hydrometers

francisco5

francisco5

Member
Hello
How is everybody?I have many hobbies,one of them is wine making. Which brings me to this question, can i use the hydrometer I use for wine making to test the salt-water in my tank. And if so how acurate is it compared to other hydrometers. Thanks
 
drew2005

drew2005

Active Member
Originally Posted by francisco5
Hello
How is everybody?I have many hobbies,one of them is wine making. Which brings me to this question, can i use the hydrometer I use for wine making to test the salt-water in my tank. And if so how acurate is it compared to other hydrometers. Thanks
Doesnt a wine hydrometer measure alcohol content?
 
alyssia

alyssia

Active Member
Even if you could use it, you need a refractometer to measure your salinity. Hydrometers are notoriously inaccurate.
 
drew2005

drew2005

Active Member
Originally Posted by francisco5
It also test specific gravity. I believe it is for sugar content.
No good. Need it to test for specific gravity in salt. IMHO i would not use a hydrometer. Refractometer is the way to go. Worth every penny. Especially if your going to be in this hobby for a long time.
 
T

thomas712

Guest
Interesting question, but isn't the one you have set to measure a sugar, while the one we use is for salinity and specific gravity? ....not sure..but I don't think so..
 
jerthunter

jerthunter

Active Member
Specific gravity is specific gravity. However the range your wine making hyrdometer is designed for might be much different then what you want to measure saltwater. If the units of measurement are the same and it has the right range then it would work.
I am guessing it is a floating lab type hydrometer and if that is the case they are accurate and not unreliable like the swing arm types.
 
jerthunter

jerthunter

Active Member
Should work great in my opinion then. But do you plan on using it for both winemaking and fish tank? Just make sure you clean it up after each time!
 
jerthunter

jerthunter

Active Member
Originally Posted by francisco5
The range i have on mine is .099 to 1.170
One thing. That seems like a large range so you might want to consider how easy it is to read, (I.E. can easily read the difference between 1.0255 and 1.0260)?
 
francisco5

francisco5

Member
Thanks, I was really just curious. Do not remember how much it cost. But I can always go pick up another before the grapes get ripe.
 
jerthunter

jerthunter

Active Member
Originally Posted by francisco5
Not that easy. Could easy read .020,.022,.024,.026 and so on.
That is the only thing I could see as a problem. With saltwater fish you probably want to be able to measure accurately 4 digits. i.e. 1.020, 1.021, 1.022, 1.023. If not 5 digits..
 
francisco5

francisco5

Member
I just dug up the instructions on how to use my wine hydrometer and it states that i add to the reading according to temp.. Say I have a reading of 1.022 and my water temp is 77 i would add 2 for a reading of 1.025
 
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