ilikefish69
Kind of a Valuable Member
Tank has been up since February, and I have been living a lie since probably right around that time.
using a refractometer and calibrating with RO to zeros (the mistake, keep reading) and ran my tank at “1.026”
my first sign was the low calcium reading, I’ve got a small amount of SPS/LPS and my salt should have mixed to 430 CA but my levels never above 380, even with doin two part reef fusion.
The next sign was when acclimating my fish. LFS keeps their tanks at 1.019, and I have many fish from there. Always acclimated by the slow addition of tank water to the bag of water. My last fish I tested the bag water and it came in at 1.025, so according to my refractometer my ratio since February has been
1.026 = 1.020
I recalibrated my refractometer to 1.019 to match LFS, and the DT was actually 1.020 since forever!!!!! Instead of my weekend water change I’ve spent 4-5 days adding a 1/2 gallon of salty water to the sump and filling ATO with 1.026
when I finally reached 1.026 I took water to LFS and they used refractometer to test it came in at 1.028 so I said well crap now too salty and I’ve added 0.008 salt in less than a week. The gentlemen sold me on a Hanna tester my first one is salinity, calibrated it and my DT is 1.024, so
1) still not salty enough after now fifth day of adding extra salty water
2) if you have 10+ fish and bunch of coral, get a Hanna salinity tester, refractometer are tough to rely on.
everything has looked tremendous each day, I think “fessing up” or using mistakes as a lesson to learn from should be done more in this hobby.
also added benefit I am now 100% sure of my inkbird reading correct temp as it has temp function with the salinity. Should have thrown in a TDS meter just for good measure.
carry on !
using a refractometer and calibrating with RO to zeros (the mistake, keep reading) and ran my tank at “1.026”
my first sign was the low calcium reading, I’ve got a small amount of SPS/LPS and my salt should have mixed to 430 CA but my levels never above 380, even with doin two part reef fusion.
The next sign was when acclimating my fish. LFS keeps their tanks at 1.019, and I have many fish from there. Always acclimated by the slow addition of tank water to the bag of water. My last fish I tested the bag water and it came in at 1.025, so according to my refractometer my ratio since February has been
1.026 = 1.020
I recalibrated my refractometer to 1.019 to match LFS, and the DT was actually 1.020 since forever!!!!! Instead of my weekend water change I’ve spent 4-5 days adding a 1/2 gallon of salty water to the sump and filling ATO with 1.026
when I finally reached 1.026 I took water to LFS and they used refractometer to test it came in at 1.028 so I said well crap now too salty and I’ve added 0.008 salt in less than a week. The gentlemen sold me on a Hanna tester my first one is salinity, calibrated it and my DT is 1.024, so
1) still not salty enough after now fifth day of adding extra salty water
2) if you have 10+ fish and bunch of coral, get a Hanna salinity tester, refractometer are tough to rely on.
everything has looked tremendous each day, I think “fessing up” or using mistakes as a lesson to learn from should be done more in this hobby.
also added benefit I am now 100% sure of my inkbird reading correct temp as it has temp function with the salinity. Should have thrown in a TDS meter just for good measure.
carry on !
