Please explain the relationship between these params

Mr31415

Active member
Can someone please explain the relationship between these values, and which one is the best to me for my salinity testing purposes. I have a Hanna portable multi parameter test instrument (HI 9828). Here is what is can measure re. conductivity and the units:

Conductivity [mS/cm]
TDS [mg/l or ppt]
Salinity [ppt or mg/l PSU (Extended Practical Salinity Scale)]
SG [Sigma (Seawater specific gravity)]

Furthermore, it has a TDS factor that one can set. The factory default is 0.50. For what is this used, and what should it be for seawater when testing Total Disolved Solids?

Here is values I have from my reef aquarium. I know the salinity is about 1.024 using another electronic test meter.

Conductivity: 47.52 mS/cm (temperature corrected value)
TDS: 23.76 g/l
Salinity 30.92
SG 20.2

Is there any way I can get the SG values I am familiar with such as 1.025 etc?
 
The parameters you listed are all ways of estimating the ionic content of seawater. Conductivity, TDS, and salinity are all defined in terms of electrical conductivity given a specific test pattern, and temperature-corrected to 25 C (usually 25C, anyway).

SG compares the weight of a volume of the test sample to the weight of an equal volume of pure water, again, corrected for temperature. It's given as the ratio.

For our purposes, a conductivity of 53 mS/cm is average ocean water. That'd correspond to about 1.0264 SG, both at a temperature of 25 C.

TDS is commonly used to measure RO-DI water output, and 0-2 ppm or so is likely good enough, depending on the input water.

Do you want more details?
 
I'll get to more on this later, I need to read about you meter but for now.

First, the table Billy posted will not help you

Conductivity [mS/cm] = the ability to measure the conductivity or recessivity of a solution. This is the ability to conduct electricity between two points or lets say two probes at a set distance apart. The more the electricity that is traveling between these two points the higher the value. It is expressed as mS / cm. The probes being theoretically 1 cm apart or proportional to it. Conductivity is the opposite of resistance

TDS [mg/l or ppt]= mg / l = ppm and ppt = parts / thousand = 35 ppt = 35,000 mg / l or ppm. Seawater is 35 ppt or 35,000 ppm as seawater. This is mostly used for FW or when dealing wit sodium chloride solutions

Salinity [ppt or mg/l PSU (Extended Practical Salinity Scale)] = a value of 35 means 35 ppt or 35, 000 ppm. This is a seawater salinity and not a sodium chloride salinity or table salt salinity. They are not the same. Why your meter is so far off. Your meter thinks it is measuring NaCl and not Seawater, as it is set to NaCl and we need to change it to seawater thinking :D. You would want to calibrate the meter is this mode. This will allow you to switch to SG as in this mode, as the meter things it is in seawater.

I have to check your meter first to see what they mean to be sure. More than likely it is for this reason

In PSU mode you can switch to [Sigma (Seawater specific gravity) or mS, for just seawater and only seawater.

TDS mode would be for FW or saline solutions, where in this mode you could switch to only to mS. You would not want to put it in the PSU or [Sigma (Seawater specific gravity) mode.

SG [Sigma (Seawater specific gravity)]= it is a short cut for SG, it works like this

SG reading and removing the 1.0 and moving the . two places over or 1.026 = 26. It is often called Sigma t, t meaning at x temp.

Conductivity: 47.52 mS/cm (temperature corrected value)
Seawater is 53.065 if the meter is calibrated to a solution that is 53 mS and yours is not


TDS: 23.76 g/l ' this is not ppm but grams / l
1 gram x 1000 = 1,000 mg/ or ppm , so 23.76 x 1000 = 23,760 ppm or 23.7 ppt as talbe salt in solution, not seawater. And not a seawater mode


Salinity 30.92 as NaCl .........not seawater.

SG 20.2 = 1.0202 SG at temp of the reading, not seawaer again

In the mean time to get into this in more real detail read these

Using Conductivity to Measure Salinity
http://www.aquariumfish.com/aquariumfish/detail.aspx?aid=1804

What is TDS?
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-04/rhf/feature/index.php

Reef Aquarium Salinity: Homemade Calibration Standards http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-06/rhf/index.php

Do not go out and make any of these solutions for now.


These are some guides for you. You can not use them now.

http://www.americanmarineusa.com/salinityconversion.html

http://www.fivecreeks.org/monitor/sal.html

You need to get a full strength seawater conductivity solution of 53 mS/cm. You can get one here.


http://www.americanmarineusa.com/

Click on Salinity, then Additional 53.0 mS calibration fluid.

