WHAT DO YOU USE TO CHECK SALINITY AND WHICH HAS WORKED BEST ???

[Jordan92595]

I’ve been trying to do some research on digital salinity readers but the reviews on majority have been horrendous … obviously when dealing with salinity you need to be as accurate as possible to avoid destroying your tank

thanks for your opinions

 

[Gtinnel]

I mostly use a Milwaukee digital refractometer and occasionally double check my reading with an optical refractometer and verify they're both right with some home made 35ppt test solution. I also have the salinity probe on my apex that monitors it (although the numer is not accurate so I just use it to look for salinity changes).

My favorite is the Milwaukee digital refractometer.

 

[ihavecrabs]

I second the Milwaukee digital refractometer. I have a standard test solution I validate it against as well.

 

[gentlefish]

Uh, I have been working with all kind of systems and standards, just to find out that this is much more complicated than I had thought. I now bought a Tropic Marin High Precision Hydrometer to confirm my readings.

 

[dwest]

Milwaukee here too.

 

[Jordan92595]

So I see a lot of Milwaukee fans.. any downfalls you guys have came accross ? Calibration issues ? Cleaning issues? How accurate is each reading?? Do you notice changes if you test back to back ?

 

[BanjoBandito]

OBLIGATORY. Love my MILLIE-WAH-KAY, Algonquin for "THE GOOD LAND"....only major American city that's elected 3 socialist mayors.

DOES THIS GUY KNOW HOW TO PARTY OR WHAT?

 

[BanjoBandito]

So I see a lot of Milwaukee fans.. any downfalls you guys have came accross ? Calibration issues ? Cleaning issues? How accurate is each reading?? Do you notice changes if you test back to back ?

nope, nope, nope, it's as accurate as anything I've used to "spot check it", nope.

 

[Gtinnel]

So I see a lot of Milwaukee fans.. any downfalls you guys have came accross ? Calibration issues ? Cleaning issues? How accurate is each reading?? Do you notice changes if you test back to back ?

It works great for me. You calibrate it with distilled water (honestly I rarely calibrate I just check it with diy test solution), just dry off the little testing well after use and clean it with rodi water (also I rarely clean it, I dry it with a microfiber towel after using it and when I go to test next I'll fill the well up with tank water, remove that water, and then put my sample on it. I don't know that it helps with any possible salt residue effecting my results but I still do it).

Accuracy is where you will see some bad things about it. According to Milwaukee it's accuracy can be off as much as +/-.002, which is a big range. If you'r sample is at 1.026 then it can theoretically read that as 1.024-1.028 which is a huge range for what we use it for. That is the reason that I almost didn't get one. The best I can say is that when I use a solution with a known salinity it reads it correctly. If I restest the same sample I get the same results everytime.

I don't regret getting one.

 

[mrlavalamp]

After fighting with calibration and trying to keep my red-sea optical refractometer accurate, I just gave up on it.

The tropic marin high precision is by far the best simply because it cannot drift.

No mucking about with creating/purchasing standards, no guessing games, no questions, just accurate readings every single time.

The only down side is that it is glass and therefore fragile.