Instant Ocean - Hydrometer

[RaymondL]

Thinking of picking up an Instant ocean hydrometer - wondering if anyone here have any feedback on them. This will be used as a backup and from time to time to cross reference to my refractometer.

Thanks

 

[Klyle]

Thinking of picking up an Instant ocean hydrometer - wondering if anyone here have any feedback on them. This will be used as a backup and from time to time to cross reference to my refractometer.

Thanks

Haven’t used one since the 90s but it was decent from what i recall. Obviously they have issues with bubbles sticking to the arm and causing inaccurate readings. Have you looked into Tropic Marins hydrometer? It’s what I use. Slightly less convenient but you can NOT beat the accuracy if used properly They are VERY fragile though.

 

[Northern Flicker]

Thinking of picking up an Instant ocean hydrometer - wondering if anyone here have any feedback on them. This will be used as a backup and from time to time to cross reference to my refractometer.

Thanks

Anecdotally, mine matches my Hanna pen, which matches a tropic Marin glass hydrometer, so I feel confident in it.

 

[RaymondL]

Haven’t used one since the 90s but it was decent from what i recall. Obviously they have issues with bubbles sticking to the arm and causing inaccurate readings. Have you looked into Tropic Marins hydrometer? It’s what I use. Slightly less convenient but you can NOT beat the accuracy if used properly They are VERY fragile though.

Thanks for the feedback - yup, I have the Tropic Marin Hydrometer - love it! It's a bit of a pain to setup, but it's what I use to calibrate my refractometer, which I don't 100% fully trust. The Instant Ocean would be used sometimes over a refractometer, but I'm not sure how much easier it is than bringing out the Tropic Marin.

 

[RaymondL]

Anecdotally, mine matches my Hanna pen, which matches a tropic Marin glass hydrometer, so I feel confident in it.

Thank you - I'm assuming that a rinse in tap water, then RODI water is enough to keep it fully clean and functional?

 

[Klyle]

Thanks for the feedback - yup, I have the Tropic Marin Hydrometer - love it! It's a bit of a pain to setup, but it's what I use to calibrate my refractometer, which I don't 100% fully trust. The Instant Ocean would be used sometimes over a refractometer, but I'm not sure how much easier it is than bringing out the Tropic Marin.

They’re about as easy as it can get. As long as you fill it up slowly, bubbles on the swing arm are easy to deal with. I think you should get it. They do work and now I’m wanting one. Ha

 

[RaymondL]

They’re about as easy as it can get. As long as you fill it up slowly, bubbles on the swing arm are easy to deal with. I think you should get it. They do work and now I’m wanting one. Ha

Thanks - yeah, for under $15 doesn't hurt to have - I don't like the idea of dipping the entire thing into the tank to fill, so I plan to use a cup and fill it up that way.

 

[Northern Flicker]

Thank you - I'm assuming that a rinse in tap water, then RODI water is enough to keep it fully clean and functional?

To be honest I just rinse it in hot tap water. It still is bang on with the other two after 6 months.

 

[RaymondL]

Anecdotally, mine matches my Hanna pen, which matches a tropic Marin glass hydrometer, so I feel confident in it.

Instant Ocean advertises that their hydrometer is +/- 0.001 - on the one I purchased yesterday, it reads 0.001 lower than the Tropic Marin Hydrometer - 1.0242 versus 1.0252, so I guess it's pretty much accurate?

Did you share the same observation with you IO hydrometer reading lower or higher against the other devices?

Thanks

 

[Seansea]

Its all i use. Tried both the pen and the refractometer and find them to be constantly going out of wack and needing cal. I just use the io hydormeter now and it is spot on with my icp test. And when i say spot on it was exactly 1.0245 just like my icp test said.

2 tips for using it. Always rinse it after every use. If salt starts to build up on the arm it will go out of wack. I just rinse it under faucet and shake the arm a couple times. Also tap a bunch of times to get bubbles off the arm.

 

[RaymondL]

Its all i use. Tried both the pen and the refractometer and find them to be constantly going out of wack and needing cal. I just use the io hydormeter now and it is spot on with my icp test. And when i say spot on it was exactly 1.0245 just like my icp test said.

2 tips for using it. Always rinse it after every use. If salt starts to build up on the arm it will go out of wack. I just rinse it under faucet and shake the arm a couple times. Also tap a bunch of times to get bubbles off the arm.

A website that sells it says to fill with saltwater for 24 hours to condition the device. Maybe I'll try that and take another measurement to see if it's still reading 0.001 lower. Well, IO says it can be +/- 0.001, so it's in acceptable limits.

Or I can try another one, but I'm not sure if it'll ever read exactly as my floating Tropic Marin Hyrdometer.

 

[Miami Reef]

I prefer the Tropic Marin hydrometer.

 

[Rmckoy]

Years ago there used to be a cheap floating bobber style hydrometer similar to the Tm one .
Thinking it was also instant ocean .
Are these still available ?