PINPOINTâ"žÂ¢ Salinity Calibration Fluid
53.0 mS standardized fluid for calibrating the PINPOINT Salinity Monitorâ"žÂ¢

When you get this then cal the meter in mS mode to 53.00 mS.
More on your meter later.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the info, bertoni and Boomer. I have calibrated it using 80mS/cm calibration liquid. I have 52mS/cm solution too, but have not used that yet.

Here is a test I did just now of 50l RO water and added 770g Tropic Marine salt @ 28C:

25.09mS/cm (Temperature corrected)
26.53mS/cm (Not Temp. corrected)
Salinity 15.21
Sigma t 7.6

The table says 15.21 is 1.0107 - the sigma t reading of mine says 1.0076. Since the conductivity is already calibrated at 80mS/cm, how can I adjust Salinity and sigma t so that I get consistent readings?

Here is some factors I can juggle in the meter:

I can change sigma t to sigma t, sigma 0 and sigma 15 (0 and 15C)

TDS I have a factor I can set from 0.00 to 1.00 depending on the strength of the ionic solution. What is right for seawater?

I can calibrate for Salinity too by typing in a custom value between 05.00 - 70.00. Also for Actual Conductivity. The book says the three types of calibration (conductivity, actual conductivity and salinity) sets the slope value. And to calibrate the offset I need to repeat the procedure with the calibration point set to 0us/cm.

Based on this, how do I calibrate the meter then for seawater?

Thanks again for your detailed responses.
 
Well first you can not take 50l RO water and added 770g Tropic Marine salt @ 28C

Salts have allot of water in them so they usually read low and one needs to adjust for water . However, you seem really close. IIRC TM does not have as much water as others. Most read 2-3 ppt to low

770 / 50 = 15.5 ppt

Calculator, 25090 = 14.3 ppt NSW @ 28C

Your cal of 80 is way to high. You need to use the 53 and then look at the instruction manual for PSU and SG and how they are determined so you can switch back and forth from SG, PSU and mS and they correlate.
 
As I thought, TM has the least water so lets try this just for giggles. 35 grams gives a salinity of 33 pt.

Measure out 37 or 33 grams, if you can on your scale. Get a 1 L container or so. Put in RO/DI water to the 3/4 mark and put in salt and stir till it is all fully dissolve. Then add the rest of the water to get 1 L. Remember salt has vol just like water. The meter should be very close to 53 mS at 37 grams and close to 50 mS at 33


NO !! this is not how you calibrate a meter
 
The meter comes with 80mS/cm calibration fluid and a bit larger and smaller. I have just calibrated it using my 52mS/cm fluid from my AquaTronica system. Since I do not always trust these temp compensated calibrations, I heated the fluid to 25.00C exactly (the temp meter is accurate to +-0.015C. I then calibrated it to 52mS/cm. Let me test the water outside again...

26.48mS/cm (temp comp)
27.56mS/cm (actual cond)
13.24 tds ppt
16.15 Sal
8.5 sigma t
27.15C

Using this calculator: http://www.fivecreeks.org/monitor/sal.html I calculated

Conductivity @ 27560, Temp at 27.15 then Salinity is 16.2 ppt - which is damn close to 16.15 what my meter measured. So does that mean the 52mS/cm calibration corrected the errors?

I assumed I needed to use the actual conductivity and not the temp. compensated conductivity otherwise the required temperature parameter to the calculator is redundant - right?
 
It looks Ok . Why are you mixing up such low salinity samples. See other post. Also the farther you get away from the 53 on any sample the more off the meter will be. To actually use a meter at 26 mS you would want to calibrate it with a solution at about that value. Meters are suppose be calibrated with the working range and 26 is not your tanks working range or natural seawater range.
 
Here is something interesting. If I set sigma to sigma 15 (i.e. 15C), then I get *exactly* the Specific Gravity. Look:

Sample 1: As above, but 11.5 sigma 15 which is 1.0115 and that matches the table.
Sample 2: 49.75mS/cm, 32.56 Sal, 24.1 sigma 15, 25.01C. And that sigma 15 corresponds to 1.0241 - which is again correct.

Is this coincidence or is the proper unit then for sigma 15C temp offs?
 
Oh because I am busy doing hyposalinity treatment on my QT tank and that happened to be what I need to test. My refractometer broke :( I will try the sample as soon as I get new batteries for my scale.
 
