getting addicted all over again!

S

sinful

New member
man this sucks...I went away for the holidays for about 3 weeks and totally lost all interest with my saltwater tank. I came back and now I can't stop thinking about what to do next with it..lol. I added 2 damsels to start off just b/c they were so cheap and the tank has only been cycled for about a month. I think I'm gonna add a light in a chamber and make a fuge with some macro if I can find some. Other than that everything seems like it did really well for me being gone for 3 weeks. When I came back I had about half a gallon of evap so I toped it off with distilled water and then did a 5g water change.

The only problem I'm having now is I dont have a hydro or refrac so I have no idea what the gravity or salinity is. =/ I was told not to even bother with a hydro. I buy all my saltwater so ya'll think I should be good? I have a marker at water lvl and just top off with distilled water to that point and then do water changes with bought water,.
 
You have to have something to check the salinity. Having it marked off gives you some safety but you are going to eventually lose enough salt through salt creep to have a problem (assuming the person mixing your salt water is being diligent which I wouldn't do). As long as you keep the hydro clean its better than nothing. Check online if you want I bought my refractometer for like $34.00.
 
It's worth it to get a refractometer... they're 35$ on ebay. But, if you're really tight on money right now hydrometers do work... they're just a pain in the butt because bubbles attach to the floating arm and give bad readings if you're not careful. Also those floating thermometers work... they just break easy.
 
Dude, you're in it or you're not. C'mon, get with the program, this stuff is too much fun and too satisfying, no reason to stop. Time to get serious... better and better, or get out. All in or all out. We all learn from one another, if you have nothing to show us, peace out.
 
Sinful your biten, dont deny it your stuck in the hobby now:) You MUST have someway to check salinity to be succesfull, even if someone else mixes the water. Refract is best but a cheapo floating hydro will do to start with, just remeber to take a few readings. Ive found I get a decent idea with about 3 readings being the same. Also if you have a friend with a refract have them bring it over and "calibrate" your hydro. Ive found the ones that are off tend to be consistantly off. Get with your local reefers and see if someone has a hydro laying in the garage for free, If you cant find one PM me your address, Ive got several in the garage and would give you one for just the cost of shipping but I would venture to guess shipping will cost as much as a new one in a LFS would. Good luck,be patient and save your cash for the basics before you get into a spot where your jammed and NEED something. Budget for a Hydro, a test kit, even basic will help, alwasy have water on hand and charcoal just in case, never know when it will happen, but if murphy is gonna strike its always when the LFS are closed:)
 
andy if you let it soak overnight like the package says, that wont happen. That wasn't offensive btw. but I had the same problem.
 
Salinity and specific gravity are basicly the same thing, temperature is nice I guess but I doubt you'll use it often if you don't have halide heat issues and no A/C. Being digital would be nice but compared to a typical optical refractometer
1) Optial refractometer is 1/2 the cost
2) Optical doesn't need a battery.
3) Optical doesn't have a probe that might corode (I'm guessint that's a problem with digital).
.... But I've never owned a digital refractometer so take what I say with a grain of salt (nyuck! nyuck!)
 
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