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New 90 Gallon Reef setup. - Going to need alot of advice.

Hawkeye

Hawkeye

i just noticed you're running 4x T5s. I'm using 6 on my 120. What type of bulbs you using? Just curious!
 
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Freddybnj_2004

Update!! Wow I'm an idiot!!! I'm an IT Manager and I have an hour commute each way which allows me plenty of time to think and troubleshoot all kinds of problems... well, sure enough I'm driving home thinking about what could be wrong with my tank that is killing my inverts and coral... I start walking through each reading and how I tested each...and BINGO... my refractor has a calibration screw up top and I never calibrated it... I get home and test my water 1.025... I check some brand new RODI water and whamo it's reading 1.010...add to that I've gone thru 5+ gallons of evaporation so it was worse! It is now at 1.015... ugh...going to do 10% water changes daily...should I make up my salt a little higher than 1.025?
 
saltkreep88

saltkreep88

Using rodi will get you close, off by 2-3 points usually. So you still know you are really low and should start raising. And no The solution is only sold by good reef stores and online.
 
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Freddybnj_2004

So SK... the RODI water off by 2 -3 points... in which direction... if I have it calibrated right now with RODI at 0 should it be at .02-.03 or actually negative?
 
Hockeynut

Hockeynut

NJRC Member
Freddy pm Edwin "ecambero" he lives in old bridge he might have calibration fluid and could calibrate it for you
 
downbeach

downbeach

In a pinch you could make your own solution. Here is an article explaining the method under the heading, "Refractometer Standard". Here is another article explaining the reason you need to use a solution that is near the refractive index of your test sample under the heading, "Imperfect Refractometer Calibration: Slope Miscalibration".
Depending on how far off your SG really is you could just use freshly made SW (@ 35ppt) as your top off until your DT has reached the desired SG, then go back to plain RO/DI water.
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

Borrow a calibrated one and just mark off your container. I change 40 gallons at a time and i've got permanent marker on the container telling me where to stop filling the water. Then I just drop a bag of salt in. So let's say you are changing 20% of your 55 - or about 10 gallons. Find a container to hold 10 gallons and mark off that spot. Then scoop out the appropriate amount of salt (however many cups).
 
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