Please refer to my post 7 posts earlier. I have used this calculator:

http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/denscalc.html

and it gives the same results as my meter.

Also, based on this diagram:

tsdiagm.gif


a salinity of 35.0 equals a sigma-t of 26 (thus SG of 1.026) but this is at 15C!!! That explains why I get the same results on this table when I set my meter to sigma-15:

http://www.americanmarineusa.com/salinityconversion.html

My question is - surely those sigma values must have a reference temperature - is it true that the reference for the Pinpoint salinity monitor values are at 15C and NOT at 25C?

Also, look at this calculator:

http://www.saltyzoo.com/SaltyCalcs/SgPptConv.php

It yields 1.011 for 15.217, and does not take a temperature value. I assume they then use a reference temperature. Using the first calculator I showed above, I can only get those values at a temperature of 15C - again the same temperature as the other SG -> Salinity tables.

Is there some sort of unofficial reference under aquarists that we use a constant reference temperature of 15C and not 25C which is taken as normal reef temperatures?

It almost seem to me that when aquarists started measuring the SG and salinity of their tanks they took the conversion charts and ignored temperature - which happened to be at 15C for the tables they consulted because maybe that is the average temperature of the world's oceans (?) and applied that blindly to reef environments????

I could not find one single scientific study that suggests a salinity of 35ppt is equals to a density of 1.026 at a temperature of 25C at the surface of the ocean (which is I assume quite accurate for reef environments) which is what I see commonly recited such as here:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

A salinity of 35ppt is equals to a density of 1023.3 at 25C and at the surface of the ocean. I have verified this with at least 2 different formulas all from respected scientific studies.

However, 35ppt IS equals to a density of 1026 (1025.9) at 15C.

So am I right in assuming all SG to density conversions used in reefkeeping is based on 15C as reference temperature then?

And the fnal question becomes then - should I target a density of 1026 at 25C or 35ppt at 25C since these are obviously not the same???

Just me trying to understand.
 
Ok I found this here:

http://ioc.unesco.org/oceanteacher/...03_T&SScales/TemperatureAndSalinityScales.htm

Exerp:
"Practical Salinity Scale (PSS), 1978: Definition

The practical salinity, symbol S, of a sample of seawater is defined in terms of the ratio K15 of the electrical conductivity of the seawater sample at the temperature of 15°C and the pressure of one standard atmosphere, to that of a potassium chloride (KC1) solution, in which the mass fraction of KC1 is 32.4356 x 10-3, at the same temperature and pressure. The K15 value exactly equal to 1 corresponds, by definition, to practical salinity exactly equal to 35. The practical salinity is defined in terms of the ratio K15 by the following equation"

So salinity (ppt and PSU being only out by about 0.02 - i.e. negligible difference) is then defined at a reference temperature of 15C. But then still - one can surely not just use that and convert to density of 1026kg/m^3 at 15C and use those values for reef aquariums running at 25C?

The Great Barrier Reef were found to have salinity of about 34-35PSU over a certain period of time. Is salinity always quoted at the reference temperature of 15C then? If true, then the actual salinity of the GBR is then not 34-35 because the temperature of the GBR is not 15C - but more like 22C - 25C.

:S
 
Sorry for all these posts - but I found this:

http://www.reefs.org/library/article/bingman_toonen.html

Exerp:
" As I have said in previous discussions on this topic, I believe that you want to maintain your salinity (as Craig pointed out salinity is a measure of the solute content in water, and will not change with temperature - you're measuring the specific gravity -- a weight ratio -- as a proxy for salinity) at roughly 35-36 ppt (parts per thousand) and your temperature at the lower end around 80F and the upper end around 84F."

This would have resolved my question above, but I just cannot believe it. Firstly, the new PSU scale is defined in terms of conductivity - NOT solutions. Secondly, the equation for salinity has temperature all over it in such a way that it adjusts the value for temperatures other than the reference temperature of 15C - nothing cancels out.
 
Yes, I know about all the above websites I have posted them here many times. A old friend of mine Dr. Kelly is the developer of http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/denscalc.html


You are also getting ahead of yourself :D So, it will take longer to explain it all :) Try and slow down.

