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How do you measure the salinity of your reef?


Christopher Marks

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I use the deep six swing arm and it works great. Very consistant readings, none of the whacky stuff that people tend to talk about on this site... just my experience.

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REFRACTOMETER >>>>>>>>> hydrometer

 

never will i waste money on the swing arm hydrometers ever again. if you're serious about reefing, it's worth the investment. after all, each piece of coral will cost $30-50, refractometers range from $40+, it's definitely worth saving for! :)

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MinibowMatt

has anyone compared accuracy between a refractometer and a floating glass hydrometer? if so, please post your results.

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neanderthalman

mine was tested against the LFS refractometer, and it's off by 0.001. Accuracy isn't as important as consistency if you can calibrate it against a refractometer like I did. My hydrometer measures a sg of 0.001 when I measure pure water, and reads 1.027 when the sg is 1.026. The thing is, it's always off by the same amount..you just have to calibrate it. One other thing, some glass bubbles, like mine, have the measurements on a peice of paper stuck inside the tube. I've never seen it move, but I check it every so often against pure water to be certain.

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NanoBobby

Hi, I was able to get a refractometer from my teacher, but it only has the refractive index not SG. Could any of you with a refractometer tell me the appropriate ranges of the refractive index for SG from 1.023 - 1.026. Thanks a lot.

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dhoffroad

refractometer.....

 

used to use a swing arm when I got my refracto I tested it against my swin arm and well the swing arm said .023 and the refracto .025

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Refractometer from Drs Foster and Smith- SG is consistantly

between 1.024 and 1.026. I wish some of the other water chemistry

tests were as easy to use.

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MinibowMatt

Going to p/u my refractometer today! I guess its time to come out of the dark ages...

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MadTownMax

Refractometer - I used to have a swing-arm and it was cool at the start, but after a few months my tank just didn't look as healthy as it had, and I had algae problems. I ended up getting a Refractometer and found my tank was really at 1.034 not 1.025 (deposits on the arm) - you can always check your swing-arm against a refractometer every few months, or you can do it the right way and just buy one when they're pretty cheap compared to the rest of this hobby :P

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fishdaddy0831

swing arm SUCKS....I hate them the calibrations are all off. I had it reading 1.024 and it was actually 1.031.....6 months I had it like that. Lost two shrimp and a coral beauty.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Originally posted by billy-boy

I use the deep six swing arm and it works great.  Very consistant readings, none of the whacky stuff that people tend to talk about on this site... just my experience.

 

I hate, hate, hate, hate, HATE my deep six swing arm. I have to measure my SG 3 or 4 times, then when I get 2 readings that are close I assume that hopefully that will be correct. WTF? I spend at least 5 minutes tapping bubbles before I can get any kind of a reading. I'm ordering a refractometer asap!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I really like my deep six swing arm... right in line with the Milwakee refractometers we use at he LFS I work at. Still, I think a Milwakee refractometer would be an awsome stocking stuffer this x-mass! lol!

 

Jared

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  • 10 months later...
non-photosynt
For anyone who doesn't think its worth $40 for a refractometer, you need to try one.

Here are my reasons:

1) You only need a few drops of water to put on it. No need to submerge it like you do hydrometers (very handy since many of us only prepare a gallon or two of water at a time).

2) No need to worry about junk accumulating on the arm or glass tube.

3) No messing with tapping to get all the bubbles off the arm or glass tube

4) Works the same with ALL temperature of water.

5) Only takes about 10 seconds to check.

Bought refractometer after using areometer (floating glass tube hydrometer), comparing:

1. Glass cylinder is used.

2. It will accumulate on the prizm. Everything needs cleaning, reftactometer - most jentle cleaning.

3. Same bubbles in refractometer are more frequent than on glass tube.

4. Correction tables.

5. Sorry, mine is required 30 sec only for temperature adjustment, plus cleaning.

:)

Seriously, I still don't know which of them shows truthful data, both are supposed to be very accurate. Still, they show different data: same water, SG 025 by refractometer, 020 by areometer, instructions for IO salt mix preparations (1/2 cup per 1 gal of water will give around 022 SG) support areometer measurements. Hmmm?

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Bought refractometer after using areometer (floating glass tube hydrometer), comparing:

1. Glass cylinder is used.

2. It will accumulate on the prizm. Everything needs cleaning, reftactometer - most jentle cleaning.

3. Same bubbles in refractometer are more frequent than on glass tube.

4. Correction tables.

5. Sorry, mine is required 30 sec only for temperature adjustment, plus cleaning.

:)

Seriously, I still don't know which of them shows truthful data, both are supposed to be very accurate. Still, they show different data: same water, SG 025 by refractometer, 020 by areometer, instructions for IO salt mix preparations (1/2 cup per 1 gal of water will give around 022 SG) support areometer measurements. Hmmm?

Did you calibrate the refractometer with distilled water?

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