hydrometer dilemma

Boomer wrote:
If you leave it on the dish drainer make sure it is upside down so it does not collect
dust

I do. Actually I had to find somewhere else to keep it because my kids
were getting too violent with the dishwater. Don't need soap in the
tank either.

I'm working on drinking that bottle of coke now.

Boomer wrote:
I think Wayne that is mostly are fault as we may make it sound that way :-) And you will
see thing like "the new salinity std" all over the place. It was really not official until
1978......and.......about 65 years before that was when it was first proposed. Yah know,
all the cat and dog fighting took some time LOL. It use to be Chlorinity, where you
measured the chloride ion content. Hydrometers and refracts have never been the std..but
are often used. Std Sea Water Hydrometer is calibrated to 15 C . The old Std was often
called Copenhagen Sea Water, samples of real water that sat in a fault.. It is now often
called Practical Salinity Units (PSU) based on EC ( Electric Conductivity). This
conductivity std of a sea water is a sample set to a standard KCl solution of 32.43565
g/Kg @ 15 C and 1 atm.

You can buy REAL Sea Water Std here.....got money LOL

http://www.oceanscientific.co.uk/

Maybe I'll just buy me a couple barrels, drive to the coast and get fresh.

Oh dear...We are still talking about fish/corals right ?
Maybe I'll worry more when I'm paying more than $20 for an item.
Until then I'll make sure all that extra salt goes to my Margaritas.


"Cindy" wrote in message
. net...
[SNIP]
If the corals and fish look healthy I don't see the need for such high
accuracy.
In other words, close enough.

Chris

The difference between my two hydrometers was so huge that who knows where
"close enough" is? Maybe the fish LOOK healthy to me, but would live a
lot longer if the salinity was correct.

Besides, I like ACCURACY. "Close enough" doesn't do it for me.

You could do that but first you will still need to know what its salinity is.

--
Boomer

If You See Me Running You Better Catch-Up

Former US Army Bomb Technician (EOD)
Member; IABTI, NATEODA, WEODF, ISEE & IPS

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"Cindy" wrote in message
. net...
: Boomer wrote:
: I think Wayne that is mostly are fault as we may make it sound that way :-) And you
will
: see thing like "the new salinity std" all over the place. It was really not official
until
: 1978......and.......about 65 years before that was when it was first proposed. Yah
know,
: all the cat and dog fighting took some time LOL. It use to be Chlorinity, where you
: measured the chloride ion content. Hydrometers and refracts have never been the
std..but
: are often used. Std Sea Water Hydrometer is calibrated to 15 C . The old Std was often
: called Copenhagen Sea Water, samples of real water that sat in a fault.. It is now
often
: called Practical Salinity Units (PSU) based on EC ( Electric Conductivity). This
: conductivity std of a sea water is a sample set to a standard KCl solution of 32.43565
: g/Kg @ 15 C and 1 atm.
:
: You can buy REAL Sea Water Std here.....got money LOL
:
: http://www.oceanscientific.co.uk/
:
: Maybe I'll just buy me a couple barrels, drive to the coast and get fresh.

TheRock wrote:
Oh dear...We are still talking about fish/corals right ?
Maybe I'll worry more when I'm paying more than $20 for an item.
Until then I'll make sure all that extra salt goes to my Margaritas.

Well, I'M talking about a little world in a glass box in my house that
I'm responsible for. But maybe I AM a bit anal. (And tequila makes
me throw up.) LOL

Heck I feel bad if I happen to loose a mushroom that only costs me $5
bucks here. I feel bad if I loose 10 cent feeder gold fish if there
was something I could have done to prevent it.....Fish do fine at
lower SG, but corals do best at the opposite range of the scale, which
unfortunately for fish makes life a bit more difficult, but still
doable. I want to know exactly what my sg, and temp are. Not too
worried about nitrite and ammonia with all the live rock I have and
being able to account for all inhabitants, and its neen a long long
time since I really have done any tests of ammonia, nitrite and
nitrate and PH. Other than looking at my temp reading, and doing a
calcium / alk test once or twice a month the only other thing I do is
test Sg once every two weeks. I keep my tanks dead on the money at the
proper levels with a ATO, so my SG stays extremely even.......I just l
ike to verify it. I say my tanks for the most part are pretty well
maintenance free for 2 weeks at a time sometimes a week or so more,
and I only feed every other day. My outlook is to maintain them allow
some growth but not allow them to get fat and lazy.......but just a
tad little bit hungry.

