WTB Anyone have a refractometer in buffalo?

[shawna1972]

I will never use a hydrometer again! Salt as of last night was sitting at 1.030
Hydrometer told me 1.024!:thumbdown Could not figure out for the life of me why my corals
were acting funny ,not opening, I lost 5 pepermints ect...
Anyhow thanks to kats for testing my salinity last night as a last resort to figure out why
things were off in my tank (I finally got a true reading) Still trying to bring salinity down a bit at a time without stressing everything! Need to know where I'm at and need a refractometer

Let me know if you have an extra one lying around Thanks

 

[TimmyNY]

Shawna I got mine online from Ebay. If you are in need let me know and I can come over and test your water with mine til you get one. dont forget to calibrate it I have calibration fluid if you need it. Did mine yesterday and it was off .001

Tim

 

[shawna1972]

Thanks Tim I may take you up on that if I can't get one today!

Im so mad at myself
over this! lol I have always used a hydrometer for the past few years and could be the answer as to why Ive been streaks of bad luck! I never for one minute thought they could be that (OFF) I mean wow I was shocked! If Kat would not have called me last night I would have done my regular water change today and it would have been even higher, Unreal and most of all stupidity on my part!

Tim, Pm me your # again plz

 

[shawna1972]

Anyone know if Arc has them in and how much?

 

[dan10342]

Many stores carry them for around 50-100 dollars depending on the brand.


I've also had good luck with scientific grade floating hydrometers. though at this point, a refractometer is cheaper and still probably better.


make sure u pick up calibrating solution as well. an uncalibrated refractometer can be just as bad, or worse than a swing arm hydrometer.

-dan

 

[shawna1972]

Many stores carry them for around 50-100 dollars depending on the brand.


I've also had good luck with scientific grade floating hydrometers. though at this point, a refractometer is cheaper and still probably better.


make sure u pick up calibrating solution as well. an uncalibrated refractometer can be just as bad, or worse than a swing arm hydrometer.

-dan

Thanks Dan!

 

[shawna1972]

Thanks Dan!

didnt like the ! at the end (makes it sound mean) lol

So....... thanks Dan.....

 

[superkat]

if i didn't have a dr's appointment today..i'd drive back out there, return your sweatshirt and lend you mine! Liam hasn't stopped talking about Jordan all morning!

 

[aquadonkey]

I don't have an extra refractometer - but I thought I'd post because the same thing happened to me. I lost two pep shrimp and I think that's why. I'm trying again now that the salinity is right with a pistol shrimp and I'm watching him very anxiously.
My hydrometer said 1.025, and when I switched to a refractometer I realized it was 1.019......

 

[shawna1972]

if i didn't have a dr's appointment today..i'd drive back out there, return your sweatshirt and lend you mine! Liam hasn't stopped talking about Jordan all morning!

ahhh no problem,That's so funny "He's so cute!"

 

[shawna1972]

I don't have an extra refractometer - but I thought I'd post because the same thing happened to me. I lost two pep shrimp and I think that's why. I'm trying again now that the salinity is right with a pistol shrimp and I'm watching him very anxiously.
My hydrometer said 1.025, and when I switched to a refractometer I realized it was 1.019......

I know we spend so much money on our lighting and equipment and fail to neglect other things that are equally important. "Talking about myself"
Plus I always took care of the hydrometer such as rinsing in fresh water after ect...I will never trust it again after this.

 

[sg1838]

FWIW, I've been told by John at MO that you can simply use Distilled Water as your refractometer calibration fluid. John COULD have sold me calibration fluid (I asked him for it), but instead he told me to just go buy distilled water from the grocery store as it was just as good.

 

[Johnny C]

FWIW, I've been told by John at MO that you can simply use Distilled Water as your refractometer calibration fluid. John COULD have sold me calibration fluid (I asked him for it), but instead he told me to just go buy distilled water from the grocery store as it was just as good.

By no means am I trying to come off sounding rude, but this definitely isn't 100% accurate information. I have calibrated refractometers with RODI water and then checked with calibration solution only to find out that there was a two point difference in the two (1.024 vs 1.026).

IMO, spend the $10 for a lifetime supply of accurate salinity testing.

PS- In my honest experience, not all refractometers are created equal. I have owned two different units (one being a $25 unit purchased on ebay vs. another purchased at the LFS for $60). The cheaper eBay refractometer is a lot less durable and needs to be calibrated much more frequently. Never the less, I applaud anyone who makes the effort to purchase a refractometer, period. Swing-arm hydrometers are an inaccurate/outdated aquarium product that will only lead to headaches. JMO!

 

[superkat]

shawna - just order one...

http://www.marinedepot.com/Marine_D...quariums-Marine_Depot-MD2101-FITEOPRF-vi.html

 

[sg1838]

By no means am I trying to come off sounding rude, but this definitely isn't 100% accurate information. I have calibrated refractometers with RODI water and then checked with calibration solution only to find out that there was a two point difference in the two (1.024 vs 1.026).

