Sctn4Elk Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 Where did you get your refractometer?Now you have me scared. Does anyone know where to get 1 the cheapest? I just ordered off of Amazon...Extech rf 20 .....$89...I am sure there are cheaper ones...I was in a hurry... Link to comment
filefish949 Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 most hydros work just fine, just clean them with vinegar every few months Link to comment
Sctn4Elk Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 most hydros work just fine, just clean them with vinegar every few months Easy for you to say....you should at least have it checked to make sure.... Link to comment
filefish949 Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 Easy for you to say....you should at least have it checked to make sure.... oh believe me i have been around the block with refractometers, price is no object, I will stick with my hydro, thank you very much BTW, since refractometers do not measure salinity (they measure refractive index and predict salinity) and magnesium has a much higher refractive index than sodium chloride, having your MG off can make for substantial errors in even a correctly calibrated refractometer I may get a conductivity meter, but the way I mix salt is by weight of salt per the volume of water... I use the swingarm to double check my scale once it is mixed I get ~.35ppt with 9 pounds 5 oz of coralife in 29 gallons of water just for giggles, read this http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_3/cav...Impressions.htm Link to comment
Sctn4Elk Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 Interesting article...funny he doesn't mention the Mg though in his tests...and he calibrated the Refractometer to 0....not 35ppt.... Link to comment
filefish949 Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 Interesting article...funny he doesn't mention the Mg though in his tests...and he calibrated the Refractometer to 0....not 35ppt.... For example, refractive index cannot determine whether a salt in water is potassium sulfate, sodium chloride, magnesium nitrate or calcium bromide, but if you know which of these you have by some other means (such as the name on a chemical's bottle), then you can determine how much is present in solution by measuring the refractive index, and then looking it up in a table that relates the refractive index to the concentration of that material. linky refractomerrs work just fine for aquarium, but they are not the end all be all, hydrometers do an equity sufficient job, thought they don't look super cool and cost a bunch of money.. for the best accuracy unner $200 look for one of these, or start looking at conductivity meters Link to comment
Sctn4Elk Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 I think I might do a little test....I am going to go buy one of those new swing arm Hydro's, one of those floating Hydro's and see if I can get my hands on a conductivity meter. Then, along with my Refractometer, measure my SG using all 4 items... OK, so I replaced more water today...replaced a gallon by mistake..wasn't thinking and doing too many things at once...the SG (by my Refractometer) is at 1.026. I think I will leave it here until I can get some of that 35ppt cal solution. Link to comment
filefish949 Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 I think I might do a little test....I am going to go buy one of those new swing arm Hydro's, one of those floating Hydro's and see if I can get my hands on a conductivity meter. Then, along with my Refractometer, measure my SG using all 4 items... it is really not worth it, Marine animals can easily withstand the variations with either a cleaned hydrometer or a properly calibrated refractometer, even the conductivity meter does not measure salinity, it measures conductivity, as far as I know the only way to get a truly accurate salinity reading with NSW would be to evaporate an known volume of seawater, weight the remains and then submit to mass spectrometer testing, if you have a refractometer, they are super cool, just calibrate with .35ppt, keep MG in range and make sure you give the sample a minute or two to match the temperature of the bi-metal temp correction device, if you have a swing arm, just make sure to clean it with vinegar periodically, there are much more important things to worry about with a SPS aquarium Link to comment
Sctn4Elk Posted July 24, 2008 Author Share Posted July 24, 2008 Thanks file...I have a new Refract that I'll be using...and I must say...the red mushrooms that were looking sad since day one...now look great. They have swelled up and their color is a lot brighter...this Refract was definitely worth the money to me... Now maybe I will try another Frogspawn... Link to comment
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