Folorin Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Hi all, I have a new 15g tank set up with the following 15 lbs Fiji pre-cured live rock 12 lbs Live sand (Natures Ocean) 12 lbs Aragonite Im using RO water pre-salinated at the LFS. Im finding that the sg is dropping by about 0.01 every day. Partial water changes obviously are fixing this but can anyone tell me why and will it stop? Even though the rock is supposedly precured, there is some cycling going on at the minute, so I wondered if the ammonia and nitrite levels are the cause? Link to comment
mjschomer Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Do you have a lot of salt creep or spray? I swear I wipe large amounts of salt away every day when I clean. Haven't noticed a drop in SG though (but I don't check every day either.) I don't think high ammonia or nitrites could not cause this. Link to comment
Folorin Posted June 12, 2003 Author Share Posted June 12, 2003 Tank is a covered tank with zero to minimal evaporation. No salt creep is noticeable. Link to comment
mjschomer Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Are you using a swing needle hydrometer or a foater. The swing needle variety tends to lose accuracy if it's not cleaned after each use. Link to comment
Folorin Posted June 12, 2003 Author Share Posted June 12, 2003 Its a corallife deep six that you submerge. Link to comment
Smokin-Reefer Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 ....which is a swing arm design if I'm not mistaken. I'd take some of the water to your LFS and have them test the spg for you. You may find that the spg hasn't changed at all. In the future, you may want to invest in a floater, or depending on how deep your pockets are, a refractometer. Link to comment
mjschomer Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 So it's a swing needle type. Do you clean it well after every use? I personally thing the floaters are more accurate, or a refractometer of your the anal type (no offense to poeple who have refractometers Link to comment
tinyreef Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 how is your temperature lately? if it's been rising then you'll experience a drop in SG (not in salinity though). it could be like mj notes that the floater has scale or inaccuracies. rinse them with freshwater after using and they stay fine. a refractometer is still the most accurate method but sometimes very costly ($50~$100) but weighed against the value of your livestock and time invested it's pretty cheap. a floater is good too but maintenance must be done occasionally as scum/algae/scale buildup throws them off. i use all three as double-checks. docs foster has some very affordable floaters (around $7). Link to comment
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