[bigmac]

So after second guessing all of my results thus far; I went out and purchased some distilled water to start over (thinking that the calibration fluid was somehow compromised).
Long story short; I recalibrated with distilled and lo and behold my salinity level was perfectly fine where it was.
Now looking at the calibration fluid directions (on the bottle) and the pamphlet directions (that came with the refractometer); they differ quite a bit. Ultimately this boils down to me not properly learning how to use new equipment before adjusting my methods.

So now; my salinity is too high (murphy's law) at 1.035. I've moved my ATO float switch higher so that it adds more water and brings it back down to respectful levels. The moral of this story.......sometimes keeping status quo and not touching anything is the best method.