A lesson learned and a warning too!!

[big]

Maybe just a warning.
FYI In the issue I posted yesterday about Refractometers, Candy Cane spoke of using a old style "Floating Hydrometer"... Hummmm Laws of Physics make real good sense to me. Candy Cane yes this good advice, please do not take the rest of this post the wrong way..
So to make a long story short, yesterday I picked up one at a LPS.
Well when checking my tank it read just below 1.02!!!!!!!!! I had thought my water was 1.024 or just above, testing with 2 different cheapie style needle types........ Something is wrong somewhere here???? READ ON ALL!!!!
So before making a drastic adjustment I mixed a 5 gallon bucket that I knew was as least as salty as the "Dead Sea" .(it peg's the needle on my I.O. needle one)
Well guess what the "Laws of Physics" floater reads 1.024 in stuff that a brick might float in!!
Maybe the "Moral" of this story is when the wife buys 100.00 corals DON"T change anything till you have double checked your results, when everything seems OK.
Thank Goodness I did not take the "Laws of Physics" to be correct in this case. The "Hagen" Floating Hydrometer I bought goes back to the store today!!
Now I am off to SWF.Com for that Refractometer now that I should have ordered yesterday!!!!!!!!! ....Warren

 

[lion_crazz]

You will not be disappointed with your purchase, Warren. I guarantee you that. I love my refractometer. It makes life easy.

 

[candycane]

People that know anything about the hobby, anything AT ALL, also know these "laws of physics" require that the hydrometer be "Seasoned or cured". Also they like to flick it to knock the bubbles off of it. Thanks for making a post about taking a brand new hydrometer and not being able to find out why you cant get a hinged piece of plastic to work, I will answer your question for you. Most people just ask if they are doing something wrong with the hydrometer.
Here is why though. New hyrdrometers need a certain period of breaking in. Without it, the plastic material binds the water molecules too easily and creates bubbles along the needle. This then makes the needle float directly to the top. To prevent this, you want to float your NEW hydrometer in salt water for a period of about 48 hours. F isn't even close to P. It's LFS not LPS - that is a coral and a mute point. How can you argue the fact that something floats more with the higher the salinity level? LOL
Oh also if you have two others, why would you buy a third hydrometer? I don't get that part at all. The other two must have been around for awhile, and both of them you said were measuring the same thing? Then you don't give the new one a chance to break in? This post just makes me feel loved. That you would take the time to point all this out, is just, well

 

[candycane]

I just wanted to add another post because it seems as if people don't care. So here is the 4th post. I will keep bumping it to see if having two hydrometers that are cured giving you the right results, and then a brand new static one doesnt - makes any case for this post.

 

[candycane]

bump

 

[darknes]

I'm not sure I understand what case you are trying to make candycane, but I just wanted to add my 2 cents worth.
I'm not going to there is anything wrong with using a hydrometer (of course it's based on a the law of pysics - weight = mass x density). However, a refractometer is much more user friendly, quicker to use, and gives less chance for error (human error, mind you). With a hydrometer, you have to fill the thing with water, tap all the bubbles out, etc. A refractometer just requires a few drops from a pipette. Also, hydrometers are calibrated to a specific temperature, and if your water is not at the right temp, you need to convert the reading. You also need to make sure you rinse the hydrometer out with fresh water, or else the salt will stay in it, giving a false reading the next time.
These are my reasons why I support the use of a refractometer over a hydrometer 100%.

 

[reefrobert]

My hydrometer read 34 ppt, when I got my refractometer, it read 30 ppt.
That was alot to be off for a small tank!

 

[big]

The point I was raising is that even the old style TRUE Hydrometer (NOT a piece of plastic with a needle in it Failed in this instance.)........ I can only guess that it was a factory defect in its initial weighting of the bulb.......... The references to the "Laws of Physics" still hold !!true!!!!, ...... The Device that failed was a TRUE real Hydrometer .Not the plastic things that cost 6 bucks !!!!!!Apparently some of the posters here are not that old to remember them ........... Warren

 

[candycane]

I am talking about the regular hydrometers. I also use the floating ones, the ones that you just toss in your tank from across the room, LOL. Needless to say that I took no offense to anything. I am from Maryland and am Irish Catholic, so if I have something to say, i say it. I never get irritated and don't really even have a fuse. Like I can see dudes point with what he is talking about. Just to me, the chance of a regular hydrometer of screwing up is probably about the same. Yet the laws of physics (not mechanics) are on your side, so you can expect it to give you something closer.
A LOT of people that I know have refractometers. I think they are hilarious. Some of them were like the first to purchase them, so they have these little metal outside padded cases that they carry them around in. It's hilarious. But even I use regular electronic salinity monitors on my tanks. I just find it easier to use hydrometers in the long run.

 

[fishstix4u]

my deep six hydrometer never let me down and for fun i stop at the local fish store and have the owner test my water for everything just to make sure i am on point with my testing at home and my hydro is dead on every time.. to prevent the salt build up i just leave the water in it till im ready to use again... keeps everything clean. and i check every morning just because its there and so am i.

 

[djmx2002]

I spent 40 some dollars on reflectomator, and i still use the cheap niddle type one to measure my salitary of the water....

 

[candycane]

I think it's just because they are quicker really in the long. You dont have to calibrate them and its like looking at a seeing eye chart for some people. Then you put to many drops on the front and it may or may not cause a problem. As long as my salinity is within .02 each time I test, that is fine by me. But it's time to worry if your live rock starts floating.

 

[volcom69]

Hydrometers suck i will never again use mine, my refractomer is one of the best things i ever bought in this hobby, so use the hydrometer if u want to but i still think u will get better results with a refractometer.

 

[darknes]

Originally Posted by candycane
But it's time to worry if your live rock starts floating.

That cracked me up.

 

[candycane]

Originally Posted by volcom69
Hydrometers suck i will never again use mine, my refractomer is one of the best things i ever bought in this hobby, so use the hydrometer if u want to but i still think u will get better results with a refractometer.
Tell us how you really feel, don't hold back.

 

[djmx2002]

i just tested it out, my hydrometer thingy showes 1.022
my refrectometer shows 1.024-25, i dunno how big difference it is

 

[lubeck]

i am not possitive but if you subtract it would be 200x different. over a period of time it would not hurt much but would do real damage if it was an instant change.

 

[djmx2002]

200x difference? how come?

 

[lubeck]

i believe it measures in parts per million.... sooo....i belive you are 200 part per million difference....
if you think about that with bleach as using it as a sanitizing solution... typically 25ppm of chlorine is used to sanitize dishes and let it stand for 15 secs in the chlorine soloution..... if you were using the wrong tools to measure and you accidently used 2500 ppm you would kill someone.

 

[djmx2002]

ok my refrectometor is PPT - which i believe is Parts Per Thousands? :notsure:
and 1.024 is the salt gravity of the water... well i am not sure how this is measured tho.
and 1.024 is approximatly - 34PPT? right?
so basicle i guess it's 1-3 PPT difference....
am i mixing up everything? or what?