Specific gravity inconsistent

[KyleSmith]

I'm new to saltwater tanks. Two days ago I started a 10g nano tank. All I have done so far is installed a filter, mixed the saltwater, and ran a leak test.

I have been measuring the SG using a hydrometer. I have a refractometer coming from Amazon tomorrow. The past couple days, I've checked the SG with the hydrometer just to get used to reading it. When I mixed the water, the SG read 1.026.

The past 2 days, when I have measured it out of the tank, it has been reading between 1.033 and off the meter. In both cases, I stirred the tank (15-30 seconds using my hand) the measured it again, and it was back down to 1.026.

The filter is a 70 GPH filter. I am planning to add a 125 GPH powerhead when it arrives from Amazon (also tomorrow).

Is the lack of good circulation the cause of the SG readings being so high after the tank has been undisturbed overnight and lower after I stir it up a bit? Is the powerhead likely to solve this problem?

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[Animagus]

Have you been topping the tank off each day with freshwater? When evaporation occurs the salt says behind, so you need to add freshwater on a regular basis to keep the SG from changing.

 

[WiDataTech]

That seems strange. Not sure how the sg would raise then lower that quickly. Makes me think the issue is the hydrometer. Maybe you'll have more consistency with refractometer. I'm interested to see the results.

 

[KyleSmith]

Regarding the top offs, I haven't topped off yet since the tank is only 2 days old and there hasn't been visible evaporation yet.

I'm hoping the refractometer solves the problem too. I'll update after it arrives and I've done measurements for a couple days.

 

[billdogg]

I used a hydrometer for years and got consistent results. All I did was fill and dump it 2 or 3 times with tank water to rinse it free of any dried salt residue. When I finally broke down and got a refractometer I found that my hydrometer was off by ~.001 (low)

 

[mcgyvr]

I used a hydrometer for years and got consistent results. All I did was fill and dump it 2 or 3 times with tank water to rinse it free of any dried salt residue. When I finally broke down and got a refractometer I found that my hydrometer was off by ~.001 (low)

yup..
In general hydrometers are fairly reliable/consistent.. They may be off some from a properly calibrated device but usually consistent if/when you follow those suggestions to rinse it off,etc..

 

[KyleSmith]

I used a hydrometer for years and got consistent results. All I did was fill and dump it 2 or 3 times with tank water to rinse it free of any dried salt residue. When I finally broke down and got a refractometer I found that my hydrometer was off by ~.001 (low)

Maybe that was my problem - not rinsing it out before using it. That would correlate to what I see. It wasn't the stirring of the water that was solving the problem, but that the first reading was rinsing out the residual salt. I'll experiment with that and see if I get consistent results. Thanks!

 

[Animagus]

Make sure to give the needle a few nudges once the Hydrometer is filled up. Sometimes micro bubbles will stick to this giving a false reading.

 

[SFish]

Make sure to give the needle a few nudges once the Hydrometer is filled up. Sometimes micro bubbles will stick to this giving a false reading.

This would be my guess. Air bubbles can be a pain. You have to tap them off the arm each time. He says it's reading off the meter as well.

 

[SFish]

You are going to have to stay on top of top offs with a tank that size. Probably going to have to top off every day or every few days at the most. What are you trying to do? What are your goals? You know you can't keep much in the way of fish in a tank that size right?

 

[KyleSmith]

You are going to have to stay on top of top offs with a tank that size. Probably going to have to top off every day or every few days at the most. What are you trying to do? What are your goals? You know you can't keep much in the way of fish in a tank that size right?

I'll keep close eye on the top offs.

My goal is to gain experience with a reef tank. I know that a larger tank will be easier to manage, but I am limited to 10G by my lease. I do realize this means I need to be on top of chemistry and that things can go bad fast. My current plan is to check chemistry twice a week. Do you recommend a different schedule?

I am not planning on a lot of fish. My plans:

Fish
1 O. Clownfish
1 Exquisite Firefish
1 Goby (probably Neon)

CUC
10 Dawrf Ceriths
4 Florida Ceriths
3 Nassarius
4 Nereites

Invertebrates
2 Electric Blue Hermit Crabs (with extra shells to lower likelihood of snail attacks)
2 Scarlet Skunk Cleaner

I also want corals but have not put together specific plans yet.

Would love feedback on the plans.

 

[madweazl]

I'll keep close eye on the top offs.

My goal is to gain experience with a reef tank. I know that a larger tank will be easier to manage, but I am limited to 10G by my lease. I do realize this means I need to be on top of chemistry and that things can go bad fast. My current plan is to check chemistry twice a week. Do you recommend a different schedule?

I am not planning on a lot of fish. My plans:

Fish
1 O. Clownfish
1 Exquisite Firefish
1 Goby (probably Neon)

CUC
10 Dawrf Ceriths
4 Florida Ceriths
3 Nassarius
4 Nereites

Invertebrates
2 Electric Blue Hermit Crabs (with extra shells to lower likelihood of snail attacks)
2 Scarlet Skunk Cleaner

I also want corals but have not put together specific plans yet.

Would love feedback on the plans.

