john thomas

thank you for your time. having a 40, 30 and 2 20 gal cicilid tanks, i want to try salt water.
i am starting a 10 gal reef tank.
i have two questions...
i have an "instant ocean" hydrometer.
once i had my lighting, heater, water and filter up and running, i added my sea sand with bacteria, then i added 5 cups sea salt per directions.
long story short it read off the chart, because i quickly emersed it.
i have found that i need to rinse it every time and fill it slowly.
but i had then drained over half the water out, and refilled a few times before i learned how to use the hydrometer.
will all this changing of water ruin my newly introduced bacteria?
and two what should the specific gravity be for a reef tank? thanx!!! john

Mike

If it is one of those plastic hydrometers you can try tapping it a couple of times to get any air bubbles to release from the swing arm to get a more accurate reading.

Reef tanks usually run higher SG towards 1.025. I keep mine around 1.025.

If you have live rock in the tank most of the bacteria will be in/on the rock or in the filter media.

Matt

I have read that plastic hydrometers are not that accurate. The sg in my reef tank is 1.027

As far as the bacteria goes i think it should be fine. Do you have anything in the tank yet?

-Matt

john thomas

thank you all, you were very helpful!

Peterpiper

Hi Matt,
1.027SG is at the upper end. I would start lowering the SG.
Take out 1lt of tank water and add 1lt distilled water slowly,
Do this daily till you reach the correct SG.
If you NSW your getting is at SG1.027, then water it down.
Running ours at 1.024

Matt

Thanks Pete. I made a mistake. My SG is actually 1.024-1.025


-Matt