Crazy Temp and Hydrom Questions

[NogaroBlueS4]

Today I bought a Red Sea in tank hydrom and thermom. It's reading 1.019 and 82-86. At the same time my Instant Ocean Hydrom is reading 1.022 and my coral life digital thermom is reading 74.2. Any suggestions other than get a refractometer?

[bdare]

There are no suggestions other than buying a refractometer. You've prolly heard lots of times that hydrometers are inaccurate. Now you understand. Digital thermometers are also inaccurate because they drift and need to be calibrated.

[Christo]

get either a glass mercury or alcohol based thermometer (most now are alcohol based plus if it brakes its less damage to your tank) i havent had anybreak on me yet and check before hand that you buy one that works properly, i just got one that was messed up, dont go digital theyre not worth it, just dont get a glass thermometer that floats, get the suction cup to go with it, cuz if it bangs up against the glass of your tank itll break.

 

and yes get refractometer thats what im getting next

[Mr. Fosi]

Get yourself a $1 alcohol thermometer from the aquarium/pet section of your local walmart unless your hydro/therm combo uses an analog temp scale.

 

Digital thermmeters are not accurate.

 

You can use your hydrometers if you do one of two things:

 

1) Calibrate them against a refractometer (allows you to know exact SG value) and use them in their defined temp range.

2) Don't trust their absolute value and simply use them to detect changes in specific gravity.

[SPS20]

2) Don't trust their absolute value and simply use them to detect changes in specific gravity.

 

This bears repeating. The average hobbyist's hydrometer/refractometer won't be deadly accurate, but, if used properly, it will give the same reading for the same salinity level repeatedly.

[NogaroBlueS4]

Ok so if I go with a refrac I will most likely receive a better reading..... but not perfect.

[bdare]

Buy a Sybon.... you'll be set.

[NogaroBlueS4]

And how much is that going to cost me. Is there a better thermometer I can buy than the digital and better than the one that is on that red sea thing.

[Mr. Fosi]

You can get a passable refractometer for $30+shipping many places on the internet.

 

Define "better" with regard to thermometers. The cheap little alcohol thermometers are generally fairly accurate and precise. If you are really a stickler for knowing the exact temp of your tank (not always needed), you'll need to bet a lab grade thermometer. Either a digital or mercury.

 

You don't need to be perfect, you just need to be consistent.

[NogaroBlueS4]

what about those cheapo glass aquatic garden ones they sell at like petco? Because I want more consistency. It worries me that I may be off like crazy with sg and temp.

[Mr. Fosi]

If you are really worried, borrow a mercury term and a refracto from someone and use them to calibrate your equipment.

 

El cheapo therms are usually pretty accurate.

[NogaroBlueS4]

Well I returned that red sea thing and bought a glass thermometer with a suction cut. It seems like it's reading much more accurately. I am at 81 with the lights on and 79 with them off.

[Mr. Fosi]

[NogaroBlueS4]

Maybe my tank will be easier to manage now. I think I am going to trust the instant ocean until I get a refractometer.

[Mr. Fosi]

I've been using an IO hydrometer since I started.

 

I checked it with a refractometer last year and again just a week ago and it is spot-on. Of course, I do have a backup IO that is not spot-on, but the point is that they don't drift if they are properly used and properly taken care of.

 

Just me sure to rinse it well in tapwater after you use it and set it some place to dry. Probably not a bad idea to give it a vinegar soak every 6 months to a year either.

 

EDIT: This is not a tacit endorsement for ALL hydrometers. I have had great experiences with IO but I have never heard anything good about Deep Six hydrometers.

[NogaroBlueS4]

Well thats good to hear. I should try cleaning it with some vinegar. I always do rinse with tap and let dry before and after every use.

[NogaroBlueS4]

I saw that you've used JEBO fixtures, I was wondering if you have ran into any problems with them. I was thinking of upgrading my coral life 1x65 20" to a 30" JEBO 2x55. Do you have any advice or suggestions if I were to do that?

