Best Way To Measure Salinity? Hanna Marine Salinity Tester or Refractometer?

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Definitely the best way, the tropic Marin never needs calibration, so you check your water, when it’s 1.0264 (yes it’s that precise) you can then use that water to check your other refractometer or whatever you choose to use on a daily basis.

Store some of that water in a glass bottle with an air tight lid and you have a ready made supply of reference fluid.
Wow that's crazy, BUT if it's that accurate and consistent, why use anything else alongside it?
 

Reef.

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Wow that's crazy, BUT if it's that accurate and consistent, why use anything else alongside it?
It’s the only device I use.

Because it’s a little big, about 10 inches, it’s made of glass so you can’t throw it around, best to buy a measuring cylinder, so you have to take water out of your tank, your water has to be at 25c, (you can use a salinity correction chart if your water is say 24c and it’s tell you what the reading is)some people just prefer to stick a little plastic device into their tank and get a reading.
 
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It’s the only device I use.

Because it’s a little big, about 10 inches, it’s made of glass so you can’t throw it around, best to by a measuring cylinder, so you have to take water out of your tank, your water has to be at 25c, (you can use a salinity correction chart if your water is say 24c and it’s tell you what the reading is)some people just prefer to stick a little plastic device into their tank and get a reading.
Ohh gotcha! So for the Tropic it needs to be 25c? How do you make sure you get it at that perfect temperature (and why does it matter)?
 

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Ohh gotcha! So for the Tropic it needs to be 25c? How do you make sure you get it at that perfect temperature (and why does it matter)?
Because the hydrometer was made to float at a given height at a certain temperature, if the water is warmer or colder the device will float higher or lower in the water, giving you an incorrect reading, it’s really not as bad as it sounds, my tank runs at 25.5c so time I get 500ml out and in the cylinder it’s at 25c, or when I mix my new salt water in a bucket, I heat it before adding to the tank, then I just take some out when it reaches 25c and test it.

I’m OCD as you can probably tell so for temp I use a Paterson photography thermometer which is certified to within 0.1c it’s the old Mercury filled one, the newer ones don’t use mercury so they are only 0.3c accurate.
 

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Right now my freshly setup tank (no fish yet, just starting to cycle) is at around 33ppt salinity. So Fish Only you have more room for error? But Coral is less forgiving and harder to maintain? (Not gonna lie, starting to wonder if I got myself in over my head jumping into a Saltwater setup haha).
It’s really not that bad .
I will say if you’re doing fish only . Stick to that . Let it mature and become stable . BUT….
If you ever choose to upgrade or advance to corals you will have to visit these parameters again
 

Kellie in CA

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Oh yeah? Any calibration issues at all? That's interesting to know! Which one if you don't mind me asking?
I think all the ones on Amazon are the same, they just put different names on them.
I rarely test my tank water salinity because the ATO keeps that stable. But I use the refractometer for my water changes. Calibrate maybe 2X a year.
 

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I read the link, but if I'm honest, it sounds a bit complex to measure what sounds to be 2 different salt? Then mix in a 2 Liter bottle then finish in a separate container?

If you think mixing some table salt with some RODI water is complex, are you sure you're in the right hobby? :)

And does it really need to be that often? The Manufacturer said once a month, and I'd assume more frequent would be helpful to be sure you're always on point, but is it truly necessary? Will you really go out of calibration that much that frequently?
You can calibrate as frequently or infrequently as you wish.
 

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Definitely the best way, the tropic Marin never needs calibration, so you check your water, when it’s 1.0264 (yes it’s that precise) you can then use that water to check your other refractometer or whatever you choose to use on a daily basis.
Does it have temperature compensation, if not it is not as simple as just floating in a measuring cylinder of water.
 

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Does it have temperature compensation, if not it is not as simple as just floating in a measuring cylinder of water.
Your post is #29 if you read my post #24 you would have seen I explain exactly the process and have not claimed it’s ‘as simple as just floating in a cylinder of water”
 

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I read the link, but if I'm honest, it sounds a bit complex to measure what sounds to be 2 different salt? Then mix in a 2 Liter bottle then finish in a separate container?

And does it really need to be that often? The Manufacturer said once a month, and I'd assume more frequent would be helpful to be sure you're always on point, but is it truly necessary? Will you really go out of calibration that much that frequently?

It is not that complex

add 33 g Morton Table Salt to 970 ml RODI mix until dissolved an now you have a conductivity standard at 53 mS/cm or 35ppt
 

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Tropic Marin hydrometer. The Hanna is garbage. There I said it ...lol
1. Get 5 gallon bucket.
2. Fill with rodi water.
3. Add 2.5 cups any brand salt mix you want.
4. Mix well with small pump.
5. You don't need a chemistry degree as assumed above.
6. If all else fails go to your lfs and just buy it pre mixed..
 
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It is not that complex

add 33 g Morton Table Salt to 970 ml RODI mix until dissolved an now you have a conductivity standard at 53 mS/cm or 35ppt
Oh, that's all? Guess I got confused on the wording somehow haha. That said, why specifically Morton Table Salt and not another Table Salt? Also, not entirely sure how to measure exactly 33g (though liquid should be a bit easier I would think to measure).
 
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Tropic Marin hydrometer. The Hanna is garbage. There I said it ...lol
1. Get 5 gallon bucket.
2. Fill with rodi water.
3. Add 2.5 cups any brand salt mix you want.
4. Mix well with small pump.
5. You don't need a chemistry degree as assumed above.
6. If all else fails go to your lfs and just buy it pre mixed..
LOL Why is it garbage?

I mixed 50 gallons worth of saltwater in 3 gallon pails at a time cause I realized I should keep my 30 gallon BRUTE Garbage bin full of fresh RODI in case I need to dilute and/or to top off due to evaporation. I had bought a small pump to mix but then realized the outlets by my mixing area are taken from my Washer and Dryer so I mixed it with a stick haha.

All that said, I used one of those plastic hydrometers cause that's all I have at the moment.
 

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Tropic Marin precision hydrometer with 500mL cylinder -- reference standard.

Hanna digital (EC) salinity tester for quicker checks.
*mass produced product so seems like some get a bad one but mine closely matches the Tropic Marin and holds calibration well.

Aside -- I had poor luck with Hanna salinity calibration standard packets so switched to Randy's DIY EC salinity standard and now have no problems.
 

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Oh, that's all? Guess I got confused on the wording somehow haha. That said, why specifically Morton Table Salt and not another Table Salt? Also, not entirely sure how to measure exactly 33g (though liquid should be a bit easier I would think to measure).

It is just this scaled up from the article "dissolve 1 teaspoon (6.20 grams) of Morton's Iodized Salt in 182 mL (182 g) of freshwater"

A scale comes in very handy in this hobby at least for me.
 

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Oh, that's all? Guess I got confused on the wording somehow haha. That said, why specifically Morton Table Salt and not another Table Salt? Also, not entirely sure how to measure exactly 33g (though liquid should be a bit easier I would think to measure).
Type in 0.01g scales in Amazon, they are around $20.

I use supermarket’s own label salt, it worked fine, think Randy is just trying to suggest a salt he knows will be right for the job, so many salts out there, reduced salts etc

Here is the article Randy wrote, it can be a little daunting, there is a recipe for each method of measuring salinity, refractometer,hydrometer etc it’s very important to get the measurements exactly correct, the water is weighed too.

 

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