Need Some Help!! A little problem with specific gravity...

[grahxen]

Uh, well I decided what the hell and bought a new SG tester while I was out buying some frozen foods. I currently have a Deep 6 SG tester that is a few years old that I have always been using. I went out today and bought an IO SG tester for $9.99 brought it home and rinsed it out and tested my water...... Low and behold i practically pinned the meter at 1.030 almost every time. Now i am a little freaked, I have no idea if my old deep 6 was messed up this entire time and have had my tank read 1.030 for a long time, my deep six reads 1.024 - 1.025. I rinsed out the IO sg tester and repeated several times with the same results... My only conclusion is that my old deep 6 is toast..... One of the reasons why i think that is because no matter where i bought corals and or fish, i always tested the water just to see how close It was to my tank, and almost always it was around 1.018 or so. Which now I can put 2 and 2 together.... Tanks that I bought corals from in the past they usually keep their tanks at 1.025 read 1.018.. Man.... Stinks... now what is the safest way to start lowering my SG back to the 1.025 range??

 

[sir_dudeguy]

STOP!

IO AND deep six hydrometers are pretty much crap imo. Any hydrometer for that matter. Altho i did have a glass floating one that was "OK". Before you do ANYTHING get your water tested by something actually accurate...a refractometer. They are the only things to trust imo...i never go by what my deep six or IO ones say. My IO is always a bit high, whereas my deep six is always a bit low.

The reason the water you get from the lfs is reading 1.018 (which is very low) is because generally they run their entire systems lower to kill off any unwanted creatures/diseases...such as ich.

To me, it sounds like your SG could be right on mark...perfect 1.025 or 1.026. So either find somebody who's got a refractometer or just pay the 50 bucks or whatever it is and actually invest in something that is accurate...or just take it to the lfs and see if they got one (oh, and if you do that one...be warned...my lfs always tells me that my sg is really really high...i run mine at 1.025 just like everybody else lol, but they swear that 1.022 is the right level and the highest it should be)

hope this helps, and dont go changing all your water just yet!

 

[helipilot]

IMO, excellent advice from sir_dudeguy. Refractometers are the only way to go.

 

[grahxen]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8539582#post8539582 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sir_dudeguy
STOP!

IO AND deep six hydrometers are pretty much crap imo. Any hydrometer for that matter. Altho i did have a glass floating one that was "OK". Before you do ANYTHING get your water tested by something actually accurate...a refractometer. They are the only things to trust imo...i never go by what my deep six or IO ones say. My IO is always a bit high, whereas my deep six is always a bit low.

The reason the water you get from the lfs is reading 1.018 (which is very low) is because generally they run their entire systems lower to kill off any unwanted creatures/diseases...such as ich.

To me, it sounds like your SG could be right on mark...perfect 1.025 or 1.026. So either find somebody who's got a refractometer or just pay the 50 bucks or whatever it is and actually invest in something that is accurate...or just take it to the lfs and see if they got one (oh, and if you do that one...be warned...my lfs always tells me that my sg is really really high...i run mine at 1.025 just like everybody else lol, but they swear that 1.022 is the right level and the highest it should be)

hope this helps, and dont go changing all your water just yet!

Good advice, but i used to check the SG at my LFS reef tanks and was always 1.025. Something has to be off somewhere, i honestly dont think there is a 5 point difference between the 2 hydrometers. 1 or 2 yes, but 5??? I am going to have to buy a refractometer yes, but for now I need to figure out this mess. Im going to soak my deep six in vinegar to see if its salt crusted which may possibly be why i am gettting lower readings... Its just that if 1.031 is correct, well im in bad shape.

 

[edwing206]

you need to leave the hydrometer full of saltwater for 24 hrs to break it in and then try to test it.

 

[grahxen]

Ill give it a shot... I am soaking my deep six now as we speak in vinegar to make sure its totally clean.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

i honestly dont think there is a 5 point difference between the 2 hydrometers. 1 or 2 yes, but 5???

well, you'd be surprised at how crappy those things are. There's a reason you only payed 10 bucks for it I've tested my water with my 2 hyrdrometers (IO and deep six..same as yours) and my Refracto. The refracto was right on 1.025, where the deep six was a couple low and the IO was a couple high. They might have been the other way around, i cant remember. But the point is, there was one that was low and one that was high. I have also compaired my refracto with 2 other peoples refractos and they came out the same as mine...1.025

And like edwing said, you need to leave water in them for 24 hours before you first use it. But even that didnt change it much for me.

 

[edwing206]

i couldn't have said it better my self sir dudeguy

 

[grahxen]

I just wanted to give everyone a heads up. I really thought in my head that my specific gravity had to be off like i was saying. The reason why I was so confident after I started thinking was that my salt usually required 1 1/2 cupfulls of my measuring cup in 5 gallons of water to reach 1.025 at 79degrees. But lately its taken the same salt and temp over 2 cup fills. I should of thought of this earlier... I wanted to buy a refractometer, but before I did i would try a different brand of SG testers, I picked up the red sea SG and temp tester for $8 on sale.. and my suspicions were confirmed, both the new instant ocean and red sea both read the same. My old deep ocean sg tester was to blame.... My salt water in tank reads 1.030 on both new sg testers, the older deep ocean reads 1.025. SO now uts confirmed that my SG is that high... I am going to start lowering it over the next few days by removing some water and adding small amounts of fresh until i reach 1.025. How many days would you say its safe to go from 1.030 to 1.025?

Thanks
Mike

 

[Hop]

I would say spend the $50 bucks and get a refractometer before you go doing anything

 

[Racing1]

I have to disagree with all the guy's saying get a refractometer. They are only as good as anything else. A refractometer is nice but if the calibration fluid is bad or it does not get calibrated correctly it is no better than any other thing. I believe I read an article not too long ago by Randy Holmes Farley and he did a test on 3 or 4 of the most common hydrometers and the Instant Ocean hydrometer did as good if not better than a high end refractometer.....

 

[sasscuba]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8580665#post8580665 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Racing1
I have to disagree with all the guy's saying get a refractometer. They are only as good as anything else. A refractometer is nice but if the calibration fluid is bad or it does not get calibrated correctly it is no better than any other thing. I believe I read an article not too long ago by Randy Holmes Farley and he did a test on 3 or 4 of the most common hydrometers and the Instant Ocean hydrometer did as good if not better than a high end refractometer.....

My IO was 6 points high than my deep 6....pieces of junk!.....ordered a refractometer!

 

[grahxen]

What i am saying is my deep six is 4 years old. The instant ocean and red sea SG tests are brand new.... and both read my SG exactly the same... My 4 year old deep six is 5-6 points off... So i highly doubt 2 brand new SG testers are both wrong. I will get a refractometer but i need something now to fix my SG.... I just mixed up a fresh batch of RC salt using both the red sea and IO sg testers, and it was exactly 1 1/2 cup like i used to use instead of 2- 2-1/2.... So i am 100% positive its my old SG tester..... and i am sure its my fault, as I have really never cleaned it in 4 years.