Sick Kole Tang?

[Tastee]

Originally Posted by hkgar

What I did is remove all inverts and corals to another tank and then did Hypo. in the display Catching the fish can be a night mare without tearing down the tank anyway.

Hypo is very critcal that the correct sg be maintained within specified limits. And theb the necessary water changes to bring back to 1.024 - slowly, .002 per day.

When I raise salinity in my QT I do so by adding salt water to the ATO instead of RODI. I find that is a simple and effective way to gradually increase salinity. I also did this in my DT when I was first setting it up (first fish went in at 1.020 before raising to 1.024).

[hkgar]

Calibrating with RO/DI water can cause some variation at 35 ppt. Also, how do you now the RO/DI water is actually 0? I have a storage barrel for my ATO and the water going in is zero TDS but if I take out a sample it will register above zero as the contaminants will get into the barrel.

[Rover88]

Originally Posted by hkgar

Calibrating with RO/DI water can cause some variation at 35 ppt. Also, how do you now the RO/DI water is actually 0? I have a storage barrel for my ATO and the water going in is zero TDS but if I take out a sample it will register above zero as the contaminants will get into the barrel.

I use RODI simply because I don't have cal fluid.

My specific refractometer was designed with the intention of being calibrated at 0 ppm with RODI water. While I know there can be some fluctuations with not 'pure' RODI, I'm fairly sure the 1-2 PPM that it picks up contaminants with in my barrel isn't going to swing it too far considering that the PPM of saltwater is something like between 10,000 and 30,000.

Most hobbyists aren't wielding scientific instruments with precise tolerances. Any fluctuations I'm going to have from using RODI water stored in a barrel are likely within the tolerances of the refractometer itself.

As for any adjustments to the curve, I'd agree with you. It would be better to calibrate with 1,026, you would get your most accurate reading if that was the case. What I do is calibrate to RODI, check what my tank reads, and match my water change to that, so even if it is 'off' from 1.026, its at least the same going in as it is going out.

I have twice checked my refractometer in the 8 months I've had it against a 1.026 solution (Local reefer has it) and both times I did my calibration with my RODI water was bang on accurate at 1.026.

So while not ideal, its close enough to have not caused me any issues!

[hkgar]

Originally Posted by Tastee

When I raise salinity in my QT I do so by adding salt water to the ATO instead of RODI. I find that is a simple and effective way to gradually increase salinity. I also did this in my DT when I was first setting it up (first fish went in at 1.020 before raising to 1.024).

That would work fine. Just keep the change to no more than .002/day