Hanna Salinity Tester

Sleepydoc · Dec 16, 2018

I got an e-mail the other day that Hanna has a marine salinity tester (Hanna web page, YouTube Video)

Has anyone seen any reviews or have any experience with this? It's $69 on the Hanna web site, so the price is very reasonable. I'm tempted to get one just to see...

Retro Reefer · Dec 16, 2018

Don’t think they have been released yet.. If the reviews are good I will buy one for sure!

Sleepydoc · Dec 16, 2018

Yeah, they're listed as 'preorder' on Marine Depot and Saltwater Aquariums' web sites. Hanna has them in stock on their web site and I actually started to order one, but shipping was $18. I decided not to pay a 25% premium on shipping so I'll wait for Marine Depot to get them in stock.

Cruz Mc5 · Dec 16, 2018

I hate using a refractometer, so I’m definitely going to look into this. I tried to convince my wife I needed the Milwaukee tester, but was unsuccessful.

Sleepydoc · Dec 16, 2018

If it's accurate, the Hanna salinity tester is significantly cheaper than the Milwaukee refractometer and cheaper than other salinity testers I've seen. A plain refractometer is $35-40, so it's not that much more.

It is a conductivity probe, rather than a refractometer, so it's not quite the same, but for our purposes it should work fine.

Hanna Instruments · Jan 8, 2019

Sleepydoc said:
If it's accurate, the Hanna salinity tester is significantly cheaper than the Milwaukee refractometer and cheaper than other salinity testers I've seen. A plain refractometer is $35-40, so it's not that much more.

It is a conductivity probe, rather than a refractometer, so it's not quite the same, but for our purposes it should work fine.

Our salinity tester is now available in select retail stores and online from our website, Marine Depot, Saltwateraquarium.com, Premium Aquatics, Aquacave.

joec · Jan 8, 2019

The biggest issue for me, besides accuracy of course with any salinity tester, is do they stay calibrated?

I have the BRS refractometer and that point of sale wont even stay calibrated for a few minutes sometimes when doing repetitive testing. That's not helpful when you're trying to acclimate a fish to QT that comes in at a much different SG than an online vendor JUST TOLD YOU the day before and you dont have much time to adjust

I just bought a used STX3 from a member here that's on it way, I hope it stays calibrated

Hanna Instruments · Jan 8, 2019

joec said:
The biggest issue for me, besides accuracy of course with any salinity testers, is do they stay calibrated.

I have the BRS refractometer and that point of sale wont even stay calibrated for a few minutes sometimes when doing repetitive testing

I just bought a used STX3 from a member here that's on it way, so I hope it stays calibrated

We recommend monthly calibration on our new HI98319 salinity tester.

Digital refractometers require calibration with DI water each time before use.

Conductivity meters generally hold calibration pretty well thus we put a conservative calibration time frame of once per month in our new tester. Other brands who make similar conductivity meters for salinity measurements say that you do not need to calibrate those meters, however that is not scientifically accurate. Conductivity meters don't need to be calibrated as frequently as a pH electrodes, but it is important to periodically check the conductivity probe, because calibration compensates for changes in the probe over time due to buildup and/or damage.

Sleepydoc · Jan 8, 2019

I started to get one directly from Hanna, but didn’t want to pay $18 for shipping, so I ordered one from Marine Depot. Of course it took forever for them to get it in stock and ship it. Now that it’s finally on the way I’m out of town, so it’ll have to wait until I get back. ;Sour

Sleepydoc · Jan 8, 2019

I started to get one directly from Hanna, but didn’t want to pay $18 for shipping, so I ordered one from Marine Depot. Of course it took forever for them to get it in stock and ship it. Now that it’s finally on the way I’m out of town, so it’ll have to wait until I get back. ;Sour

eggplantparrot · Jan 8, 2019

joec said:
The biggest issue for me, besides accuracy of course with any salinity tester, is do they stay calibrated?

I have the BRS refractometer and that point of sale wont even stay calibrated for a few minutes sometimes when doing repetitive testing. That's not helpful when you're trying to acclimate a fish to QT that comes in at a much different SG than an online vendor JUST TOLD YOU the day before and you dont have much time to adjust

I just bought a used STX3 from a member here that's on it way, I hope it stays calibrated

How do you clean it between uses? i find that if i use too much pressure with a towel it will change the calibration.

joec · Jan 8, 2019

eggplantparrot said:
How do you clean it between uses? i find that if i use too much pressure with a towel it will change the calibration.

.

I may be doing that but if wiping the lens changes the calibration that’s a bit ridiculous imo. The other thing is mine is 18 months old and the problem seems to be worsening with age

eggplantparrot · Jan 8, 2019

i dont think its that ridiculous though, its a precision ground glass prism sitting on a bit of silicone that refracts light at minuscule angles, it would definitely be sensitive to pressure which would change the geometry between the prism and inner parts. silicone is not forever either and degrades over time so i dont find it surprising that your refractometer is not holding calibration well.

when i clean my refractometer i sandwich one edge of my aquarium towel between the glass and the plastic cover, use just the weight of my finger to hold it closed and pull the towel through slowly, it gets all of the water off and doesnt push against the glass. maybe try to clean without putting any pressure on the glass?

lakai · Jan 9, 2019

Hanna Instruments said:
Our salinity tester is now available in select retail stores and online from our website, Marine Depot, Saltwateraquarium.com, Premium Aquatics, Aquacave.

I just got mine and the calibration fluid reads 26ppt/1.019sg on my milwaukee tester. I cleaned and recalibrated the milwaukee and still reads the same.

Hanna Instruments · Jan 9, 2019

lakai said:
I just got mine and the calibration fluid reads 26ppt/1.019sg on my milwaukee tester. I cleaned and recalibrated the milwaukee and still reads the same.

You cannot use our 35ppt calibration solution to calibrate your refractometer, it’s a conductivity standard not a refractometer standard, the technologies are fundamentally different. The refractometer uses a density standard while the conductivity meter uses electrolyte standard which is potassium chloride based.

lakai · Jan 10, 2019

Hanna Instruments said:
You cannot use our 35ppt calibration solution to calibrate your refractometer, it’s a conductivity standard not a refractometer standard, the technologies are fundamentally different. The refractometer uses a density standard while the conductivity meter uses electrolyte standard which is potassium chloride based.

Was testing not calibrating. Thanks for the explanation.