[Sk8r]

I figure that any store that's keeping its salinity virtually in hypo has some disease issues with its sources, that I want none of; and if they don't, why on earth are they doing it---knowing any newbie who doesn't have a refractometer (and fully half don't) is apt to seriously injure a fish? There's a lot of moving parts when you're starting out, and remembering to check bag water salinity without dropping your fish or the instrument is a learning curve!

And of course corals and inverts don't fare well in hypo, so those are almost all ready to go in: they tend to arrive at 1.024.

F&S uses 1.021 on fish, 1.024 on inverts. If your qt is set to 1.021, that fish is good to go right in the instant the bag is open. If your tank is 1.024 (and if you have crabs and snails it should be!) to 1.025, you're good to put them straight across. Even if you're 1.026 it's not going to do them great damage, but I like to be within .001.