smoothlarryhughes Posted October 7, 2004 Share Posted October 7, 2004 What does oceanic salt come to when you mix it with the directions they have on the container? For those of you who use oceanic and have a refractometer...I am just curious so I can mix some and test my hydrometer against a refractometer. When i mix it with my deep six it comes to 1.021. Also this is what my deep six reads when i tested the water from the pet store. I think my deep six is reading low. Anyone have any help on this? Link to comment
willgr1 Posted October 7, 2004 Share Posted October 7, 2004 if you want to test your hydrometer try putting freshwater in it and see if it reads 1.0 Link to comment
Neon Posted October 7, 2004 Share Posted October 7, 2004 with oceanic we get 1.027 a gallon of ro usually lowers it;) Link to comment
scottd34 Posted October 7, 2004 Share Posted October 7, 2004 i think mine was like 1.023 when i did the 5 gl bag in 5 gl distilled. Link to comment
smoothlarryhughes Posted October 8, 2004 Author Share Posted October 8, 2004 I'm saying if you mix 1 gallon with a half a cup of salt. Just curious as to what it is supposed to read. Link to comment
doody Posted October 8, 2004 Share Posted October 8, 2004 Originally posted by willgr1 if you want to test your hydrometer try putting freshwater in it and see if it reads 1.0 That would mean its not right? Link to comment
Chyendra Posted October 8, 2004 Share Posted October 8, 2004 I mix 1/2 cup salt with one gallon r/o and get about 1.021-1.022 or so... i use a hydrometer, but i have checked it with the refractormeter at my lfs so i know how to adjust my readings. since the salt mixture has a lower SG then i'd like.... i just add less water... or let it mix and sit for a while, and eventually, with evaporation, it will be where i want it. Link to comment
djconn Posted October 8, 2004 Share Posted October 8, 2004 I usually get 1.023 when I mix my oceanic salt. Love it by the way just wish they could get the buffer up a little. Link to comment
smoothlarryhughes Posted October 8, 2004 Author Share Posted October 8, 2004 Originally posted by Chyendra I mix 1/2 cup salt with one gallon r/o and get about 1.021-1.022 or so... i use a hydrometer, but i have checked it with the refractormeter at my lfs so i know how to adjust my readings. What does the refractometer read for the 1/2 cup and one gallon r/o? Link to comment
smoothlarryhughes Posted October 8, 2004 Author Share Posted October 8, 2004 djconn are you using a refractometer? Link to comment
Chyendra Posted October 8, 2004 Share Posted October 8, 2004 I don't have a refractometer... but when i adjust my readings on my hydrometer.... so that it would match the reading of a refractometer... it's 1.021 -1.022 Link to comment
djconn Posted October 8, 2004 Share Posted October 8, 2004 Sorry Larryhughes, I'm unfortunately using an SeaTest specific gravity meter. Not the most accurate thing in the world. Link to comment
smoothlarryhughes Posted October 8, 2004 Author Share Posted October 8, 2004 Originally posted by Chyendra I don't have a refractometer... but when i adjust my readings on my hydrometer.... so that it would match the reading of a refractometer... it's 1.021 -1.022 So your saying if I mix the salt with the water I should get a reading of 1.021 with a refractometer? I wanna know what the actual reading on a refractometer would read. When I test with my hydrometer I get 1.021, which is kinda low. I wanna know if my deep six reads low or not. Link to comment
smoothlarryhughes Posted October 8, 2004 Author Share Posted October 8, 2004 Does anyone who has a refractometer who could actually test this for me? Link to comment
djtodd Posted October 9, 2004 Share Posted October 9, 2004 If I recall correctly, when I mixed my Oceanic salt as per the instructions it came out kind of low on my refractometer. Something like 1.020. But I don't really follow the destructions anyhow. I just dump a couple of cups in the water as it's agitating, then after a few hours go measure the SG and adjust accordingly. Link to comment
apophis924 Posted October 9, 2004 Share Posted October 9, 2004 In order to see how accurate your hydrometer is you cannot use volumemetic measures for solids, ie- a cup of salt to 1 gallon of water is like mixing apples and oranges. Take 35 grams of salt, Put it in a 1000ml (1 liter) container. ADD ro/di water to the one liter/1000ml mark. Then take your readings you shoud get a reading of 1.026. Granted that is only if your water temp is 4 degrees C, but for our purposes 25 degrees C/room temp is well within the accpeted margin of error. But it is best to junk the plastic swing arm unit and get a refractometer. if accuracy and realiablity are your main concerns. Link to comment
smoothlarryhughes Posted October 9, 2004 Author Share Posted October 9, 2004 Mine deep six is consistent in the readings...I just wanna match it to a refractometer reading so I can see if the reading is accurate...if it is not then i'll be able to see by how far it is off and then get accurate results. Also whenever I mix the 1/2 cup salt with the 1 gallon water I always get a reading on my deep six of 1.021...so I don't see how that is not a good way of doing it. I just wanna know what the company says it should read when mixing 1/2 cup with 1 gallon water. Link to comment
apophis924 Posted October 9, 2004 Share Posted October 9, 2004 the reading may be consitant but accuarcy and consistancy are not the same animal. when you break it down there is No match between the performance of a refractometer compared to a plastic swing arm hydrometer. Yes one cost more but the recfractometer will last longer and Hell if you put 100's of dollars and hours of time into your reef , why would you leave something as criticla as salinalty to a 12$ piece of plastic. Like they say you can pay them now or pay them later. You need to ask yourself,,, Why am i needing to compare my hydrometer readings against a refractometer??? hmmm maybe i should just buy the refactometer and be done with it. Link to comment
smoothlarryhughes Posted October 10, 2004 Author Share Posted October 10, 2004 Or maybe i'm kinda short on cash being in college and all and someone could just help me out by telling me what 1/2 cup of oceanic salt and 1 gallon of water reads on a refractometer. Link to comment
apophis924 Posted October 10, 2004 Share Posted October 10, 2004 well you see the problem is 1/2 a cup is relative, ten people put 1/2 a cup of oceanic salt in a measure cup and you can be sure when you weigh it on a scale (the true way to know how much of a solid you have) You will get ten different weights. A refractometer cost 30 to 50$. College kids always crying broke, "well i am in college etc etc, When iw as in school if i wanted 40 to 50$ i had no prbolem raising it if i needed it that badly. If you cannot aford the proper equipment for a hobby you should not be in the hobby. Anything less and you are doing yourself and the animals in your charge a disservice. Link to comment
smoothlarryhughes Posted October 10, 2004 Author Share Posted October 10, 2004 well i keep my salinity at a constant, and my tank is doing just fine. I was just curious as to what the salinity is supposed to be when mixing 1/2 to 1 gallon of water. Many people on this site have fine looking tanks without a refractometer. Link to comment
mothra Posted October 12, 2004 Share Posted October 12, 2004 Did you guys ever get this one figured out? 1/2 cup in one gallon is usually = 1.021 +/- .001 IME Oceanic is known to short batched. I think 50g mix = 45gal (at 1.025). I start w/ 3 cups per 5 gallons and fine tune from there to get to 1.025. Another issue w/ Oceanic is the alkalinity; it's fairly low. I'm buffering w/ a little baking soda to correct that. Otherwise I like the salt, good CA levels for sure. Link to comment
goochs Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 , why would you leave something as criticla as salinalty to a 12$ piece of plastic. Like they say you can pay them now or pay them later. You need to ask yourself,,, Why am i needing to compare my hydrometer readings against a refractometer??? hmmm maybe i should just buy the refactometer and be done with it. Just got a refractometer at foster and smith that has ATC for 35.00:P Link to comment
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