New Tank Orca Tl-450 - Help Pls

[BigC]

There ya go!
Need to dissipate that salt a bit.
Did you get the extra Koralia pump, if so direct it at the base for now to keep moving the salt around.
Looking good for now, keep up dating the pics as you go. makes for a much more interesting journal.
You'll be able to look back on it as I said earlier.
I've never used a hydrometer before, but is that the way your ment to use it....inside the tank!..
I think your only ment to dip the bottom corner fill port below water surface until water flows up and over inner weir.
also make sure airbubbles dont give you a dodgy reading. Tap the hydrometer a few times to dislodge them.
Regards
BigC

 

[Sapphire15]

Salt gradually going but then I have to keep adding more!! I think the Hydorometer can go in or out of the tank, one man in lfs suggested taking water out of tank and then testing but then at another lfs he said no, it should be fine in the tank but also suggested the floating hydrometer which you can also see in pic which just literally bobs up and down, you can read the temp and this green stripe should be at the surface of the water if the salt is right! all sounds very iffy but he said it is what they use, but keeping my eye on both, may need to invest in a one of the refractrometer?? but this is helping for now (I think)

 

[BigC]

Ah! No worries then Sapp.
Regards
BigC

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Salt gradually going but then I have to keep adding more!! I think the Hydorometer can go in or out of the tank, one man in lfs suggested taking water out of tank and then testing but then at another lfs he said no, it should be fine in the tank but also suggested the floating hydrometer which you can also see in pic which just literally bobs up and down, you can read the temp and this green stripe should be at the surface of the water if the salt is right! all sounds very iffy but he said it is what they use, but keeping my eye on both, may need to invest in a one of the refractrometer?? but this is helping for now (I think)

Yeah I found the refractometer a lot easier to use. If you get one have a look around. Some of them are very expensive but you can get some in the region of £25-30 which for what you need it for is fine.

 

[john.o]

Just a quick word of warning I had a red sea Hydrometer in my tank when I first set up. it stated in the instructions that it could be left in the tank 6 inches below the water surface for a constant reading. It worked well for the first month then it started to go green with algae and was very difficult to clean . Then after 2 or 3 months it started giving false reading, so with no way of re-calibrating the hydrometer I decided to get a refractrometer £29 delivered it’s a much better piece off kit and at only a tenor more than the hydrometer it would have been rude not to . Don’t get me wrong the hydrometer will work ok; I just would not recommend leaving it in the tank best regards john,o
http/www.reefstore.co.uk/deltec_refractometer.shtml

 

[Sapphire15]

Thanks for that John,o I will look towards getting a refractrometer, hopefully it will keep going over the next few days whilst I am getting started in the mean time I will try and order one, I will look at the website you gave me, we saw one in the shop but it seemed so complicated!!

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Its really not that complicated (I found it less complicated then a hydrometer).

Basically all you do is put a few drops of water on the "lens" and look through it. Inside there is a scale which will show you the SG of the water.

Before you use it you will need to calibrate it. I think there is some technical way to do it properly but the way I do it is just put a couple of drops of RO water on the lens then adjust it so it reads zero. I check this every few weeks but so far it hasnt drifted off too much.

Really easy and a lot more accurate (at least for us beginners, I know some will argue that a hydrometer is just as good if not better if you use it properly).

 

[john.o]

I am sure your Hydrometer will work perfectly well for a long time as long as you don’t leave it in the tank. IMO the refractrometer is a much better bit of kit, but if I were you I would not bother getting one just yet especially when you have a perfectly working swing arm hydrometer and the floating hydrometer so you can keep a eye on the calibration. Imo You would be much better off investing your money in some thing like a Koralia nano pump or some thing like that but at the end off the day its up to you. The swing arm hydrometer will work perfectly well for years to come as long as it’s not left in the tank. Just use it then rinse it out with a little RO water and it will be fine It mite not be as accurate as the refractometer but will do the job
Best regards john,o

 

[Sapphire15]

Yes, wanted one of those too!! my list is huge, well maybe not huge but alot of money it is reading 1.020 at the moment so it has gone into the black (at last). How long to leave it once it is correct before adding live rock?

 

[john.o]

yep you have got to have deep pockets in this hobby
When the water temp is correct and you have the SG Wright you can add the live rock straight away the faster the transfer from the LFS to your tank the better as this will minimize any die off on the rock. A little die off is going to happen any way this can not be help. But its best to keep it to a minimum if you can then your tank will cycle faster. Hope this helps

 

[Sapphire15]

Great, the fish shop is approx 20 mins away so hopefully will be ok, hopefully I can do this soon then, is the reading close?

 

[john.o]

Great, the fish shop is approx 20 mins away so hopefully will be ok, hopefully I can do this soon then, is the reading close?

The S,G ? I have it at 1.025 s.g don’t forget that if your tank is not up to temp this will effect the s.g reading and the salt wont dissolve properly
Here is a link to a good site all about Reef Aquarium Water Parameters
http/www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

 

[Sapphire15]

Just to let you all know, my hydrometer is now reading 1.021/22 - what a weekend that has been , thank you for all your help, ready for the next stage??

 

[Sapphire15]

Here it is!!

 

[Sapphire15]

Hi, sorry I know that I am going to ask a really stupid question, but what is the best way to add more water to the tank, my salinity has dropped since adding the LR so I need to get it back to the correct level, is it ok to add the salt direct to the tank or should it be mixed up outside of the tank, if so which is the best way to do it, presumably this is something that I will have to do each week when I change some of the water?? I have already read that once there are fish in the tank you cannot add salt straight into it but didn't know if that applied now.
Really appreciate any help, thanks