[HankB]

I use a RAIT

 

Redundant Array of Inexpensive Thermometers. I have an old hydrometer/thermometer combo, corallife electronic thermometers (which both seem to be reasonably accurate), stick on thermometers and a cheap lab type thermometer. They all agree within a degree except the cheap lab thermometer which is 2 degrees off.

 

Once you get used to what tank temperature feels like, you can probably get a pretty good idea by sticking your fingers in the water too.

 

HTH,

hank

[Phixion]

Fosi, how are the PinPoint thermometors? Gimic, or worth the $30-$35 for them??

 

Right now on my 30g tank, I rely solely on the temp probe that's with my ACjr. While not the most accurate temp recorder around from what I've been told, it is pretty consistant, well given the function of the ACjr, it should be lol! But yeah... It was definitely on par sans a 0.2F differance with my Tom's Aquatic digital I have currently on my 10g custom AIO tank. The spread between them as temps would rise and fall always stayed consistant so I'd trust the Tom's digital thermometor, the min/max function model.

[Mr. Fosi]

I saw that you've used JEBO fixtures, I was wondering if you have ran into any problems with them. I was thinking of upgrading my coral life 1x65 20" to a 30" JEBO 2x55. Do you have any advice or suggestions if I were to do that?

 

Well... technically, they are Odyssea but they are virtually the same as Jebo's from what I have heard. The only problems that I have run into are the fans being loud and eventually failing. On one fixture, the fans actually burned out and on the other, some part of the wiring went funny and I damn near electrocuted myself because I failed to unplug it before poking around inside it with a screwdriver.

 

Other than that (and the fact that they have cheap, flat reflectors like the coralife's) they have been champs. I bought each of mine for $50 used from other reefers and they have been well worth the $$.

 

Fosi, how are the PinPoint thermometors? Gimic, or worth the $30-$35 for them??

 

I've never used one but I haven't heard anything bad about them. I don't know that I would pay the $$ for it unless you really need controller-type functionality and you're sure you can make it work. Have you checked your ACJr's probe against a cheapie lately? Might not be too far off.

[Phixion]

Only to my Tom's. I had a CoralLife on my old AP12 and I got the Tom's just before I took down the AP and stopped using the CoralLife. The CL was WAY off. It would be 1.5-2F higher than the Tom's at peak temps, and be up to 1F lower at the coldest temps and would not be consistant through out the temp spectrum that tank would see.

 

The Tom's is very consistant with my ACjr. probe and is always within 0.2 of it.

[NogaroBlueS4]

So if I was to actually get the JEBO fixture with the 2x55 instead of the oddyseea fixture with the 2x65 I'd be better off because of the ballast rating?

[Mr. Fosi]

What do you mean?

[NogaroBlueS4]

"BEWARE OF ODYSSEA brand lights using 65W bulbs being marketed as JEBO products

 

Odyssea lights using 65W bulbs are made without manufacturer support due to the components inability to safely handle the extra wattage. There is potential overheating and failure. This is the reason you do not see JEBO using 65w bulbs in their lights.

 

Also know that the moonlights included in the Odyssea lights are wired to only come on while the main lights are on. Those knowledgable in reef keeping realize that it doesn't make sense. Moonlights are "on" only at night to simulate moon phases for coral spawning. Having them come on at the same time as the daylights makes them useless.

 

Beware of what you pay for, although JEBO lights are inexpensive, at least there is a level of quality and safety JEBO will NOT sacrifice for price."

 

 

I read that on ebay and I have read it other places as well.

 

Any thoughts?

[Mr. Fosi]

So you have read that the stock lamps aren't actually rated to 65W? I suppose it's possible but you won't want to run the stock lights anyway as they really aren't very good in terms of intensity or color rendition.

 

The moonlights on my 130W Odyssea units are on a separate switch and operate independent of the main lamps. However, they do not have their own plug so they can't be put on a separate timer unless you do some modding.

 

I used stock Odyssea lamps for about 8 months after I got my first fixture and I had problems when I changed the lamps out. The new lamps were so much brighter that some of my corals bleached. I would suggest that you plan not to use the stock lamps and buy a couple good ones from HelloLights.com instead.

 

EDIT: Can you post a couple links to that info you mentioned?