chocolatechip

HELP ME!!! I'm confused!!!! when I checked the water salinity this morning,the green thing was'nt in the exact spot as it should be on aquariums,the green thing was submerged in the water? was my tank water too salty or is it lacking in salt? what do I do to keep it on the safe zone?

sucky illustration......

----------II------------------------water level

the safe zone of my hydrometer

Oil_Fan

I can tell you that the hydrometers, while the do work, require a bit of work to get proper readings. What I found back when I used one was that I had to fill, empty it like 5 times and then it would give me a proper reading.

Now if you can afford to buy a refractometer, you'll be far better off. They're scientific and are a lot more accurate. Plus only take a few seconds to get a reading.

Matt

with my hydrometer i must admit it is actually junk because it doesnt give you exact readings.

From Matt

chocolatechip

oohhh!!! I should have known that a refractometer is better!!!!! then I could save more money rather than buying a sucky hydrometer!!!

Oil_Fan

Yah..they're very easy to use. Just put a few drops of water on the glass piece, close the lid and then look through the eye piece. You'll see where the blue line stops and that's your salinity.

The way it basically works, is that depending on how much salt is in the water, it affects the way light bends when it hits it. What you see, is the result of that and that's measurable.

Angela_96

I do know I read a long article about how water temp even affects a hydtrometer. That if the water temp is above 68 degrees that the salinity will give you a false lower reading. (I was getting lower than norm, went to the fishstore and they said it was too salty, I came home and after reading up on it, I found out that my readings needed to be calculated from what they are on the hydrometer to be accurate (translation, refractometer soon to be purchased).

Matt

I am going to purchase a refractometer very soon because when my good friend from the LFS came to set up my RSM tank he showed me what it does and how it works.

It is excellent.

From Matt

chocolatechip

ohh okay!!! gotta buy one gotta buy one gotta buy one..hehehe.................

nemo addict

how to use a hydrometer
1.pick up packet and walk to your kitchen put your foot on the pedal of the waste bin and drop it in
2.go to lfs and purchase a refractometer
3. test water with refractometer and see how rubbish your hydrometer actually was

hydrometers can be wrong in a lot of ways if they get knocked or chipped they will read wrong if you have wrong temprature they will read wrong ,, if you have air bubbles on them they will read wrong ,,,