IMO, spend the $10 for a lifetime supply of accurate salinity testing.

I can't completely disagree, but I was specifically told NOT to use RO/DI water, but distilled water from the grocery store. Theoretically if you had perfect RO/DI water out of your system I would think you could use that to calibrate it too. I can't say that I completely trust consumer grade distilled water over the RO/DI water from my RO/DI system that I maintain, but maybe there is a definitive difference.

As for me, I currently have neither. I took my Milwaukee refractometer out of the case and tested it with a couple of drops of my RO/DI water that my TDS meter says is 0.0, and it read 1.000. I expected that the unit would come calibrated from the factory, so that was good enough for me. Of course, the verification test was on my salt water, and when it read 1.026, I was doubly satisfied since this is what my neighbor's refractometer read as well.

 

[sg1838]

As a note, that refractometer that you linked to at Marine Depot is the model RHS-10ATC that is sold practically everywhere, including on eBay for $20. If you can wait, you can do a buy it now on eBay and save yourself some money, but most likely it won't be here for a couple of weeks because it will be coming from Hong Kong.

Personally, I opted to spend a little bit more, and bought my Milwaukee unit for $59. Is it any better? I don't know, but the quality certainly seems quite nice, and others that had Milwaukee units seemed to like them. But, that's probably worth about as much as I have sitting in front of me right now (nothing).

 

[NirvanaFan]

Definitely get the calibration fluid. As with any testing instrument, you want to calibrate it as closely to the anticipated results as possible. Just like we use 7.0 and 10.0 pH solutions instead of 4.0 and 7.0, we should be using 1.0264 calibration fluid for our refractometers. Using distilled or RO/DI water will probably get you close enough, but I've heard stories of them being .003 off. You may as well be using a swing arm hydrometer then.

 

[dreaminmel]

With my refractometer, if I calibrate with RO water of 0 TDS it sets to a different level than when properly calibrated with the fluid. For some this may not be true but some issues with my tank were resolved when I started calibrating with the fluid. I have the refractometer that is pictured in the Marine Depot link.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-12/rhf/index.php#11

"Despite that fact that many refractometers sold to aquarists recommend calibration in pure water, such a calibration alone will not always ensure accuracy. Consequently, other standards may also need to be used. These other standards should be solutions with known refractive indices that are close to the values intended to be measured in the aquarium. For this purpose, seawater with a salinity of 35 ppt is perfect, and such standards can be obtained commercially or made from table salt with appropriate measurement.

One suitable commercial standard is made by American Marine and sold under the brand name Pinpoint. It is sold as a 53 mS/cm calibration fluid for the company's electronic salinity probe (a conductivity probe), but it also is suitable for use in a refractometer. NOTE that this is not necessarily true of all 53 mS/cm conductivity standards. The Pinpoint fluid happens to be made to match seawater in other respects, not just conductivity, but other brands, or do-it-yourself 53 mS/cm standards, may not be appropriate to use with a refractometer because, while they have the same conductivity as 35 ppt seawater, they may not have the same refractive index."

 

[shawna1972]

Thanks everyone for your input I think Im going to go with the unit at Arc I talked with the staff yesterday and I guess it's a really good unit and they can also calibrate it for me as well (which I have no idea how to calibrate,(Being my first time using one) So by Monday I should have it. In the mean time TimmyNY is going to lend me his (thanks Timmy) So I can see where I'm at and get it corrected.

I don't know why I waited so long, I guess I just thought it was so scientific/hard to read I would have a hard time using one lol Also I thought it had to be calibrated every time I used it ,but after talking to Kat I guess it's really easy to use and read and does not need to be calibrated (every time) as I thought. "Talk about feeling dumb) lol
Anyhow goes to show how valuable we all are to one another in this hobby!

Thanks Again!

 

[shawna1972]

Thanks everyone for your input I think Im going to go with the unit at Arc I talked with the staff yesterday and I guess it's a really good unit and they can also calibrate it for me as well (which I have no idea how to calibrate,(Being my first time using one) So by Monday I should have it. In the mean time TimmyNY is going to lend me his (thanks Timmy) So I can see where I'm at and get it corrected.

I don't know why I waited so long, I guess I just thought it was so scientific/hard to read I would have a hard time using one lol Also I thought it had to be calibrated every time I used it ,but after talking to Kat I guess it's really easy to use and read and does not need to be calibrated (every time) as I thought. "Talk about feeling dumb) lol
Anyhow goes to show how valuable we all are to one another in this hobby!

Thanks Again!

Wow :spin2:just seen my post after my first cup of coffee "Note to self " Do not post until fully awake!" lol My punctuations are :eek2: