refractometer or calibration solution idk which one to believe

[kane720]

alright i just got some aqua craft products refractometer calibration solution from BRS. I calibrated the refractometer to the 35 ppt. rinse off the refractometer and test tank water and its reading 35 ppt! think to myself this can't be right so i calibrated the refrato, 3 times and get the same result all 3 times. go test the tank water once again and it's 35 ppt once again. i then test my ro water straight out the unit and it's reading 6 ppt. does this mean the solution is off or the refractometer is off?

 

[RBursek]

That seems about right, when calibrated with the solution, which is what you should do, it will read above 0 with RO/DI or distilled water. You can skim read this article until you get to that area in it. Why do you guestion you tank water reading? 35ppt is 1.0264 SG.
Refractometers and Salinity Measurement by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

 

[kane720]

yeah i'm an idiot. i was calibrating it to the wrong scale. thats why i usually try to stay away from my tank when i have a buzz. lol

 

[RBursek]

And the answer you got at RC about maybe your RODI filters are bad has/had nothing to do with your refactometer reading, my RODI TDS is 0 and my tap water runs 480TDS and reads the same on my recatometer, TDS would have to be in the 1000's to show a difference.