What is high salinity?

[Brent Turner]

Hello I'm fairly new to saltwater I have been pretty good as far as all my tests but I just did my first water change and it was a couple of hours ago well I tested my salinity and it's 1.029 with my refractometer should I drain some and add ro or slowly add a gallon of ro di water over the next few days?

 

[Big G]

Have you "calibrated" your refractometer? Mine was .003 pts. off when new.

 

[ciscomania]

I would say it depends on the size of your tank

 

[Brent Turner]

I would say it depends on the size of your tank

75 gallons display

 

[Brent Turner]

Have you "calibrated" your refractometer? Mine was .003 pts. off when

Have you "calibrated" your refractometer? Mine was .003 pts. off when new.

OK so I need to figure out how to check it??

 

[Jason mack]

You will need too buy calibration fluid for it 35 ppt

 

[Brent Turner]

You will need too buy calibration fluid for it 35 ppt

Yeah just looked it up you would think it would come with it after you pay $ 75 smh thanks jason this is why this awesome forum is here!

 

[mcarroll]

Unless it's been dropped, it's probably not mis-calibrated.

You can also put RODI water on it for a rough check.

Salinity of RODI should register VERY CLOSE to zero....if it's not VERY CLOSE then get some calibration fluid and dial it in correctly.....if it is VERY CLOSE then the refractometer is not your issue.

@Randy Holmes-Farley has a DIY recipe for calibration fluid if that's more your thing. I think all that's required is RODI, table salt, and an accurate gram scale. ($8 from ebay or amazon – useful in the kitchen too!)

@Brent Turner, assuming this doesn't turn out to be a tools issue, then just take out some salt water and replace it with RODI.

This still leaves the question of why salinity got that high – are you using saltwater to replace water lost to evaporation?

 

[Jason mack]

You can make your own there is a thread somewhere on here for it !

 

[mcarroll]

...or maybe the mix on the water change water was hinky.

Are you mixing saltwater like this...
Mixing saltwater, post-electrification!

...or like this
Mixing saltwater, Neanderthal-style!

Anything drastically different from these could be the problem.

 

[Brent Turner]

Unless it's been dropped, it's probably not mis-calibrated.

You can also put RODI water on it for a rough check.

Salinity of RODI should register VERY CLOSE to zero....if it's not VERY CLOSE then get some calibration fluid and dial it in correctly.....if it is VERY CLOSE then the refractometer is not your issue.

@Randy Holmes-Farley has a DIY recipe for calibration fluid if that's more your thing. I think all that's required is RODI, table salt, and an accurate gram scale. ($8 from ebay or amazon – useful in the kitchen too!)

@Brent Turner, assuming this doesn't turn out to be a tools issue, then just take out some salt water and replace it with RODI.

This still leaves the question of why salinity got that high – are you using saltwater to replace water lost to evaporation?

OK it says with RODI calibration 1.024 and as far as replacing evap. It's with RODI water

 

[Brent Turner]

...or maybe the mix on the water change water was hinky.

Are you mixing saltwater like this...
Mixing saltwater, post-electrification!

...or like this
Mixing saltwater, Neanderthal-style!

Anything drastically different from these could be the problem.

I buy mine from lrs

 

[Brent Turner]

I buy mine from lrs

It's at 1.025 I asked and they showed me

 

[Brent Turner]

You can make your own there is a thread somewhere on here for it !

Yeah I'm sure I was just kinda freaking out but it's not all that bad but thanks and I'll be looking into that to make my own

 

[Brent Turner]

Thanks to all for the help ! Love this fourm! R2R is the best !

 

[Big G]

Glad we could help. Lots to learn. Fortunately there are a tremendous number of folks on R2R with vast knowledge and lots of practical experience. Glad you are with us. Have a great day!

 

[mcarroll]

OK it says with RODI calibration 1.024

With RODI it's at 1.024?

 

[Brent Turner]

With RODI it's at 1.024?

Yes sir.?

 

[mcarroll]

It sounds like something is off......make sure we're on the same wavelength:

With RODI in the refractometer it should read close to 0.000 s.g.

If you mix seawater with 1/2 cup of mix per gallon of water and put that in the refractometer it should measure about 1.025 s.g.

 

[Brent Turner]

It sounds like something is off......make sure we're on the same wavelength:

With RODI in the refractometer it should read close to 0.000 s.g.

If you mix seawater with 1/2 cup of mix per gallon of water and put that in the refractometer it should measure about 1.025 s.g.

Lol sorry for misunderstanding I calibrated it to 0.000 with rodi