Best refractometer to get?

Discussion in 'General Reef Topics' started by BTB0923, Dec 28, 2009.

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  1. BTB0923

    BTB0923 Flamingo Tongue

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    I am finally buying a refractometer to replace the crappy hydrometer I've been using. I've seen the price on these vary greatly. I'm thinking about getting the $89.00 one from petsolutions.com, but I've noticed on ebay there are some for as little as $30.00 Is this an instance of "you get what you pay for" or should I save my money and just buy one of the cheap ones?
     
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  3. inwall75

    inwall75 Giant Squid

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    Same model. Only difference is the price.

    The best ones are TRUE salinity refractometers. However, they are definitely more expensive. Most of the ones sold to hobbyists are calibrated only for NaCl. Since there are other ions in artificial saltwater in addition to NaCl, these all read wrong directly out of the box. It's not a big deal....just calibrate to 35 ppt salinity with 53.0mS calibration fluid as opposed to 0 with distilled water. Refractometers and Salinity Measurement by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
     
  4. pgoodsell

    pgoodsell Horrid Stonefish

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    Ya I have the 30 dollar one from ebay. Calibrate it to 35 and it works just fine.
     
    Last edited: Dec 28, 2009
  5. horkn

    horkn Giant Squid

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    I have the 30 dollar e bay one as well.

    It works great and is the same as more expensive ones from other vendors.
     
  6. BTB0923

    BTB0923 Flamingo Tongue

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    Cool, thats good to know. I'll get one of the ebay ones. Is the calibration fluid that comes with them the same 53.0mS fluid that you are talking about?

    Thanks guys!
     
  7. inwall75

    inwall75 Giant Squid

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    I don't know. There are many vendors. It might be distilled water.

    I guess the only way to tell would be to look at the instructions. If they tell you to use the calibration fluid to get to zero salinity and SG, then it's distilled water. That's not what you want. You want calibration fluid where the instructions tell you to look at the salinity scale and adjust to 35 PPT.
     
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  9. pgoodsell

    pgoodsell Horrid Stonefish

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    BRS has the 35ppt calibration fluid. Its real cheap.