HYDROMETER? piece of crap or best there is?

[tx reef]

I have not had one swing in specific gravity since I set my tank up over a year ago. What works for me may not work for you.
Either way, it is stupid to float a hydrometer in the tank. As I said in my post above fill up a tall, slim container with tank water (a slender flower vase works very well) and then test the water.

 

[xdave]

My Huma actually bit the end off my floater. He spit out the lead pellets, but ate the glass.

 

[royal gang]

huma=? anyways, anyfish that does that is crazy lol

 

[crazyaqua]

yeah trigger's are scary i have gotten bit a couple of times trying to feed my niger

 

[royal gang]

you shoulda seriously said

[hr]
trigger ***)

 

[moorea2]

I have never broken one in my tank but I have had many brake! It was not a matter of accuracy I just did the math the last time one broke and decided with the amount of $$ spent on the glass hydrometers I could have bought a refractometer, so it seemed to me to be a good time to buy one rather then go through enough hydrometers to buy two refractometers. For me it has been a good investment and I have been very happy with it. I guess for the clumsy person like me it is a good investment!

 

[scsinet]

IMO, it's a matter of your processes.
If you purchase your own saltwater already mixed, you can easily get away with a plastic swing arm unit, since really all you are doing is verifying results. Salinity won't drift unless a large amount of evaporation has taken place, so the only time you really need an accurate measurement is when you are mixing seawater or playing around with the salinity of your system (E.G. hypo). You can easily take a water sample into the LFS when you go to buy water to double check your readings and make sure you stay on track. Salinity can slip downwards over time from salt creep and skimmer activity, but this is usually MONTHS or more. Having the LFS verify your readings every week or two is more than enough to head this off.
If you mix your own seawater, a refractometer is the way to go. They are so quick, so easy, and so accurate that it's worth the 40 bucks... especially when you are verifying your newly mixed water.