Glass Hydrometer Today I (Aquarium kit saltwater) was checking the specific gravity of
Today I was checking the specific gravity of my tank using a glass hydrometer that I own from when I made beer and wine years back. When checking the specific gravity of your saltwater be sure you are using an accurate hydrometer. The most accurate and reliable type of hydometer, short of an expensive digital type, is a glass laboratory hydrometer.
I recall a time when I decided it would be easier and more convienient to use one of those “dip and read” hydrometers similar to this hydrometer, I can’t recall the brand but it wasn’t this one. The “dip and read” hydrometer was more convienient yes but accurate it was not. Fortunatly I didn’t use the inferior hydrometer very long before I decided to check it’s accuracy.
The easiest way to check if your hydrometer is accurate is to fill it with distilled freshwater. The hydrometer filled with distilled water should read 1.000 at tank temperature (approx. 75 degrees). A problem you may encounter is that many of the “dip and read” hydrometers don’t read down to 1.000 but you’ll see that the price difference between the hydrometers is negligible so do yourself (and your corals) a favor and spend the extra couple bucks for the glass hydrometer!!
