My first refractometer

[Poseidon]

Tony,

One thing i have learned in this hobby is that there are a lot of companies out there who are only interested in getting the money out of your pocket for some product that they have made without even knowing much about the hobby at all. Look at all the different skimmers and reactors there are available....each with there own little twist or fancy selling feature.....look at all the named corals there are....everyone calls it pearlberry or strawberry shortcake whether its acro, milli, etc....
Heck, look at your led fixture......
Lots of companies are taking known good working product ideas and creating their own with extra bells and whistles and make it fancy and eye appealing even if this means that the product will actually function worse than before. That does not matter to them because the product looks better and they know we are always looking for something bigger and better. 99% of what sells a product is what it looks like and marketing.....
Just try not to get too distracted by all the lights and sounds in this hobby and stick with the basics and with what works.....do lots of research!

+1

biggest plus one i can give 

 

[theyangman]

I like bells and whistles.... :-(

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk 4

 

[MikeB]

i will be picking up some solution this weekend then.

 

[Reef Hero]

You can use both solutions to calibrate but I would recommend the 1.026 stuff over 1.000 solution because of what was mentioned in article. Just like salty had stated....if your refractometer becomes miscalibrated within the range closer to 1.026 but not at 1.000 then that solution alone will not inform you of this. Using just the 1.026 solution would not inform you of a miscalibration with the ranges closer to 1.000......however, would this be a big deal if we only cared about the 1.026 range.... Likely not.....where the problem would occur using either solution and become obvious on both ends of the scale is when the refractometer is miscalibrated consistently from 1.000 to 1.026 range.....but again we do not care about ranges that close to 1.000 so by using the 1.026 solution IMO is the best because that is the only range I care about. Bill@IA actually got in some 45ms solution I believe a while ago and I turned it down because I wanted 53ms (1.026) but now thinking back....I should have got it too and had all 3 to calibrate with....this would assure me that my refractometer is calibrated within proper parameters and consistent throughout the entire 1.000 to 1.050 range.
I do have 50ms solution from ghl that I still to this day cannot get to read at 50ms with my refractometer calibrated at 1.000 and 1.026. It would always read closer to 1.020 and i think 50ms is about 1.024..... Of course ghl says their solution is bang on but then does this mean I can have that large of curve from 1.000 to 1.026.... I highly doubted IMO....what do others think?

 

[MikeB]

No one around Guelph or KW area sell calibration fluid at 1.026. They all sell pure distilled water or .005 fluid, Where cam I find this?

 

[theyangman]

My tears measure a perfect 1.02600000000000000000000000045 each and every drop.

They are rivaled only by unicorn tears which measure 1.026000000000000000000000000000000000068.

Obviously the average refractometer cannot detect the difference however.

 

[Duke]

No one around Guelph or KW area sell calibration fluid at 1.026. They all sell pure distilled water or .005 fluid, Where cam I find this?

the coral reef shop carried it last time i was there, im sure other stores do too

 

[reeffreak]

I may be heading up there tomorrow to see camps,I have some calibration fluid I can bring along with me, if you'd like you can use that to get it calibrated for now.

 

[Pistol]

[quote author=Reef Hero link=topic=6212.msg59987#msg59987 date=1378376912]
This is a great read by RFH....


http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-12/rhf/

Thanks for finding that Ben. Saved me sometime.

Yangmen, you are wrong you need to calibrate your refractometer with a saline solution.

Salty, You can pick up the fluid from MOPS in Hamilton (order it).

Dave
[/quote]

I have a Sybon, my salinity reads the same whether I calibrate it with RODI, the pure water that came with it or the pt 35 solution I purchased.

 

[Duke]

[quote author=BIGSHOW link=topic=6212.msg59989#msg59989 date=1378381687]
[quote author=Reef Hero link=topic=6212.msg59987#msg59987 date=1378376912]
This is a great read by RFH....


http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-12/rhf/

Thanks for finding that Ben. Saved me sometime.

Yangmen, you are wrong you need to calibrate your refractometer with a saline solution.

Salty, You can pick up the fluid from MOPS in Hamilton (order it).

