Importance Of Calibrating Your Salinty Pen

[Tim A]

So today I learned the importance of calibrating your Poseidon Salinity Pen. I last calibrated it about a week and a half ago.

I tested my salinity on Tuesday, and it read 29 PPT. I thought it was odd but stupid me I knocked it off to skimmate removal etc and ATO. So I have been slowing raising my salinity in my AWC container to bring it back up to 34-35 ppt. I have been doing this for 3 days. Today I checked it again and it was not reading 31. I thought this was very odd as I have been doing 10-12 gallon changes of water with new saltwater around 40ppt; how could only gone up 2 ppt with 20 or so gallons of water change.

So, I stuck my pen in the calibration fluid which is set to 30ppt. When I stuck the pen in it read 24ppt. Immediately I thought Oh no! What have i done, I think i might be pickleing my tank. I ran upstairs and retested my tank and it was at 41ppt. Ahh... So now I am doing the opposite of removing water and adding fresh RODI.

I am now going to be calibrating the pen every new day that I am going to be using it.

 

[Matt1997]

Can’t day I haven’t done something similar. Corals will be fine though don’t worry.

 

[Pistol]

I check my refractometer fairly regularly and I've never had to calibrate it in the 9 years I've owned it.

 

[Tim A]

I check my refractometer fairly regularly and I've never had to calibrate it in the 9 years I've owned it.

My refractometer has failed me a few times. Kind of why I went to the pen as well. Maybe I just suck at calibrating it.

 

[TORX]

Definitely important to calibrate the pen. I do not check salinity often but the pen has been quite handy.

 

[Jacob Tofflemire]

I recently found myself in the same situation except it was the Poseidon pen that picked up on it. Refractometer was reading 34, Poseidon read 42. After bringing my salinity back down my RBTA split so now i have 2

 

[Tim A]

I recently found myself in the same situation except it was the Poseidon pen that picked up on it. Refractometer was reading 34, Poseidon read 42. After bringing my salinity back down my RBTA split so now i have 2

I am not sure if my battery is running low or not but I am discovering I have to recalibrate it every time I turn it on. It is consistently off by 2-4 ppt on start up. Is this normal?

 

[Winks]

If you look on page 6 of the instruction manual that comes with the Poseidon Pen, at the very bottom of the page, it says "It is recommended to recalibrate the Salinity Pen Plus+ before each use."

 

[Winks]

Here are a couple other things I have learned from the supplier. I was having a few issues and this is what I was advised to do. Has worked flawlessly since.

1. When using the calibration fluid, do not hold onto it. Put it down to insert the pen into it. The fact that your fingers around the bottle "could" affect the calibration
2. Put the pen down into the bottle as far as possible. The pen shape is designed to go onto the top of the calibration bottle and will give you the best results.

 

[Tim A]

Thanks for those tips.

Also when the tip no longer reaches the fluid can I combine it with a new bottle to top it up you think? Or is that when to buy a new one?


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[TORX]

Thanks for those tips.

Also when the tip no longer reaches the fluid can I combine it with a new bottle to top it up you think? Or is that when to buy a new one?


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The fluid should last for an extremely long time so long as you close the bottle. If the water level is dropping like that then it is probably leaking somewhere. If it ever comes to needing new , I would probably just buy and use a new bottle. Note that this calibrates to 30ppt. Most solutions available are 35ppt.

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[Kjmsmith]

I check my refractometer fairly regularly and I've never had to calibrate it in the 9 years I've owned it.

Same, I check every few months but have never had to adjust.

 

[TORX]

Testing with a pen doesnt really save time on one tank vs a refractometer. It would be really handy if you have multiple tanks as you only have to calibrate when you turn it on.

I personally like the pen over the refractometer. No water drops or being a pirate looking through a telescope while finding the right light lol

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[Winks]

Testing with a pen doesnt really save time on one tank vs a refractometer. It would be really handy if you have multiple tanks as you only have to calibrate when you turn it on.

I personally like the pen over the refractometer. No water drops or being a pirate looking through a telescope while finding the right light lol

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I have multiple tanks. It comes in so handy when doing any water changes. Also lets me compare tank temperature from one tank to the other as well as the salinity.