I could have posted all those but wanted to stay simple but I'm glad to see you did some searches :D. Here is the original Kelly with Sigma-t built in.......read below first, as to what this really is.


http://www.phys.ocean.dal.ca/~kelley/seawater/WaterProperties.html

Sigma-t
There are two types. Your meter is not using true Sigma-t. In seawater manuals and the one on the link and the Sigma-t's on the links you gave are DENSITY Sigma-t. Density DOES NOT = Specific Gravity. You meter is using SG Sigma-t, which is bad, as the name is confusing some people. The real Sigma-t is a term in seawater chemistry for DENSITY. So, I now need to explain these two so you do not get lost.

Density = Mass / Volume and in seawater is often expressed as Sigma-t. Sometimes the Sigma-t value may or may not be brought to is say 26, as in the above Kelly Calculator, where it reads say 1026.00

SG = weight of a volume of a sample / weight of an equal volume of pure water.

As one leaves the max density of water of about 4C and the temp increases the Density and SG begin to seperate in their values. The higher the temp the less equal they are to each other.

One thing on SG is there are often set points or calibration points. For example, a hydrometer may be calibrated to 4C, 15C, 20C, 25C etc. Hydrometers can not automatically adjust themselves to temp but EC meters can. Example; A std NSW bulb type floating hydrometer is calibrated to 15C and = 1.0264 SG = 35 ppt. If you now take that bulb type floating hydrometer and put it in 25C water it will read 1.0251 =35 ppt and it's Density @ 25C =1.0234. We call this temperature correction. We can not have this meter read 1.0264 in 25C water. If it did read that the salinity would not be 35 ppt NSW but 36.7. Most floating types in this hobby are calibrated to 25C/77F, so if it is in 25C a reading of 1.0264 = 35 ppt NSW.

I could not find one single scientific study that suggests a salinity of 35ppt is equals to a density of 1.026 at a temperature of 25C at the surface of the ocean

You won't , as the std SG is @ 15C and the hydrometer is calibrated to 15C. They do not use LFS type hydrometers calibrated to 25C. If they did use one then it would = 1.0264 @ 25C


35ppt is equals to a density of 1023.3 at 25C

Yes, Density and that is not SG which would be a 1.0251 SG.


"Also, look at this calculator:"

http://www.saltyzoo.com/SaltyCalcs/SgPptConv.php

That is for LFS hydrometers and is fine for those. 99 % of the people in this hobby use those 75-77F and not a 15 C :D

a salinity of 35.0 equals a sigma-t of 26 (thus SG of 1.026) but this is at 15C!!! That explains why I get the same results on this table when I set my meter to sigma-15:

It appears the meters is being set to 15C std in this mode and not doing auto corrected temp

"Practical Salinity Scale (PSS), 1978: Definition

Yes, I know all that.


Firstly, the new PSU scale is defined in terms of conductivity - NOT solutions. .

The solution is what gives the conductivity. It is right here


potassium chloride (KC1) ****solution****, in which the mass fraction of KC1 is 32.4356 x 10-3

Secondly, the equation for salinity has temperature all over it in such a way that it adjusts the value for temperatures other than the reference temperature of 15C - nothing cancels out

Yes, but your meter has a built in equation to adjust readings based on the temp of the water sample. It is called ATC (Automatic Temperature Compensation). If it did not have this and some really cheap metes do not, then all you have posted must come into play, as it than must be calibrated at 15C. If the temp is other than 15C YOU must use an equation to get the right reading for the higher sample temp.

The Great Barrier Reef were found to have salinity of about 34-35PSU over a certain period of time. Is salinity always quoted at the reference temperature of 15C then? If true, then the actual salinity of the GBR is then not 34-35 because the temperature of the GBR is not 15C - but more like 22C - 25C.

No, chemical oceanographers always ref. things back to std, which is 15C, that way all are on the same page. If you calibrated your meter @53 mS in ATC mode and put it in the same place they did, it will read the same 34-35PSU. The meter is correcting back to 15C std, correcting for the temp off-set and giving the proper reading, as it would, if the sample was at 15C.


(as Craig pointed out salinity is a measure of the solute content in water, and will not change with temperature - you're measuring the specific gravity -- a weight ratio -- as a proxy for salinity) at roughly 35-36 ppt (parts per thousand) and your temperature at the lower end around 80F and the upper end around 84F."

True actual salinity is = 35 grams / l and that can not change with temp. The meter can not measure that. So, a electronic scheme was developed , base on conductivity of a solution, called a Conductivity/EC meter, which by electronic math conversion makes it as if was grams of seawater.


