Conductivity monitoring worth it?

[madmike]

I am considering purchasing the PM2 and conductivity probe but was wondering if those that have it think it is worth it? I read that it needs to be calibrated quite often, is this the case for most of you? Do you feel it is accurate or is it prone to interference issues?

thanks

 

[vnwind]

I don't think it worth it personally because if you have ATO in place, your salinity is rarely change

 

[ReefSparky]

One more item passed off to automation? That's a a good thing. If you have devices in place that can be controlled to change salinity; and it's worth it TO YOU, then it's worth it.

Even with an ATO, salinity can and does fluctuate due to skimmate, salt creep, and other factors. IMO, it's always a plus to have the ability to know another parameter is taken care of, so to speak.

 

[Deleted member 143833]

Oh, the debate...

It is really personal preference and here are the 2 reasons I have 1...

1) If you have an ATO it would be rare to have salinity changes but not impossible. Over the years I've had skimmers go crazy and dump a bunch of salt water and I've had ATOs fail and add a bunch of fresh and each time the CO saved my tank!

2) If you are doing any kind of auto-water change I wouldn't be without one; the CO probe is a test that things are working as expected.

It really comes down to your preference, your tank and your pocket book...

 

[madmike]

In my case I use litermeter pumps to auto water change and the salinity can drift from time to time (the pumps calibration changes with the amount of water in the 160 gallon resevoir.) I also dose 2 part and have a semi-large (aprox 500g) system that takes up about a liter of both calcium and alk daily which slightly increase the salinity.

I guess my real question comes down to if you feel that the item is "stable" or does it need constant recalibration or tweaking. I would definately want one if I could set it up, calibrate it, and only have to calibrate it once every few months when I do the ph probe and such. Cleaning every once in awhile is no big deal either.

Thanks

 

[aquamanic]

I don't use one so take this with a grain of salt....(pun intended)

I wouldn't use one if its readings were used to trigger something like putting more salt or RO in your tank.

If you're going to use it as an alarm or general status reporting, then I think it's one more piece of data in managing your tank. I would just worry about a calibration issue causing unintended consequences.

 

[cccharliecc]

I think I would have one if the price were better.

I just cant justify it because I have ATO which keeps things very stable and my Aqua C skimmer auto shuts with the overflow canister. So my salinity very rarely changes drastically.

Plus my refractometer is so easy to use....

 

[vnwind]

i would use it if the price is a little bit cheaper. I bought a used Pinpoint Salinity Monitor for $70 so it is all good

 

[Xgame2k]

What maintenance does the probe need and how often?

 

[Xgame2k]

...

 

[RussM]

Periodic cleaning and calibration.

 

[Xgame2k]

whats periodic? month, week, day (ha)?

also what are you supposed to clean probes with and what calibration fluid do you recommend (something that will last awhile)?

 

[Xgame2k]

...

 

[Xgame2k]

bump

 

[ENS]

I have an Apex and purchased the PM2 and conductivity probe for use on my 225gl/440+gl system. I bought it the moment it was released, and I am happy to have it as a another safety monitoring feature, with email alerts.

I have a large auto top-off and water change system, and have a Deltec 702 skimmer. You can plan and have safety feautres, but eventually something causes a problem, whether over skimming, top-off problem, etc. I had a semi-disaster earlier in the year when a ball valve on my 55gl water change barrel system got left open after doing a water change, causing fresh rodi water - that was suppose to fill the empty barrel back up - to slowly flow into my sumps, slowly diluting the water and lowering the salinity. Lost a lot of livestock and corals. If I had the conductivity probe I would have been alerted much sooner that something was moving outside the correct parameters, and I could have gone and checked. I now use the probe. Worth the cost to me.

I don't rely on it to change anything (not programed to turn anything on or off), as it can be finiky and flucuate as air bubbles in the sump can collect on the probe tip and can cause out of wack readings, but use it too know to check the system if it gives an out of range alert.