like starting over but not removing any rock
 
I would just slowly acclimate the whole tank. A large fast swing like that should be done over a few weeks, you cant just take them out and reacclimate them.
 

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