whats the best way to test water salinity?

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Bazinga

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 18, 2010
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im about 2 or so weeks into my salt tank (29 gallon) first setup in this house of its kind. i will first start by saying whats running, ok 29 gallon tank, tetra whisper hob filter loaded with ceramic rings for bio, another marinland penguin 200 bio-wheel filter also loaded with ceramic rings for bio, both intakes have sponges for mechanical, and i will add a protein skimmer once i get my first fish, your typical lighting system with a marine glo bulb, i got the korila nano power head(ill be adding a korila 2 to the setup the nano aint cutting it) ive got new sand its arrogate or something along those lines, i set it all up mixed my salt did everything, let t run for a week and added some live rock the sand is starting to turn a slight brown that i think is the algae bloom slowly kicking n affect which is a good sign the bb is building up with the new live rock, anyways, everything is working just fine for me EXCEPT the salt levels i dont know if im just mixing wrong im doing what the instructions say i dont think its me, i picked up a cora life deep six because im tight on budget and i assumed it would work because thats what its made for, anyways every time i dip and test the water i get a different reading its never below 1.18 but sometimes it just shots up past the highest level reading:screwy: also it reads different levels around the tank, would that mean i need more circulation? or do i just need to pick up a real quality meter to test my water? my money is on the new meter as i have plenty of flow with the 2 hob's and the power head rates for 15-25 gallon tanks( i know its not enough but its helped out with the hobs and im getting another bigger one) anyways any salt keepers out there please help i want to be sure on my salt levels before i add any fish or corals what has worked the best in your personal experance and what would you guys recommend to me for testing my salt levels?
 
i dont know of a single places up here that sells it only ro water which i have on tap... thanks though, any other suggestions?
 
ok sounds like you have it all up and going. when you top your tank off do you use saltwater or RO? I use a deep 6 also just a FYI and I am setting at 1.024 right now. In the morning it will be a little higher and then I add RO and it will come back down.
 
i mix salt into my ro water ass needed sometimes i just top off with ro if the level is to high all around the tank
 
as*** sorry its 1:30 am here :P
 
I am not sure why your tank dont read the same all over. I am sure someone that knows more then what I do will post soon. did you make your saltwater in your tank or in a bucket??

I am cool 10:20 here in california. but laptop is going to die soon lol. so if you dont hear back from me till morning you know why.
 
Is the Corallife Deep six a hydrometer? If so, sometimes you can get tiny air bubbles stuck under the indicator needle, which would make your salinity appear to be off the charts. You can try taking some water out in a plastic cup, let it sit for a few mins, and then slowly pour it into the floating hydrometer, making sure there are no air bubbles. The few times I got air bubbles in mine, it'd go really high. Could be that?

Alternatively, you can check your hydrometer to make sure it is not broken. If you have some RO water - it should read 1.000.

My reef tank salinity is running around 1.025-1.027.


Bazinga;4083949; said:
im about 2 or so weeks into my salt tank (29 gallon) first setup in this house of its kind. i will first start by saying whats running, ok 29 gallon tank, tetra whisper hob filter loaded with ceramic rings for bio, another marinland penguin 200 bio-wheel filter also loaded with ceramic rings for bio, both intakes have sponges for mechanical, and i will add a protein skimmer once i get my first fish, your typical lighting system with a marine glo bulb, i got the korila nano power head(ill be adding a korila 2 to the setup the nano aint cutting it) ive got new sand its arrogate or something along those lines, i set it all up mixed my salt did everything, let t run for a week and added some live rock the sand is starting to turn a slight brown that i think is the algae bloom slowly kicking n affect which is a good sign the bb is building up with the new live rock, anyways, everything is working just fine for me EXCEPT the salt levels i dont know if im just mixing wrong im doing what the instructions say i dont think its me, i picked up a cora life deep six because im tight on budget and i assumed it would work because thats what its made for, anyways every time i dip and test the water i get a different reading its never below 1.18 but sometimes it just shots up past the highest level reading:screwy: also it reads different levels around the tank, would that mean i need more circulation? or do i just need to pick up a real quality meter to test my water? my money is on the new meter as i have plenty of flow with the 2 hob's and the power head rates for 15-25 gallon tanks( i know its not enough but its helped out with the hobs and im getting another bigger one) anyways any salt keepers out there please help i want to be sure on my salt levels before i add any fish or corals what has worked the best in your personal experance and what would you guys recommend to me for testing my salt levels?
Click to expand...
 
thanks for the tips i will look for air bubbles for sure and yes it is a hydrometer i also pre mix my salt in my 5 gallon buckets:)
 
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