Question about diy calibration for salinity
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Assuming your talking about Randy's recipe. I don't see why you couldn't scale it as long as measurements are accurate. That said it's so cheap to make a two liter of it you could just keep what you want and dump the rest of it. Mine is clear after dissolving the salt and has stayed clear.
Indeed, that’s how I make mine.
yes, it should be clear. I tend to get a bit of what I presume is bacterial growth in the bottom after a while, so just chuck it and make some more.
I just added the salt to the water and shook it up until it was clear. It's been several months since I made mine but I just tested it recently against some purchased calibration fluid and it is still spot on.
Coolcasino
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How do you know that purchased calibration solution was accurate?
Because it matched Randy's recipe salinity
That and I have 2 different bottles, two refractometers and have been relying on it for 7 years
KStatefan
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You can scale it to whatever you want. I do larger batches so the quality of my measurement equipment at home dose not effect the amount as much.
It should be clear after mixing
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I don’t cross reference mine with a bought solution, just make sure I’ve got Randy’s recipe as accurate as possible, then test the tank water. If it reads the same as it did previously (which it always does), I’m good to go. So in essence, the tank water is my reference solution.
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trainbob
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When I made my first batch it was cloudy and then put it in the microwave for 4 minutes and then stirred it and it was way off. Don’t think I can just shake it to make it clear so should I make the full amount in a bucket and use a power head
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Table salt can have tiny traces of insoluble stuff in it, Just ignore that. It won't appreciably impact salinity measurements with the devices we use. There should not be large amoutns of stuff that won't dissolve. if so, get a different brand of table salt.
make sure you are using the right recipe for the device chosen. They are all different:
Reef Aquarium Salinity: Homemade Calibration Standards by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
make sure you are using the right recipe for the device chosen. They are all different:
Reef Aquarium Salinity: Homemade Calibration Standards by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Yes, that is correct.
The recipe in my article for a 35 ppt (sg = 1.0264) refractometer standard is:
This 3.65 weight percent sodium chloride solution can be made by dissolving 3.65 grams of sodium chloride in 96.35 grams (mL) of purified fresh water.
I guess the next question is “what salt are you using? I want to make sure I don’t buy any by mistake for my fish and chips, thanks.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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FYI, be certain you are not using aquarium salt mix. It should be sodium chloride.
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trainbob
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The report on next effort is the scale being used is a postal scale which is accurate enough for mail may not be accurate enough for making calibration fluid, the scale doesn’t repeat itself. It can vary by 5 grams and seeing that the formula was cut by fourths that can be too much. Also never got the fluid clear even though heated it to boiling before adding water
