Salinity 1.032 with thriving corals and weird acting fish

[TbSaysNo]

I have used a new refractometer which has showed my salinity to 1.025 but today i bought and calibrated a hanna salinity checker and it keeps showing salinity a 1.032 SG. What do i do? My clown is acting weird

 

[fishguy242]

check and check again before you make any sudden changes

 

[mdb_talon]

Agree with fishguy.

Personally my bet is that it is more likely your refractometer is closer to correct. My corals start showing unhappiness long before 1.032.

 

[Reef.]

If you have checked the Hanna a few times I would trust that over the refractometer.

but as Fishguy242 says you need to be sure the salinity is wrong before you do anything, no rush as if it is wrong you would be correcting it slowly anyway.

I would either take a sample to my LFS and ask them to check it or a friend, or make my own calibration fluid, Randy from this site has a diy recipe which only requires table salt and a set of 0.01g scales.
Your first step is to be 100% sure what your salinity is.

 

[wil-yuhm]

I have used a new refractometer which has showed my salinity to 1.025 but today i bought and calibrated a hanna salinity checker and it keeps showing salinity a 1.032 SG. What do i do? My clown is acting weird

Two out of three testers?

The digital salinity tester in question I read has a high margin of error. Not the particular brand but the design. Going by other reviewers was why I went with a refractometer. Even less accurate are the hydrometer but it might be a good third opinion?

 

[Reef.]

Two out of three testers?

The digital salinity tester in question I read has a high margin of error. Not the particular brand but the design. Going by other reviewers was why I went with a refractor. Even less accurate are the hydrometer but it might be a good third opinion?

if you are referring to the swing arm hydrometer then I may agree but the floating Tropic Marin hydrometers are the gold standard for checking salinity imo.

 

[wil-yuhm]

If you have checked the Hanna a few times I would trust that over the refractometer.

but as Fishguy242 says you need to be sure the salinity is wrong before you do anything, no rush anyway as if it is wrong you would be correcting it slowly anyway.

I would either take a sample to my LFS and ask them to check it or a friend, or make my own calibration fluid, Randy from this site has a diy recipe which only requires table salt and a set of 0.01g scales.
Your first step,is to be 100% sure what your salinity is.

I am expecting delivery of "Aquatic Experts AccuBrate Refractometer and Hydrometer Salinity Calibration Fluid" today. I used distilled water to calibrate my refractometer initially.

 

[Reef.]

I am expecting delivery of "Aquatic Experts AccuBrate Refractometer and Hydrometer Salinity Calibration Fluid" today. I used distilled water to calibrate my refractometer initially.

people have found calibration fluid products can be off themselves, that’s why I recommend buying a $20 set of 0.01g scales and making your own.

 

[mdb_talon]

people have found calibration fluid products can be off themselves, that’s why I recommend buying a $20 set of 0.01g scales and making your own.

What if the scale calibration is off

Seriously though 1.025 and 1.032 are very far off. To me this seems more than a calibration being off.

 

[Reef.]

What if the scale calibration is off

Seriously though 1.025 and 1.032 are very far off. To me this seems more than a calibration being off.

Not sure what you are saying?

The op said they were testing with their refractometer, was getting results of 1.025 then tested with the Hanna and got 1.032, so that would almost certainly mean the Hanna or the refractometer’s calibration is off.

 

[mdb_talon]

Not sure what you are saying?

The op said they were testing with their refractometer, was getting results of 1.025 then tested with the Hanna and got 1.032, so that would almost certainly mean the Hanna or the refractometer’s calibration is off.

I am saying that its funny the argument against calibration fluid is they may be off....which seems to assume that scales are never off as well(which would make your homemade fluid also off).

As for the differences in readings meaning one of the calibrations must be off I would disagree. It could mean a bad sensor on the hanna for example or a mechanical issue with either. In cases like that you can calibrate to a standard and have it read that value correctly every time, bit that does not mean it will correctly read every range of values. If it is that type of issue it cant be fixed just by calibration.

 

[Reef.]

I am saying that its funny the argument against calibration fluid is they may be off....which seems to assume that scales are never off as well(which would make your homemade fluid also off).

As for the differences in readings meaning one of the calibrations must be off I would disagree. It could mean a bad sensor on the hanna for example or a mechanical issue with either. In cases like that you can calibrate to a standard and have it read that value correctly every time, bit that does not mean it will correctly read every range of values. If it is that type of issue it cant be fixed just by calibration.

well if it’s the sensor that is making the calibration off then the calibration is off

Of course scales can be off, but my point is if all things being equal, then I would trust my own diy solution over a prebottled solution, scales can be tested with calibration weights or items with a known weight.

I would also recommend anyone reading this to buy a Tropic Marin hydrometer, no calibration needed but maybe worth checking yours once before first use.

 

[TbSaysNo]

If you have checked the Hanna a few times I would trust that over the refractometer.

but as Fishguy242 says you need to be sure the salinity is wrong before you do anything, no rush as if it is wrong you would be correcting it slowly anyway.

I would either take a sample to my LFS and ask them to check it or a friend, or make my own calibration fluid, Randy from this site has a diy recipe which only requires table salt and a set of 0.01g scales.
Your first step is to be 100% sure what your salinity is.

I did something similiar to What you suggested. I mixed 36 gram of salt in 1 liter of water. The refractometer Said 1.024 while the Hanna Said 1.032 … i just calibrated it again as well.

 

[Reef.]

I did something similiar to What you suggested. I mixed 36 gram of salt in 1 liter of water. The refractometer Said 1.024 while the Hanna Said 1.032 … i just calibrated it again as well.

The diy calibribation solution uses table salt as it mixes very easily, you also need to be extremely precise with the measurements.

If I were you I would just buy a Tropic Marin hydrometer, use that as your reference, you can still use your refractometer or Hanna but use the Tropic Marin to check they are calibrated correctly.

Not sure what salt you use but 36g seems low, I use 40g in a litre.

 

[Dburr1014]

What if there both off by 0.04?

 

[wil-yuhm]

What if there both off by 0.04?

Back to two out of three testers
Of course appealing to popular majority would be a logical fallacy

 

[wil-yuhm]

What if there both off by 0.04?

What if the salt used for the calibration had lost its saltiness?

 

[wil-yuhm]

Received my calibration fluid today. The distilled water I used initially resulted in no difference between the calibration fluid and distilled water from Walmart.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Back to the thread title... How exactly are the fish acting?

 

[TbSaysNo]

Back to the thread title... How exactly are the fish acting?

Well my clown only stays at the top of the water and

sometimes swims while “layed Down”, and it Also has some White stuff on the month (you can see on video)
I just added a copperband who refuses to eat pellets or seaweed. It is hiding behind rockwork.