"Wayne Sallee" wrote in message ...
That hydrometer design is silly. I always tell people to
turn the hydrometer upside down, insert it into the
aquarium, and then turn it up allowing the air to bubble up.

If the air bubbles were there to stay stuck to the needle
than this method would not work anyway...
Properly seasoned needle (fully wet for couple of hours)
does not attract air bubbles.

The whole idea of trying to keep from getting your
hands wet is silly.

But it works - at least in the case of Coralife "Deep Six".
Water opening is on the bottom, so you are not getting
only surface water sample, like you do with any other
kind of hydrometer (i.e. Seatest) but sample comes from
the six-inches deep water column.
As long as you collect water slowly, the way water is
sliding down the wall and not causes foaming you will
get a proper reading with no bubbles stuck to the needle.