Hanna Salinity Tester - first impressions

[Sleepydoc]

No worries at all. I spoke to Hanna, great customer service. I will exchange this one and hoping this is simply a unit defect as I like the probe, its simplicity and design +temp all in one. Hopefully, the replacement one will work fine.

Hopefully - In the 2 days I've had it, I love mine. Way easier to use than a refractometer. A found myself subconsciously avoiding using it because it was such an annoyance. Let us know what you find out.

 

[Ocelaris]

Question, how do you go about sterilizing this, can you rinse it in bleach? My big conundrum is I have three systems, a quarantine tank, a frag tank and a main display tank which need to be biologically isolated. I like the ability of being able to bleach my syringe with my refractometer or use different ones. Can you soak or at least rinse this unit in a sterilizing fluid?

 

[TheWalkman99]

Awesome review!
Definitely thinking about getting one. This review is swaying me to buy one

 

[Sleepydoc]

Question, how do you go about sterilizing this, can you rinse it in bleach? My big conundrum is I have three systems, a quarantine tank, a frag tank and a main display tank which need to be biologically isolated. I like the ability of being able to bleach my syringe with my refractometer or use different ones. Can you soak or at least rinse this unit in a sterilizing fluid?

This is a technical point, but you don't need to sterilize it, just sanitize it. What you really need to do is make sure ich, velvet and other diseases can't be transmitted between tanks. A rinse in DI water and drying/desiccation should be adequate.

You may be able to use vinegar or even a dilute bleach solution but I would not use either of those without checking with Hanna first.

Another option if you want to be really conservative would be to pour some tank water into a small container and measure from there, keeping the tester completely out of the tank.

 

[Stigigemla]

There are some mistakes here.

First if You calibrate a conductivity meter with a calibration solution and it shows wrong afterwards it is the calibration solution thats wrong.
The calibration just sets the meter to show 35 ppt with that solution.

Second a refractometer shows wrong salinity for every water that doesnt contain only NaCl.
Its made for NaCl solution.
A Hanna conductivity meter will show wrong salinity if the water does not have the same composition as natural sea water.

You can make a conductivity standard solution yourself with the recipe in this article: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-06/rhf/index.htm

 

[Ocelaris]

I usually like to measure all my tanks in one go, so I may reach out to Hanna on their sterilization reccomedations. I'll let you know what they come back with.

 

[Sleepydoc]

I usually like to measure all my tanks in one go, so I may reach out to Hanna on their sterilization reccomedations. I'll let you know what they come back with.

Definitely let us know. I’ve found them to be responsive when I’ve had questions in the past.

DI water and drying/desiccation should be adequate for most purposes, but you’d have to wait a bit which I imagine wouldn’t be ideal for your purposes.

Other options I can think of for quick disinfection would be vinegar, bleach and peroxide. I don’t know if any of those would be compatible with the electrodes, though.

The easiest route may be to have a small cup and fill it with enough water from the tank to make your measurement rather than dipping the tester directly in the tank. You could probably even use one of the calibration packets and rinse it out with tap water or DI water afterwards.

 

[Ocelaris]

Thanks, I've used some disenfectant for beer brewing and another while I was working at a restaurant which seemed fairly inert which I wonder if something like that is an option. I just know that the ability to just dunk and test is going to get me in trouble some day. So I'd rather ask now before I pick one up. I emailed their support, so I should hear back soon. I have a lot of their other testers, so looking forward to this one soon regardless.

 

[Sleepydoc]

Most of the homebreweing disinfectants I’m aware of use either iodine/iodophor or percarbonate which is essentially peroxide. Percobonate would definitely be reef compatible. I don’t know about the iodophor. You’d have to check on their compatibility with the electrodes. You should also check to see how much contact time they require to be effective.

 

[Pedal Dangit]

If my LFS, BRS refractometer and ekoral probe are all showing 1.025 and Hanna is showing 1.022, then I dont need a scientific article on which one is not working properly. I don’t care re the science behind it or their breakthrough connectivity technology etc - they are irrelevant, they can use dark magic to give me accurate readings and I’d be happy with that. Today, if I mix my salt to 1.025 according to Hanna’s probe, I will probably end up with actual salinity closer to 1.03, which I suspect may not work out well for my tank inhabitants.

