miniflea May 22, 2009 May 22, 2009 I'm pretty new (two month old tank, everything doing well so far) and all I have is the standard swing arm hydrometer. I know eventually I'll buy one, but for now I'm set with what I've got. It probably helps that I'm sticking to easier fish and softies. I assume most people here are pretty hardcore and use them, but my question is, how far along were you when you bought it?
Vader May 22, 2009 May 22, 2009 I'm pretty new (two month old tank, everything doing well so far) and all I have is the standard swing arm hydrometer. I know eventually I'll buy one, but for now I'm set with what I've got. It probably helps that I'm sticking to easier fish and softies. I assume most people here are pretty hardcore and use them, but my question is, how far along were you when you bought it? I bought my right away and I check the calibration once a month
bkl911 May 22, 2009 May 22, 2009 Bought mine right away too. I tried the float type and swing arm in the beginning....salinity was all over the place.
treesprite May 22, 2009 May 22, 2009 (edited) This is embarassing. I had never even heard of them until like 13 years after starting saltwater, due to knowing no one else with a saltwater tank... one of the many things I discoered after joining WAMAS. I have one now and would never rely on a hydrometer again. I have had various hydrometers and you can't buy two and excpect both to give the same measurement. I had one that started out accurate (compared to the refractometer), but gradually became inaccurate. If you are using a swing-arm you can "calibrate" it by comparing to a refractometer reading and putting your own marks with a fine-line permanent marker. Make sure you rinse it out after every use - the salt build-up is part of what makes them become inaccurate. I love having a refractometer. They are relatively inexpensive and well worth the money. If you can get enough people together, perhaps you coiuld do a group buy to get a good price, which is how some of use got ours. Editing to leave in all my typos - so many it's a good laugh to see. Edited May 22, 2009 by treesprite
zoozilla May 23, 2009 May 23, 2009 Converted from the swing-arm about 2 yrs ago. Was using the swing-arm for about 7 years.
reefmontalvo May 23, 2009 May 23, 2009 The Refractrometer is worth every penny I used a swing style arm for awhile until I borrowed a friend of mines. I could not believe how inaccurate the swing are was and I always washed my swing arm and let it sit upside down in my sink to dry as to no build up salt.
Nate May 23, 2009 May 23, 2009 2 years in and I still use a hydrometer. One day I'll get a refractometer.
miniflea May 23, 2009 Author May 23, 2009 If you are using a swing-arm you can "calibrate" it by comparing to a refractometer reading and putting your own marks with a fine-line permanent marker. Make sure you rinse it out after every use - the salt build-up is part of what makes them become inaccurate. I do rinse it out every time, and I always get a reading when its full of freshwater. So far its always on zero, but I'm not sure if that means much, especially if the results skew lower than they should.
lanman May 23, 2009 May 23, 2009 I'm pretty new (two month old tank, everything doing well so far) and all I have is the standard swing arm hydrometer. I know eventually I'll buy one, but for now I'm set with what I've got. It probably helps that I'm sticking to easier fish and softies. I assume most people here are pretty hardcore and use them, but my question is, how far along were you when you bought it? I didn't buy one for quite a long time. Then after I did, I found out that my swing-arm was reading very low. 1.025 was actually 1.031. bob
amos May 23, 2009 May 23, 2009 I purchased a refractometer earlier this year after close to 5 years in the hobby using a hydrometer. To be honest, it was more of a "piece of mind" purchase than anything. I was aware of the horrible reputation of hydrometers, so rather than counting on the reading of the swing arm, I just took a reading of the water in the tank first, and made sure my change water read the same. Occasionally, I would have somebody test my water to make sure it was within normal parameters. I've done weekly water changes for years and never had any problems. I even sometimes just use the hydrometer because its a little quicker. Jon
Amuze May 24, 2009 May 24, 2009 I inject the water straight into my veins. I can tell the salinity by the number of twitches...HARDCORE!!!RAWR.
treesprite May 24, 2009 May 24, 2009 I inject the water straight into my veins. I can tell the salinity by the number of twitches...HARDCORE!!!RAWR. The problem with that, is that you would have to always have the same level of water and salt in your body before you do the test each time, which would be very hard to accomplish, and there may be extraneous factors involved in the twitching at any given time.
Vader May 25, 2009 May 25, 2009 (edited) I inject the water straight into my veins. I can tell the salinity by the number of twitches...HARDCORE!!!RAWR. lol...only you would say that Edited May 25, 2009 by Vader
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