Secondly, the equation for salinity has temperature all over it in such a way that it adjusts the value for temperatures other than the reference

Yes, your meter does that for you with its ATC
 
Thanks for the detailed response, Boomer. The only thing I am still confused about is what value to use? Sigma-t or sigma-15 ? Like I said, if I use sigma-15 then the conversions between salinity and specific gravity is spot on with all those mentioned in the aquarium literature. If I set it to sigma-t (ATC?) it does not match it anymore... So what will give me the most accurate value for getting the "standard" salinity (or SG) for my aquarium @ 25C (or any other temperature for that matter)?

Should I target a readong of sigma-t = 25 on my meter (i.e. 1.025 @ whatever temperature I happen to have my reef aquarium at?)
 
Sigma-t or sigma-15 ? Like I said, if I use sigma-15 then the conversions between salinity and specific gravity is spot on with all those mentioned in the aquarium literature

I would assume, based on what you just said, it is in AUTO temp correct to Sigm-t @ 15C. Leave it here. I do not understand their flippin Sigma-t. It seems that it is killing the auto temp comp, would be my guess now, base on your comments again. Meaning , not in ATC mode.

There are reason to do this or have this mode. None, we would want to use. Many meters that have ATC, the ATC can not be turned off. If one is doing sample at an exact temp, one may want to make more exact calculations, via, math. Reason, ATC is not exact temp correcting. It follows a plotted curve/scale which is not exact.


This will prove it. Put the meter in some 53mS in Sigma-t 15C mode


1. What does it read @ 77F . It should read 1.0264

2. Put in frigid, say to 60 F, it should still read 1.0264.

Put in Sigm-t

1. Same.......these two readings should not = the same thing at all

2. Same

I think your meter is doing the right thing and converting back to std 15C and then correcting to sample temp, which is a good thing


I still have not had a chance to look at you meter. You are keeping me to busy reviewing stuff:lol: But that is good ;)
 
Well all I can say is that it is people like you - taking huge amounts of your free time - to help people like us that keeps the hobby alive and help people better care for our little slices of reef. Thanks.
 
Ok I have done as you asked. However the temperatures were slightly different. I used a 52mS/cm standard salinity solution (came with my AquaTronica).

@ 18.90C in sigma-15 mode
=================
51.69mS/cm (Temp Comp. Cond.)
45.70mS/cm (Actual Cond.)
34.08 Salinity
25.3 sigma-15

@ 25.00C in sigma-15 mode
==================
52.01mS/cm (Temp Comp. Cond.)
52.02mS/cm (Actual Cond.)
34.22 Salinity
25.4 sigma-15

@ 18.90C in sigma-t mode
================
51.69mS/cm (Temp Comp. Cond.)
45.70mS/cm (Actual Cond.)
34.08 Salinity
24.3 sigma-t

@ 25.00C in sigma-t mode
================
52.01mS/cm (Temp Comp. Cond.)
52.02mS/cm (Actual Cond.)
34.22 Salinity
22.8 sigma-t

So just to make sure I understand, is this then the behaviour you described? They are the same (I have +-0.1 error on these values) so for sigma-15 at 18.90C and 25.00C the values are the same, but for sigma-t the values differ since it is the actual specific gravity values at that temperature? So sigma-15 says the specific gravity is 25.4 for THIS SPECIFIC SOLUTION when at 15C. Sigma-t says the SG is at 22.8 when at 25.00C - i.e. the higher the temp the lower the SG.

So then I take it for my reef endevours I need to target a specific gravity of say 25-26 measured at 15C - i.e. either use sigma-15 and make up the salt mix strong enough that it reads 26 for sigma-15 at whatever temperature I am using (since it stays constant relative to temperature), or I can alternatively cool down my salt mix water to 15C and use sigma-t - which should yield the same values (obviously that is stupid but it illustrates the relationship)? A third alternative would have been to use salinity - but in my case since it is temperature corrected unless I mix my saltwater @ 15C I'd be better off using the SG value instead - or I need to convert all the good known salinity values such as 35ppt to 25C standard - which is 38.5 when corrected to temperature of 25C provided my water is at 25C?

Also, I found two parameters I can set. One is the Reference temperature for conductivity - either 20C or 25C. It is currently at 25C. The other setting is the Temperature coefficient, which can be 0.00%/C (no temp. compensation) to 6.00%/C. It is currently set to 1.90%/C (at the factory). Is this value correct? Should I change it seeing that my temperature compensated conductivity value is not 52mS/cm when not on 25C?
 
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