Hydros Salinity Probe

[gabelex14]

I sent my first ICP test off to Fauna Marin. The PH probe that Hydros sends which is from Milwaukee was literally spot on. However the salinity probe was off enough to bomb all corals in a tank. Luckily I never trust it and stick to my refractometer. Anyone have any tips for the salinity probe. It should be noted that I calibrated the a month ago so that's not an issue.

 

[Mebbid]

A lot of salinity probes can have issues with accuracy; stray voltage can be a huge problem for them. One thing that hydros has is the IV which works as an isolation vessel so there's no interference giving your salinity probe a more accurate reading, that and it allows automated testing of alkalinity.

 

[n2585722]

I sent my first ICP test off to Fauna Marin. The PH probe that Hydros sends which is from Milwaukee was literally spot on. However the salinity probe was off enough to bomb all corals in a tank. Luckily I never trust it and stick to my refractometer. Anyone have any tips for the salinity probe. It should be noted that I calibrated the a month ago so that's not an issue.

New probes will drift the first few weeks you have them in your system. I would try recalibration of the probe. Which way is is off? Is it reading too high or too low?

 

[Connor At CoralVue]

Make sure to reach out to official support, we can always remote in and check what may be going on.

1) Probe K: HYDROS Salinity Probes have a K Factor of 10. Make sure this is set correctly in the Salinity Input settings.

2) Temp Input Compensation, make sure to use your Temp Input for Salinity to auto compensate.

3) Calibration. Make sure to calibrate the Salinity Probe every 8 weeks w/ 28PPT and 35PPT Solutions, also, make sure to TEMP ACCLIMATE the calibration solutions. That step is extremely important.

 

[Ken S]

I have found that calibrating with Hydros fluid (or any other brand for that matter) is when the problems begin. Surprisingly, I do have some stray voltage going on but my Hydros salinity probe is completely unnaffected, while my orp and both ph probes are.

The only way I can get Hydros salinity probe to not swing wildly:

Step 1 - toss the calibration fluid in the trash
Step 2 - clear calibration
Step 3 - buy a Tropic Marin glass hydrometer and a 1000ml graduated cylinder
Step 4 - read the artice and mix Randy's standard salinity solution found here https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/reef-aquarium-salinity-diy-calibration-standards.956/
Step 5 - after your TM glass hydrometer is calibrated, write down the value and use the probe offset to set the probe to the TM hydrometer's reading
Step 6 - if it ever starts to drift, get out the graduated cylinder and again use the offset to set the probe to whatever the TM hydrometer is reading.

My opinion is these salinity probes should not be used as a definitaive, be all, end all salinty reading. They should only be used as an alarm bell of sorts, for instance, if your ATO gets stuck on, so it can warn you soemthing is wrong. Use the TM glass hydrometer as the definitive reading that you can and should depend on. DON'T depend fully on the salinity probe. It's just a warning something could be wrong.