Uneven Salinity Levels

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gothicrose5

Member
i am new to the hobby...I have a 37 gallon aquarium i have just set up..I have the water in the tank and i have added all the salt and have pumps moving the water around..when i check the salinity levels in various spots in the tank the levels are different..1 side is way above the green the other is blow the green...the green meaning the safe zones on the fluval sea hydrometer...then i test the back middle part of the tank and its all different...i stopped the pumps so the water will settle down and still the same...as of right now i am 8 hours from adding the last bit of salt....Please what is up with the different levels per sides of tank
 
iidylii

iidylii

Active Member
If it were me I would leave the pumps running...after you have added all of your salt you should wait 24 hours to get an actual accurate reading...after 24 hours you should have all of the same readings and you can then adjust the salt level up or down according to your readings...i dont know if you have sand and rock in the tank but if not I would take a PVC pipe or something and stir around on the bottom and corners of the tank making sure there is no salt that has settled and is not mixing in well...just my two cents others will chime in...and good luck be patient :D
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
Hydrometer are not very accurate. I can guarantee that if the water is well mixed the salinity is the same everywhere. I'd invest in a refractometer, can get for around $50 and calibration fluid. You will get more accurate results.
 
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gothicrose5

Member
iidylii said:
If it were me I would leave the pumps running...after you have added all of your salt you should wait 24 hours to get an actual accurate reading...after 24 hours you should have all of the same readings and you can then adjust the salt level up or down according to your readings...i dont know if you have sand and rock in the tank but if not I would take a PVC pipe or something and stir around on the bottom and corners of the tank making sure there is no salt that has settled and is not mixing in well...just my two cents others will chime in...and good luck be patient :D
Click to expand...

No sand or live rock added yet...Thursday is when the live sand goes into the tank.....Thanks for the reply.......
 
G

gothicrose5

Member
lmforbis said:
Hydrometer are not very accurate. I can guarantee that if the water is well mixed the salinity is the same everywhere. I'd invest in a refractometer, can get for around $50 and calibration fluid. You will get more accurate results.
Click to expand...

I have had one before but i youtubed on how to calibrate it and it never did anything when i put the water on it...
 
iidylii

iidylii

Active Member
gothicrose5 said:
No sand or live rock added yet...Thursday is when the live sand goes into the tank.....Thanks for the reply.......
Click to expand...
Ok yeah I would just make sure there isn't any salt hiding in the corners or on the bottom and if not then there's no way the readings can be different in other spots in the tank
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
But when calibrating any instrument you want the calibration point (with a single calibration point) to be close to the target. If there are two calibration points like a pH meter you want them on either side of your target.
 
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