As long as my pulsing Zenia is doing its pulsing I know my parameters
are fine......

On Sat, 10 Jun 2006 22:03:06 GMT, Cindy wrote:
TheRock wrote:
Oh dear...We are still talking about fish/corals right ?
Maybe I'll worry more when I'm paying more than $20 for an item.
Until then I'll make sure all that extra salt goes to my Margaritas.

Well, I'M talking about a little world in a glass box in my house that
I'm responsible for. But maybe I AM a bit anal. (And tequila makes
me throw up.) LOL

I've used the same Seatest hydrometer for 14 years. I just rinse it out with hot water once in
awhile. If I got another one to compare measurements, it would just complicate things.



"TheRock" wrote in message news:Xz2ig.8890$Rv1.4529@trndny02...
OK let me add my 2 cents...how accurate do you need salinity to be ?
If you shoot for the range that's indicated on the swing arm
and you keep an eye on your corals and other tank life.
It's safe to assume that you are where you need to be.

I have my best success by keeping the arm somewhere in the middle
usually to the high side. .022 .023 .024

How about replacing your Deep Six every other year, just
to make sure you have a functioning Hydrometer...(gunk build up, etc)
They're only $10

If the corals and fish look healthy I don't see the need for such high accuracy.
In other words, close enough.

Chris

"Susan" wrote in message .. .
I wouldn't be without a refractometer. I've used the swing arm ones and never could get the same reading twice. You can rest
assured, Cindy, if you are interested in buying from Dr Fosters or Premium Aquatics that both places are excellent place to buy
from!!! Also, Premium Aquatics has the best live rock (if anyone is interested) that I've run across. Not trying to start a
"rock war" again ;-)

Susan
"Pszemol" wrote in message ...
Try soaking both hydrometers for a day or two in kitchen vineger regularly.
Then wash it with warm water. This will dissolve deposits and make them more
reliable. I have also read on the back of the packaging that the manufacturer
recommends soaking it for at least 24 hours in sea water before
first use to "season the needle". I have no idea what science is
behind this recomendation, but maybe it is important fact you missed
comparing your old, dried out hygrometer readings with the other one.

From my own experience I prefer swing arms over refractometers by far!
Contrary to some people here I found them much easier to use than
to stare into tiny viewfinder and find the reading on very, very tiny scale
with an edge between blue and white regions being not always very sharp.
It might be some problem with my blue refractometer made in China
or some problems with my vision but I just find it very difficult to use :-)
With added uncertainity of most of them being calibrated to NaCl not NSW
they are not worth the price for the average aquarist. I can use Deep Six
hydrometer with good or bad light and I find them very reliable when
I wash them frequently and not let them dry with salt water in their cavity.

I would not recomend rinsing it in hot water, but it does
need to be soaked in vinegar once in a while.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Yukon wrote on 6/10/2006 6:56 PM:
I've used the same Seatest hydrometer for 14 years. I just rinse it out with hot water once in
awhile. If I got another one to compare measurements, it would just complicate things.



"TheRock" wrote in message news:Xz2ig.8890$Rv1.4529@trndny02...
OK let me add my 2 cents...how accurate do you need salinity to be ?
If you shoot for the range that's indicated on the swing arm
and you keep an eye on your corals and other tank life.
It's safe to assume that you are where you need to be.

I have my best success by keeping the arm somewhere in the middle
usually to the high side. .022 .023 .024

How about replacing your Deep Six every other year, just
to make sure you have a functioning Hydrometer...(gunk build up, etc)
They're only $10

If the corals and fish look healthy I don't see the need for such high accuracy.
In other words, close enough.

Chris

"Susan" wrote in message .. .
I wouldn't be without a refractometer. I've used the swing arm ones and never could get the same reading twice. You can rest
assured, Cindy, if you are interested in buying from Dr Fosters or Premium Aquatics that both places are excellent place to buy
from!!! Also, Premium Aquatics has the best live rock (if anyone is interested) that I've run across. Not trying to start a
"rock war" again ;-)

Susan
"Pszemol" wrote in message ...
Try soaking both hydrometers for a day or two in kitchen vineger regularly.
Then wash it with warm water. This will dissolve deposits and make them more
reliable. I have also read on the back of the packaging that the manufacturer
recommends soaking it for at least 24 hours in sea water before
first use to "season the needle". I have no idea what science is
behind this recomendation, but maybe it is important fact you missed
comparing your old, dried out hygrometer readings with the other one.