Dave
[/quote]

I have a Sybon, my salinity reads the same whether I calibrate it with RODI, the pure water that came with it or the pt 35 solution I purchased.
[/quote]

i have one too and it does not read the same with 00 as 1.026 fluid, safer to use the salty stuff imo, before i used to use just 0 fluid and my actual salinty in the tank was about 1.017.

 

[theyangman]

Who has this shit locally?

 

[Duke]

Who has this shit locally?

you can make your own with table salt.. you just need a decent digital scale to get the measurements accurate. this is from randy holmes and could possibly be the same document someone posted earlier, i didnt check.

"This 3.65 weight percent sodium chloride solution can be made by dissolving 3.65 grams of sodium chloride (table salt) in 96.35 grams (mL) of purified freshwater. This recipe can be scaled to any appropriate size if suitable instruments are available (36.5 grams in 963.5 grams (mL) of water, 0.365 grams in 9.635 g (mL) of water, etc.)"

 

[Big_Als_London]

Who has this shit locally?

tony the last sybon stuff I ordered for the store came 1.026 if you can wait a week (which for you is next to impossible) I can get you some.

 

[Pistol]

[quote author=Pistol link=topic=6212.msg60198#msg60198 date=1378580208]
[quote author=BIGSHOW link=topic=6212.msg59989#msg59989 date=1378381687]
[quote author=Reef Hero link=topic=6212.msg59987#msg59987 date=1378376912]
This is a great read by RFH....


http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-12/rhf/

Thanks for finding that Ben. Saved me sometime.

Yangmen, you are wrong you need to calibrate your refractometer with a saline solution.

Salty, You can pick up the fluid from MOPS in Hamilton (order it).

Dave
[/quote]

I have a Sybon, my salinity reads the same whether I calibrate it with RODI, the pure water that came with it or the pt 35 solution I purchased.
[/quote]

i have one too and it does not read the same with 00 as 1.026 fluid, safer to use the salty stuff imo, before i used to use just 0 fluid and my actual salinty in the tank was about 1.017.
[/quote]
sounds like your 00 ain't quite 00 to be off that much.

 

[Reef Hero]

[quote author=theyangman link=topic=6212.msg60200#msg60200 date=1378581790]
Who has this shit locally?

tony the last sybon stuff I ordered for the store came 1.026 if you can wait a week (which for you is next to impossible) I can get you some.
[/quote]

What stuff do you order in? The pinpoint brand?

 

[Petercar (RIP Dec 2017)]

i got a brand new bottle not openeed  ordered from marine depot

 

[Duke]

[quote author=Duke link=topic=6212.msg60199#msg60199 date=1378581154]
[quote author=Pistol link=topic=6212.msg60198#msg60198 date=1378580208]
[quote author=BIGSHOW link=topic=6212.msg59989#msg59989 date=1378381687]
[quote author=Reef Hero link=topic=6212.msg59987#msg59987 date=1378376912]
This is a great read by RFH....


http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-12/rhf/

Thanks for finding that Ben. Saved me sometime.

Yangmen, you are wrong you need to calibrate your refractometer with a saline solution.

Salty, You can pick up the fluid from MOPS in Hamilton (order it).

Dave
[/quote]

I have a Sybon, my salinity reads the same whether I calibrate it with RODI, the pure water that came with it or the pt 35 solution I purchased.
[/quote]

i have one too and it does not read the same with 00 as 1.026 fluid, safer to use the salty stuff imo, before i used to use just 0 fluid and my actual salinty in the tank was about 1.017.
[/quote]
sounds like your 00 ain't quite 00 to be off that much.
[/quote]

pinpoint calibration fluid or RO water.. both read 0, That was my point exactly.. i wouldnt trust anything but 35ppt solution now..

 

[Reef Hero]

BRS carries the pinpoint and the aqua craft 53ms solution.

 

[Petercar (RIP Dec 2017)]

here is the one i have

 

[sunnykita]

very interesting, makes sense to use the 1.026 solution for accuracy, I too used the fluid that came with mine to calibrate it.