You'll find that you test less and less as time goes by and start trusting what you're seeing. You'll get used to the maintenance regimen after a few months and have a pretty good idea of what is needed. With a tank that size, I dont see any way you wont be topping off on a daily basis (if not twice a day) unless there just isnt any air movement in your home. A small amount of evaporation in a tank that size makes a big difference.

Stock list looks fine to me but a shrimp goby (vice the neon) of some variety might add something really cool to the tank and will provide a fish that is at the bottom of the tank (firefish typically hover right above the rock). The relationship they have with the pistol shrimp is awesome to observe too. The CUC is something you can add gradually as sources of food start to increase.

 

[KyleSmith]

You'll find that you test less and less as time goes by and start trusting what you're seeing. You'll get used to the maintenance regimen after a few months and have a pretty good idea of what is needed. With a tank that size, I dont see any way you wont be topping off on a daily basis (if not twice a day) unless there just isnt any air movement in your home. A small amount of evaporation in a tank that size makes a big difference.

Stock list looks fine to me but a shrimp goby (vice the neon) of some variety might add something really cool to the tank and will provide a fish that is at the bottom of the tank (firefish typically hover right above the rock). The relationship they have with the pistol shrimp is awesome to observe too. The CUC is something you can add gradually as sources of food start to increase.

Thanks, I really appreciate the advice. Do you think the tank could handle 4 fish if I added a shrimp goby, or will that be pushing it?

 

[Animagus]

That's a lot of invertebrates for just a 10 gallon tank. A couple Trochus snails and just one of those Electric blue hermit crabs should be plenty when it comes down to a CUC IMO. Use something like a Mag-Float to keep the glass clean and either stir up or vacuum your sand bed on a regular basis too. Also, when those cleaner shrimp are fully grown they're going to be bouncing off the walls. They could become more of a pest than anything else. GL.

Those Firefish are known to jump btw, so adding a screen top or some netting is definitely something to consider.

 

[KyleSmith]

That's a lot of invertebrates for just a 10 gallon tank. A couple Trochus snails and just one of those Electric blue hermit crabs should be plenty when it comes down to a CUC IMO. Use something like a Mag-Float to keep the glass clean and either stir up or vacuum your sand bed on a regular basis too. Also, when those cleaner shrimp are fully grown they're going to be bouncing off the walls. They could become more of a pest than anything else. GL.

Those Firefish are known to jump btw, so adding a screen top or some netting is definitely something to consider.

Thanks. I'll introduce the CUC slowly and won't go to full plan if the tank can't support them. Planning to have a screen.

Is there another shrimp you might recommend for a small tank like this? A Peppermint or Blood Red Fire? What I really want is one that will clean dead skin and parasite off the fish - I really want to see this happen

 

[CSalty]

Is there a fish store where you could test your water just to see how far off your hydrometer is? You could possibly bring your hydrometer along and test their water too.


SSgt Saltwater

 

[madweazl]

That's a lot of invertebrates for just a 10 gallon tank. A couple Trochus snails and just one of those Electric blue hermit crabs should be plenty when it comes down to a CUC IMO. Use something like a Mag-Float to keep the glass clean and either stir up or vacuum your sand bed on a regular basis too. Also, when those cleaner shrimp are fully grown they're going to be bouncing off the walls. They could become more of a pest than anything else. GL.

Those Firefish are known to jump btw, so adding a screen top or some netting is definitely something to consider.

My experience with firefish is that they dont jump unless there is a reason too (some type of stress be it other fish, the maintainer, or disease/parasite).

As for the number of fish, three is probably about the max I'd personally add to it and with the size, I'd tried to find fish that occupy different levels/areas but what I like isnt what everyone else likes (though I've never meant anyone that didnt love goby/shrimp pairs).

You had mentioned observing the cleaners working on the fish; they will do this on occasion but they usually work on stealing food from everything else first (ie your corals/anemones). They can get pretty belligerent; that being said, I love the fire variety and always have one in the tank because they're gorgeous (dont think I've ever seen one actually "clean" a fish before).

 

[SFish]

As long as you are aware of what your getting into with a small tank. I would take it slow as you know when things go wrong with a small tank they have a bigger effect. I'm not sure how often a tank that size should be checked. I let someone with nano experience tell you that one.

 

[Bugboy2020]

I would suggest that you cut out a Plexi-glass lid. I did that when I set up my 5 gallon tank and it has helped out immensely with stopping evaporation.

 

[Reef Frog]

I'd recommend getting a reference solution so you can confirm that 1.026 is actually 1.026. This is especially important in a nano tank.

Hate to weigh in and say an adult clown can reach 3+ inches and they get too big and rather quickly for a 10 gallon tank. I'd get one or even a pair of yellow clown gobies. Very cute & personable & always out front like O. Clowns. Vivid color too. A Possum Wrasse is another excellent choice. Keep the fish load small since ammonia can build up quickly in a small tank - even when well cycled, if you have too many fish. You don't want to be living on the edge.

I'd get no more the. 1 shrimp & unfortunately you're unlikely to see cleaning behavior with nano fish. I'd also scale down the CUC as suggested earlier.

Good luck, have fun.