From my own experience I prefer swing arms over refractometers by far!
Contrary to some people here I found them much easier to use than
to stare into tiny viewfinder and find the reading on very, very tiny scale
with an edge between blue and white regions being not always very sharp.
It might be some problem with my blue refractometer made in China
or some problems with my vision but I just find it very difficult to use :-)
With added uncertainity of most of them being calibrated to NaCl not NSW
they are not worth the price for the average aquarist. I can use Deep Six
hydrometer with good or bad light and I find them very reliable when
I wash them frequently and not let them dry with salt water in their cavity.

I know what you're saying Wayne, but like I said - I've had luck doing it this way for 14 years. With
my luck, I'd do the proper thing and use the vinegar and ruin everything.



"Wayne Sallee" wrote in message ...
I would not recomend rinsing it in hot water, but it does need to be soaked in vinegar once in a while.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Yukon wrote on 6/10/2006 6:56 PM:
I've used the same Seatest hydrometer for 14 years. I just rinse it out with hot water once in
awhile. If I got another one to compare measurements, it would just complicate things.



"TheRock" wrote in message news:Xz2ig.8890$Rv1.4529@trndny02...
OK let me add my 2 cents...how accurate do you need salinity to be ?
If you shoot for the range that's indicated on the swing arm
and you keep an eye on your corals and other tank life.
It's safe to assume that you are where you need to be.

I have my best success by keeping the arm somewhere in the middle
usually to the high side. .022 .023 .024

How about replacing your Deep Six every other year, just
to make sure you have a functioning Hydrometer...(gunk build up, etc)
They're only $10

If the corals and fish look healthy I don't see the need for such high accuracy.
In other words, close enough.

Chris

"Susan" wrote in message .. .
I wouldn't be without a refractometer. I've used the swing arm ones and never could get the same reading twice. You can rest
assured, Cindy, if you are interested in buying from Dr Fosters or Premium Aquatics that both places are excellent place to buy
from!!! Also, Premium Aquatics has the best live rock (if anyone is interested) that I've run across. Not trying to start a
"rock war" again ;-)

Susan
"Pszemol" wrote in message ...
Try soaking both hydrometers for a day or two in kitchen vineger regularly.
Then wash it with warm water. This will dissolve deposits and make them more
reliable. I have also read on the back of the packaging that the manufacturer
recommends soaking it for at least 24 hours in sea water before
first use to "season the needle". I have no idea what science is
behind this recomendation, but maybe it is important fact you missed
comparing your old, dried out hygrometer readings with the other one.

From my own experience I prefer swing arms over refractometers by far!
Contrary to some people here I found them much easier to use than
to stare into tiny viewfinder and find the reading on very, very tiny scale
with an edge between blue and white regions being not always very sharp.
It might be some problem with my blue refractometer made in China
or some problems with my vision but I just find it very difficult to use :-)
With added uncertainity of most of them being calibrated to NaCl not NSW
they are not worth the price for the average aquarist. I can use Deep Six
hydrometer with good or bad light and I find them very reliable when
I wash them frequently and not let them dry with salt water in their cavity.

-Roy- wrote:

Heck I feel bad if I happen to loose a mushroom that only costs me $5
bucks here. I feel bad if I loose 10 cent feeder gold fish if there
was something I could have done to prevent it.....Fish do fine at
lower SG, but corals do best at the opposite range of the scale, which
unfortunately for fish makes life a bit more difficult, but still
doable. I want to know exactly what my sg, and temp are. Not too
worried about nitrite and ammonia with all the live rock I have and
being able to account for all inhabitants, and its neen a long long
time since I really have done any tests of ammonia, nitrite and
nitrate and PH. Other than looking at my temp reading, and doing a
calcium / alk test once or twice a month the only other thing I do is
test Sg once every two weeks. I keep my tanks dead on the money at the
proper levels with a ATO, so my SG stays extremely even.......I just l
ike to verify it. I say my tanks for the most part are pretty well
maintenance free for 2 weeks at a time sometimes a week or so more,
and I only feed every other day. My outlook is to maintain them allow
some growth but not allow them to get fat and lazy.......but just a
tad little bit hungry.

As long as my pulsing Zenia is doing its pulsing I know my parameters
are fine......

I go a lot by the look of the water -- I don't have a protein skimmer,
and if the airstone starts making a teeny foam on the water, I do a
water change. Been running the tank for 3 years without a test kit
except a hydrometer. Understocked too though. But it freaked me out
when suddenly I couldn't trust the hydrometer.