specific gravity

[chatcher]

hi i am new to the site and have been reading through today i have been keeping saltwater tanks for about ten years now but until today i have never had access to some one knowledgeable my lfs knows less about the hobby often times than i do and it gets frustrating after reading so many books that conflict
my first question is one that im sure you have all answered at least once here but as of yet i havent found anything here on it right now i have 2 55 gallon fish only and 1 20 long fish only and have been keeping them for the last 3 or 4 years at 1.021 prior to that i kept them all at 1.023 but read in the last book that i purchased that 1.021 was better for the fish just wondering everyones opinion on this and please bear with me as i have many more ?s i will try to go one at a time though

 

[fishfreek]

I keep my tank upward to 1.025.

Honestly for a fish only setup you could probably range from 1.020-1.025 (keeping what ever range you pick consistant). Some people acutally leave their SG lower than that in fish only setups because it lowers the chance of parasites since most dont fair well in low SG enviorment.

I keep mine toward the upper end because I have corals and they are more sensitive to SG than fish.

So IMO your ok to keep it at 1.021 or go back up to 1.023. The key is more in keeping it consistant.

 

[scuba_steve]

most here keep theirs at natural sea water which is 1.025 !!!

 

[chatcher]

would my level of 1.021 have any adverse affects on the fish in the long term

 

[yaksplat]

Actually the SG of the ocean varies with location. If you really wanted to go all out, you could find out where your fish is from and match the conditions

Jim