hydrometer

[tangov559]

whats the difference from the hydrometer? Are they all the same? What about the deep six hydrometer?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Coralife-Deep-S...7736913706QQcategoryZ3212QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Have anyone tried the sumersible one? any good?

 

[Andrew]

Hydrometers are just a cheap way of reading your SG. I have a deep size hydrometer and they don't work as good as a Refractometer, which also gets your SG reading but is more acturate.

 

[PatMayo]

I think you would be better served to get a refractometer. It is easier to operate and use and I believe it is more accurate. You can pick them up for 40 to 50 bucks.

I have a model S100ATC. You can find it at www.refracts.com

Regards,

Pat

 

[jap1]

I've been using a deep six hydrometer from the beginning. I thought everything was great and it was reading at 1.025, but then for kicks last week I brought my water into my LFS to see what it would read on their refractometer....1.031! My hydrometer was .006 off! So now that I know the difference I look for a reading of about 1.020 and it comes out to about 1.025 on the refractometer. It is atleast fairly consistent. Just consistently off. If you find out how much it differs you may be ok. I myself am getting a refractometer as soon as I am able.

 

[tangov559]

how much affect does the difference in sanity make?

 

[Mykayel]

I bought all the live rock from a person tearing down her tank because she couldn't keep any corals alive and she was tired of throwing money at it. Well, I tested some of her water and it was at 1.045!!! To bad she went cheap on the hydrometer.

If you spend $50 on corals and they die because of the salinity being out of wack, you could have bought a refractometer and had good results from the get go.

The most improtant thing is to have consistant salinity, which you can accomplish with a hydrometer and most of them are probably pretty close to being correct, but a refractometer is so much easier to use and in my opinion its just worth it. And I'm not saying a refractometer won't every have any error, but I'd be soo much more confadence in a refractometer than I ever would with a hydrometer.

 

[tangov559]

refrac is just too much in my eyes...if you say consistant, using the same hydrometer would give you a consistant reading correct, or is it different every time?

 

[Lizard333]

My personal experiance shows that the deep six tester did not provide accurate results every time. Sure, you can find that maybe your test is off by four points, and adjust every time but they can still give false readings. This tester was so bad, that I brought it to my LFS and they could not even get it to provide the same reading three times in a row! Buy the refractometer and ave yourself the hassle, and the loss of sleep and money that you are going to throw away.

You owe it to your aquarium and to the fish that you have decided to take responibityh of, to provide them with the best possible conditions you can provide. Buy the refratometer, and never worry about it again.