Public Service Announcement: Calibrate your refractometer. Stop ignoring the basics.

[ScottB]

I spend a little more to keep comfort in my refractometer readings. My VeeGee STX-3 is so reliable and almost never needs recalibrating.

Yeah, well I am so smart that I sometimes ignore the basics. I am not admitting how long it has been, or how far off this lovely tool has crept. Here I thought my APEX probe was drifting down. Nope. If you don't have calibration fluid, then take it by your LFS to calibrate. Then Prime order some right now.

Off to find my cat 'o nine tails for self flagellation. Or I will just go play golf. Same difference.

 

[ScottJ]

Word...

 

[Hot2na]

whats the best reference fluid to calibrate with ?

 

[KStatefan]

whats the best reference fluid to calibrate with ?

I think Randy’s DIY is the best

 

[ScottR]

Ok. So we have @ScottB and @ScottJ chiming in. So here’s @ScottR This must be the moons aligning and telling me to calibrate. And that I shall. Great Scott’s.

 

[LRT]

Lol it gets me everytime at the worse times.

 

[ScottR]

@Mastiffsrule (the lesser Scott) Why you late bro?

 

[tehmadreefer]

I spend a little more to keep comfort in my refractometer readings. My VeeGee STX-3 is so reliable and almost never needs recalibrating.

Yeah, well I am so smart that I sometimes ignore the basics. I am not admitting how long it has been, or how far off this lovely tool has crept. Here I thought my APEX probe was drifting down. Nope. If you don't have calibration fluid, then take it by your LFS to calibrate. Then Prime order some right now.

Off to find my cat 'o nine tails for self flagellation. Or I will just go play golf. Same difference.

My refractometer has never needed calibration in the 10 + years I’ve owned it.

 

[ScottB]

My refractometer has never needed calibration in the 10 + years I’ve owned it.

For six years, that is how I felt about mine. What brand do you own and where was it manufactured?

 

[Hot2na]

non randy ..commercial brand ?

 

[DesertReefT4r]

This does it. I have been thinking about calibrating my refractometer for a few weeks. Now I will be for sure.

 

[Azedenkae]

So, question now is, what calibration on the market is recommended?

I dun wanna diy, so something commercially available is what I am after. :3

 

[Garf]

My refractometer has never needed calibration in the 10 + years I’ve owned it.

You must be checking it though, otherwise you would never know.

 

[tehmadreefer]

You must be checking it though, otherwise you would never know.

Well duh... After 10 years of use it’s good to check every so often. Lol

 

[tehmadreefer]

For six years, that is how I felt about mine. What brand do you own and where was it manufactured?

No clue what brand it is or where it’s made or even where I bought it. Can’t remember that long ago on a refractometer purchase lol

 

[ScottB]

So, question now is, what calibration on the market is recommended?

I dun wanna diy, so something commercially available is what I am after. :3

That is a decent question as I am now questioning which solution is correct! My "old" solution or the "new" one just delivered. One says 35, the other 33.5ish, and my conductivity probe says 34.6. Looking around for a decent storage bottle and will mix some DIY, calculate an average, calibrate, and call it a day.

While I know I am moving in the right direction, this has shaken my confidence in something I took for granted for a LONG time.

 

[SDK]

Another Scott here lol.

I buy a new calibration fluid from BRS once per year when I am ordering something else from them. It’s a $7 insurance policy

My refractometer drifted significantly the first year I owned it, and now has been holding calibration for several years. I’m not sure what happened that first year, but I like to keep an eye on it.

 

[Useful_Idiot]

Had that problem once too. Corals weren't doing well and took me a long time to question if my years old bottle of calibration fluid could be wrong. I mean the cap comes off for 2 seconds per use how could it evaporate and be wrong? But it was.

 

[piranhaman00]

VEEGEE should be calibrated with rodi water not reference solution unless you make your own solution. Popular reference solutions are at 20C and Veegee atc to 15C

 

[ScottB]

VEEGEE should be calibrated with rodi water not reference solution unless you make your own solution. Popular reference solutions are at 20C and Veegee atc to 15C

Good golly you are on it. Doh!

https://www.mdtgrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/BTXrefractometer.pdf

Never mind folks. Nothing to see here. Darn thing has been correct for 6 years running, it is just the USER that needs recalibrating. I will confirm this in a bit, but this would account for what I was seeing yesterday.

Thanks @piranhaman00