I just got mine and I calibrated it twice (2nd time making sure the supplied solution was at temp) I am getting the same kind of results. I have two refractometers that I calibrate with BRS refractometer solution, and those measure about 1.025 - 1.026. The hanna tester is giving me 1.022. If I drop it back in the hanna solution again, it reads 1.027. I don't know what to think, I was fairly sure the refractometers were accurate. Also my LFS says they keep water at 1.025-1.026 and that is what I get when I test it with said refractometers. o_O Has my salinity been low all this time or ??? YES! see edit #2

I don't know if I want to send it back or not. :(

edit: so after playing around with it for a while I tried clearing the current calibration and setting it back to default mode. It now reads an expected 1.025
So maybe is the calibration solution the problem?

2nd EDIT: My bad! turns out BOTH of my refractometers fell equally out of calibration. After calibrating and re-calibrating everything, my water is salinity is LOW! So I am happy to find that out. leaving my earlier comments, but I was wrong to trust the refractometers. Guess I need to calibrate those every time I use them. funny how they were both equally out of calibration.

 

[Stigigemla]

A refractometer works in a totally different way compared to conductivity meter so it is totally normal that they show different values with calibration solutions.
Here you can read about different calibration solutions and how You make them. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-06/rhf/index.htm
Out of sodium chloride (table salt) 3,74 % shows 3,5% on a refractometer but the conductivity meter should use 3,29%

 

[Ocelaris]

I heard back from Hanna about disenfecting between tanks, kind of a non answer, but I guess ro is fine?

Hello, I'm wondering the best method to sterilize the new HI98319 Marine Salinity Tester between tanks? Can I dip it in bleach and rinse with ro water? I have three separate reef systems and a salt water make up container and I don't want to transfer disease between tanks, but ideally measure all the tanks in one go.



Thank you for reaching out! Below is a short guide to care and maintenance of the salinity meter. Additionally in between tanks you can do an RO rinse to not transfer anything. Feel free to reach out with any additional questions.

 

[Stigigemla]

I use the following system and until now I have no had any problems with parasites spreading around in the tanks.
I begin with the salt mixing tank.
Then the coral system. (Very seldom I add new fish there).
After that the fish selling tanks.
And last the quarantine.
After that I rinse the meter in RODI water.

 

[Aceone]

Just got mine and my sg is on point but my temp is off by 1.0 degree. Both my digital thermometer and my apex prob read the same and hanna is lower by 1.0. Anyone else have this issue?

 

[Hanna Instruments Verified Sponsor]

I heard back from Hanna about disenfecting between tanks, kind of a non answer, but I guess ro is fine?

Hello, I'm wondering the best method to sterilize the new HI98319 Marine Salinity Tester between tanks? Can I dip it in bleach and rinse with ro water? I have three separate reef systems and a salt water make up container and I don't want to transfer disease between tanks, but ideally measure all the tanks in one go.



Thank you for reaching out! Below is a short guide to care and maintenance of the salinity meter. Additionally in between tanks you can do an RO rinse to not transfer anything. Feel free to reach out with any additional questions.

A dilute bleach solution can work to disinfectant the meter, however do not submerge the meter in bleach for prolonged periods of time and make sure to rinse the meter off with RODI afterwards before storage or use in another aquarium.

 

[hotashes]

Which ratio of dilution of the bleach do you suggest? I use thin non fragrances bleach.

A.

 

[Hanna Instruments Verified Sponsor]

Which ratio of dilution of the bleach do you suggest? I use thin non fragrances bleach.

A.

1 part bleach to 5 parts DI water should be fine, it depends on the concentration of sodium hypochlorite.

 

[hotashes]

1 part bleach to 5 parts DI water should be fine, it depends on the concentration of sodium hypochlorite.

Mine states ‘under the ingredients header’ Sodium Hupochlorite (available chlorine 0.80g/100g)

A.

 

[fernalfer]

so my Temp is off 5 degrees from what my tank heater and thermometer in tank read. My tank reads 78. The tempon the Hanna Checker reads 73. Now my corals are doing great which leads me to believe the hanna is wrong. Also my Refractometer reads 1.026 after calibration and my Hanna Salinity checker reads 1.027. Anything i can do about the Temp part?

 

[Hanna Instruments Verified Sponsor]

so my Temp is off 5 degrees from what my tank heater and thermometer in tank read. My tank reads 78. The tempon the Hanna Checker reads 73. Now my corals are doing great which leads me to believe the hanna is wrong. Also my Refractometer reads 1.026 after calibration and my Hanna Salinity checker reads 1.027. Anything i can do about the Temp part?

Please contact [email protected] and we can assist you. The HI98319 has a Temperature Accuracy ±0.5°C; 1°F.