Need some help again

[djcanis]

Had some problems last night, ammonia levels from a piece of uncured live rock, now i cant get my gravity levels down. I took out 2 gallons of salt and put in 2 of fresh but that made it worse. What should I do. It was a tad high at 8 am but still within the limits, about 1.023.

 

[fishieness]

1.023 is a good specific for a FO tank. higher for a reef tank. you were tyirng to get it lower than that~?
and how did that make it worse? what happened?

 

[djcanis]

it was 1.023 this morning, now its 1.032, i put in two gallons of freshwater, after taking out 2 of salt half hour later it was up to 1.035 I dont know what I did?

 

[speg]

Its probably because you're using a 1) hydrometer and also you are probably 2) adding the salt incorrectly? Salt will not raise from moving a rock, nor will it raise 10 points after just one day. Make sure you are washing the hydrometer out each time you use it to try to get as accurate of a reading as possible with it... also consider maybe getting a different hydrometer (which are you using?).

 

[djcanis]

I didn't think the rock had anything to do with it, the hydrometer is one of the cheap plastic pieces of crap, the deep six from coralife. I'm using the coralife salt and start right to take out the chlorine. I'm just starting so I'm using tap water till I can afford a reverse osmosis setup.

 

[speg]

I have the same hydrometer that you do. Did you 'season' the needle for 24 hours as directed on the back of the box?
Also you didnt mention if you're cleaning it out after every use.. not doing this can throw off the reading by a lot.

 

[djcanis]

I clean it after every use, but there was no package, it was in the kit I got when I bought my tank, there were no instructons for seasoning. it came with the salt, tesk kit, start start right, and flake food. Some package you could choose when buying a new tank. Should i get a new one and season it or can I do it to the one I have?

 

[speg]

I would buy another one, I dont think you can season it at this point in the game... but feel free to try maybe?... or just buy a refractometer and be done with hydrometers forever.

 

[djcanis]

Thanks so much for the help, and my fish thank you 2

 

[airforceb2]

Make sure you mix your water for 24 hours before adding it to your tank. 1.023 is too low IMO if you have any inverts in there. Try to get it around 1.025-1.026.