Deep Reef
Active member
About 2 weeks ago I had bought some scarlet hermits for my tank. I drip acclimated them and put them in the tank. They appeared to go into shock and were dead. I bought 3 more, and tried floating them removed them from the bag and put them in the tank and again same result. I talked to the LFS and he indicated that he keeps his tanks and 1.023 salinity. I told him that mine was at 1.026, he indicated that level was too high and that the change for the hermits was too great. He indicated that the crabs i currently had in the tank had gotten use to the salinity level over time. This didn't seem completely correct but I thought i would review the salinity levels where my tank was operating.
Figuring that there may be some truth to what he was saying, I thought I would lower my level a little, maybe to 1.024 of 1.025. In the process of making checks my refractometer broke. I ran to the local store and bought a hydrometer for the interim and found that my tank was at 1.016. I was like What The Hell:angryfire:....ran to another store and bought another type of hydrometer and again that one read 1.016...I then checked my QT tank and it also was at 1.016...My salinity must have been off for months and I didn't even know it due to an out of calibration refractometer.:facepalm:
I had tried to recalibrate my refractometer in the past but the directions indicated that it had to be done at a temperature of 65 degrees F to do it correctly. Where the hell in S. Florida can I find that temp? So I never did it.
I had never suspected salinity was part of my issue as i had added at least 6 fish over this time without a problem and a few soft corals still remained.:fish1:
Well there is my lesson learned. Next time I purchase a refractometer I'll make sure that it can be calibrated with a fluid and maybe keep the hydrometers for a quick sanity check.
So on to resolve the problem, I turned off my ATO and for the past 2 weeks I have been topping off with salt water mixed at about 1.028 at about a gallon per day. My 20% water change last weekend was done with a mix of 1.022. Slowly my salinity has returned to normal. Currently it is around 1.0245. My plan is to get it to around 1.025 and try to keep it there. I might even invest in a digital refractometer.
It just kills me that my crash could have been prevented.:headwally:
Figuring that there may be some truth to what he was saying, I thought I would lower my level a little, maybe to 1.024 of 1.025. In the process of making checks my refractometer broke. I ran to the local store and bought a hydrometer for the interim and found that my tank was at 1.016. I was like What The Hell:angryfire:....ran to another store and bought another type of hydrometer and again that one read 1.016...I then checked my QT tank and it also was at 1.016...My salinity must have been off for months and I didn't even know it due to an out of calibration refractometer.:facepalm:
I had tried to recalibrate my refractometer in the past but the directions indicated that it had to be done at a temperature of 65 degrees F to do it correctly. Where the hell in S. Florida can I find that temp? So I never did it.
I had never suspected salinity was part of my issue as i had added at least 6 fish over this time without a problem and a few soft corals still remained.:fish1:
Well there is my lesson learned. Next time I purchase a refractometer I'll make sure that it can be calibrated with a fluid and maybe keep the hydrometers for a quick sanity check.
So on to resolve the problem, I turned off my ATO and for the past 2 weeks I have been topping off with salt water mixed at about 1.028 at about a gallon per day. My 20% water change last weekend was done with a mix of 1.022. Slowly my salinity has returned to normal. Currently it is around 1.0245. My plan is to get it to around 1.025 and try to keep it there. I might even invest in a digital refractometer.
It just kills me that my crash could have been prevented.:headwally:
