A little spec grav. advice

[SCFatz]

First of let me say hi again!Its been a little while and all of my tanks are doing great,mostly thanks to the help I've received here so give yourselves a collective pat on the back.

Today I struck out to buy some new fish for my SW tank.Up until now (six months in or so) I only had three fish.Today I picked up 1 coral angel and two fire fish and 1 camel shrimp.

On to the point:

After I got em home I tested the water in the bag as usual to see how far off the SG was to give me an idea of how close it was to my tank.It was a WHOPPING 1.016 or so...maybe less.In all honesty it was under my scale on my hydrometer (I have access to a refractometer as well ,just not tonight).
My tank is 1.022.Now thats a HUGE swing imo and had I known that I would not have bought anything from the store.

So I advise to bring your refractometer or hydrometer with you come fish buying time.At the very least have the water tested for SG when you are there to verify the results.

FWIW I called the store after I saw the results and the fish guy was amazed and went of to test it himself.He did not say he had checked it any time recently and he is othewise competent/knowledgable fish guy.

Anyhow,I'm in for a long night of acclimation which I'm cool with...but I like the chances of initial survival during the otherwise stressful transfer period better if the SG is not this very far off.

So check it at the store.
And wish me luck.

[GuOD]

I believe a lot of pet stores keep their SG lower than standard tanks.

pH and salinity are the reasons for the drip acclimation process.

[melosu58]

That`s very good info. You`ll be OK as you acclimate him to your tank water. IMO fish usually do pretty good acclimating. Just inverts and corals that are extra sensitive to these salinity changes.

[roka64]

My LFS keeps her fish at 1.0020. I bet if you recheck with your refracto it would be closer to 1.0020. The difference between my hydor and refracto was about .00500

[Kurt_Nelson]

Me thinks you have a few too many zeroes there, Roka!

Either that, or that LFS is doing some serious hypo!

[roka64]

Originally Posted by Kurt_Nelson

Me thinks you have a few too many zeroes there, Roka!

Either that, or that LFS is doing some serious hypo!

LOL! I meant the difference in measurements, between the hydro and refracto was that, not the water from my LFS.

[JM]

1.016 isn't terribly low. I've actually read that its better to keep FO aquariums between 1.016 and 1.020, not just for the hypo aspect, but because fish's gills work more efficiently at lower salinities and this leads to easier respiration and healthier fish.

[mr funktastic]

ok so here is a silly question... is it better to have to high or to low of a salinity level? i find my tank seems to stay a bit higher around 1.024. would it be better for me to drop that level down a bit? my first acclimation was terrible. i put the bag in and started the drip acclimation then the bag tipped over after about 3 min when i walked away and the bag got flooded and the fish got out. he seemed to do fine though.

[roka64]

I believe the salinity of the tank would depend on your critters. I think (I'm not too sure about corals) but reefs, should have a higher salinity 1.024 to about 1.025, where FO, as previously stated can be lower. I'm sure 1.016 could be doable but I think 1.020 would be best. Fish have more difficulties converting O2 at higher salinities (some one please correct me if I am wrong or used incorrect terms).

[rayjay]

All my reef tanks, I try to keep at 1.026 because SOME inverts and corals don't do well at lower levels.
I used to keep my fish only tanks a 1.020, but after many years now with no troubles, they are mostly at 1.025-6, but will be dropped again if problems occur.
For the most part, ocean water is normally said to be 35ppt, or, about 1.026.