Got a refractometer tonight..

[jamesnmandy]

Interestingly, whenever you use a good scale, it does get calibrated to zero before using it. OMFG!

 

 

Yes, it's best to calibrate using a solution, just as it would be best to calibrate a scale against a mass identical to the package you are weighing. Calibrating with RO/DI works just as well almost every single time, so unless you've got it on-hand, just use RO/DI. Next time you order some stuff online, add a bottle of calibrating solution to your order. It's cheap, but don't bother with an order just for it. It's not "mission critical".

 

 

good info and this was my point....at the time you go from a hydro to a refracto, you've done 99% of what you could do to ensure good accuracy in measuring your salinity, the calibration fluid, while relatively cheap, will not appreciably improve this accuracy, you tank varies more in a day than the different calibration methods could ever be

 

and a refracto with a damaged/defective lens will be off more than this also anyways....

 

in other words, by the time you go from being a beginner with a hydro to an experienced user with a refractometer that has been calibrated (using either method), you have already achieved the best you are going to get for measuring salinity (conductivity methods aside), calibrating one way or the other will not yield any useful (and rarely measurable) benefits or detractors, it's splitting hairs if you will

 

those $5-$10 spent on a bottle of solution was essentially wasted in a practical way, but perhaps for some the money spent and use of fluid "buys" them some emotional satisfaction for being 99.5% accurate instead of 99%.....

 

like i said, at some point, good enough is good enough

 

lets look at this another way, from my own personal experience, i only bought a refracto after over two years in the hobby, used the original hydrometer i bought in the beginning the entire time, three different tanks, couple moves, many many changes, same hydrometer......i never once had an issue involving salinity that i can see, never had a problem with disease or deaths, although it is possible the life span of hermits was somewhat lessened from unnaturally high salinity, but this was never perceived really, i have been keeping LPS, SPS, softies, cucumbers, shrimp, fish, macro algae, etc.....all with success

 

when i got my refracto i found out my water had been at 1.032 roughly, well above natural seawater and much higher than the LFS keeps it's water, yet things were well (although it did seem like hermits died off faster than they should), what was 1.025 on the hydro was 1.032 on the refracto at the LFS, after calibrating my refracto when new i tested my water, still reading 1.025 on the hydro and got...you guessed it, 1.032, so i dropped it to 1.025 slowly, rechecked with hydro, reads 1.018 or so, refracto reads 1.025, LFS refracto reads 1.025, agrees 100% with difference in my hydro as well as LFS refracto

 

...........i see no reason to spend anymore money or time chasing a unicorn because there are way too many other variables that could fluctuate things much more wildly than a .001 difference in refracto calibration technique results

 

i sleep well at night without that bottle of fluid, some people do not, thats the only good use i see for the fluid, as a placebo encouraging personal satisfaction

 

but thats just me....

[Scott Riemer]

You have any idea how condescending you sound?

[thetaylors]

just to keep things going as it has been a long weekend.. if your LFS calibrates the same way you do, then the two wrongs dont make a right saying would apply, right?

[jamesnmandy]

You have any idea how condescending you sound?

 

 

i guess not.....this is how i write, i say it the way i see it

 

was the information wrong? i mean......honestly, the only benefit i see to the fluid is more a psychological thing than a necessity for accuracy....

 

does that offend somehow? it's just my opinion is all, didn't know i had to handle it with kids gloves...if using the fluid makes someone feel they are doing a better job with things, then by all means, go for it

[neanderthalman]

You should still calibrate to a 35PPT solution to check the linearity of your refractometer. Only then is it OK to calibrate with RO/DI.

[Scott Riemer]

good info and this was my point....at the time you go from a hydro to a refracto, you've done 99% of what you could do to ensure good accuracy in measuring your salinity, the calibration fluid, while relatively cheap, will not appreciably improve this accuracy, you tank varies more in a day than the different calibration methods could ever be

 

and a refracto with a damaged/defective lens will be off more than this also anyways....

 

in other words, by the time you go from being a beginner with a hydro to an experienced user with a refractometer that has been calibrated (using either method), you have already achieved the best you are going to get for measuring salinity (conductivity methods aside), calibrating one way or the other will not yield any useful (and rarely measurable) benefits or detractors, it's splitting hairs if you will

 

those $5-$10 spent on a bottle of solution was essentially wasted in a practical way, but perhaps for some the money spent and use of fluid "buys" them some emotional satisfaction for being 99.5% accurate instead of 99%.....

Already covered this ad nauseam. Not to mention, you missed neanderthalman's point, he supported my argument for calibration solution.

like i said, at some point, good enough is good enough

Already covered this too. Good enough for you.

 

chasing a unicorn

 

i sleep well at night without that bottle of fluid, some people do not, thats the only good use i see for the fluid, as a placebo encouraging personal satisfaction

 

 

i guess not.....this is how i write, i say it the way i see it

 

was the information wrong? i mean......honestly, the only benefit i see to the fluid is more a psychological thing than a necessity for accuracy....

 

does that offend somehow? it's just my opinion is all, didn't know i had to handle it with kids gloves...if using the fluid makes someone feel they are doing a better job with things, then by all means, go for it

Condescending, underhand jabs at people who don't agree with your approach.

 

You should still calibrate to a 35PPT solution to check the linearity of your refractometer. Only then is it OK to calibrate with RO/DI.

Thanks neanderthalman. It's what I've been saying all along.

 

Edit: for spelling.

[Trapper125]

I had used 2 different swingarms for the longest time. I would get wildly different readings between each and decided to finally get a refracto. Best investment I made in a long time.