specific gravity

hey everyone. i need your help, i started my saltwater tank last weekend and after checking my hydrometer it continued to show 1.028 which i know is way high so i left it. it never changed so i took water out and added conditioned tap water. i checked the hydrometer and it shows 1.025. it should be showing 1.022-1.023 right. is this what i should be doing or am i doing something wrong. i read a book and it was showing how to do a mathematical equation to figure out the salinity or specific gravity. i'm not a moron but i'm not good at math. do i just go by what my hydrometer says or am i supposed to do more. the instant ocean hydrometer only said to dip into water and needle will point to the number. please help. god i feel like i have bad karma with this tank. it feels like rocket science to me, i hope i'm not the only one fustrated. do u add corals b4 fish or vice versa. thanks guys, your the best.

 

You did go the right direction. Remove salt water, add fresh water reduces the salinity. You just need to keep going a little further. If you know how much saltwater you removed, e.g. 1 gal and replaced with fresh, you lowered the S.G. .003. If you do the same, you will lower another .003 +/- to 1.022. But 1.025 is not overly high. Another thing to watch is if you have the IO swing arm hydrometer is to make sure there are no air bubbles on the arm. Air bubbles will cause the reading to be a little high.

Consistency is actually much more important the exactness.

Mike

 

Michael mentioned something really important, check for bubbles on the needle and make sure you shake them off with a straw or something. Bubbles can give false readings.

LOL, the only way to drop the salt is to add freshwater. Also, using tap water conditioner will make your skimmer overfizz. Consider buying RO/DI water from your LFS or buying a unit to make your own.

I dont trust the IO hydrometers as they gave me false readings. I went with the Coralife Deep-Six which has an approved calibrated needle for accurate or close to accurate readings. If you wanna go hi-tech, get yourself a refractometer, nothing beats that.

1.022-1.023 is good for FO tanks. Shoot for 1.024-1.026 for reef. Since you are barely stocking your tank, having it at high salt levels can shock any animals you bring in and will lengthen the time you have to acclimate. Keep it at around 1.022-1.024, and when you are done stocking or your tank has cycled and is ready, you can keep it steady at 1.024. That's what I keep it at.

 

I keep my tanks at 1.025-1.026

1.022ish helps to keep the parasites down in FOWLER tanks.

 

It really just depends on what you are keeping in your tank. I have heard that fish like the specific gravity to be at about 1.022 - 1.023 and coral likes it a little higher at about 1.024 - 1.026. I keep mine in the middle at about 1.024 -1.025 to please both fish and coral.