Distilled water for refractrometer

[A Toadstool Leather]

I was wondering if distilled is ok to use as a means of calibration. I measured the water to be 3ppm of tds.

 

[twobytwo]

no. Buy or Make a proper calibration solution

 

[A Toadstool Leather]

Ok. I will buy some later when I can. As long as the solution is at room temp there should not be any issues right?

 

[bw777]

on my refractometer I use distilled water to zero it out and then use the calibration fluid

 

[RUNVS]

I would buy the calibration solution, I tried the distilled water method and it isn't as accurate.

 

[A Toadstool Leather]

Ok thanks.

 

[A Toadstool Leather]

Would the tds affect the accuracy when zeroing it in?

 

[scardall]

NO-----DO NOT USE "RO or RODI water" TO CALIBRATE . Those who say yes are Wrong/mis-informed STILL.;Wacky Happy Reefing

 

[morpheas]

Are you talking about a hand held refractometer or an electronic one like the Milwaukee? If handheld then I agree you need to calibrate with 35 ppt solution to be the most accurate you can (you calibrate at the value you're trying to measure). If it's the electronic then you NEED distilled (since it's designed to calibrate at 0 ppt not at 35).

Hope this helps!

 

[A Toadstool Leather]

Mine is a basic handheld one btw.

 

[A Toadstool Leather]

Im going to order a 35ppt calibration solution today. Thanks for the help.

 

[morpheas]

Mine is a basic handheld one btw.

Then definitely the better choice is the 35 ppt solution.

 

[A Toadstool Leather]

Speaking of distilled water is it ok to use as topoff?

 

[jwshiver]

Im going to order a 35ppt calibration solution today. Thanks for the help.

Make sure you float the solution in your sump for 10 to 15 minutes to get it up to temperature. Most solutions will say on the side of the bottle it is calibrated for 77 degrees.

 

[A Toadstool Leather]

Thanks for the advice. I will put it in a bowl of water that is at 77 degrees since I have no sump