Tropic Marin Hydrometer

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

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I read that people drip acclimate for an hour but that sounded excessive i did a short 15 minute drip acclimation and i did float the bag in my tank for a good 15 as well. If you do not think that drip acclimation is the preffered method i will take that advice. The fish were bagged for about 25 minutes. From the shop to home.

I rarely use drip acclimation, here is a primer on acclimation that I wrote up that explains why:

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/acclimation-methods.903/

 

[winxp_man]

@Jay Hemdal that a really good write up!

My version is temp acclimation is similar.

Temp acclimate for 10-15 minutes.
Leave fish in 3 cups of water for example.
Take one cup of tank water it’s going in put it in the bag.
Wait 10 minutes
Put another cup of tank water
wait 10 mintues
Remove a cup of water from bag put another cup from tank
Wait ten minutes.
I do this 4 times. Total about 50 minutes with temp acclimation

Have yet to lose a fish.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

@Jay Hemdal that a really good write up!

My version is temp acclimation is similar.

Temp acclimate for 10-15 minutes.
Leave fish in 3 cups of water for example.
Take one cup of tank water it’s going in put it in the bag.
Wait 10 minutes
Put another cup of tank water
wait 10 mintues
Remove a cup of water from bag put another cup from tank
Wait ten minutes.
I do this 4 times. Total about 50 minutes with temp acclimation

Have yet to lose a fish.

That acclimation method works fine for fish that are coming from a LFS, where the salinity is similar to that of your tank. For overnight shipped fish, or those that arrive at a lower salinity, folks should first match the salinity, and for shipped fish, consider moving the fish to similar water new seawater and then acclimating to the tank. That removes any ammonia and reduces that toxicity issue where the pH of the water rises in the acclimation bag faster than the ammonia is being removed (the pH increase makes any ammonia present, much more toxic).

 

[Luke Schnabel]

Your best bet to use that is to buy a graduated cylindar or take a 5 gallon bucket and fill it full of tank water. The water you are testing needs to be perfectly still to get the most accurate reading.

I myself just take a 5 gallon bucket and fill it with saltwater. Let it rest for 5 min and take the reading. Then I calibrate my refractometer to that. After my refractometer is calibrated, I use it for a few weeks to measure salinity.

 

[dank.reefer]

I mix water for my water changes in a 32g brute can. Every time I do I use the TM float hydrometer to verify the SG. Since this water is also heated to the same temperature as my tank's I also calibrate my refractometer at that time.

I have used the Hanna salinity wand and ended up throwing it away. I would calibrate the wand test the water, clean it calibrate it again and test the water again within 5-10min. and get a reading the was 0.1-0.3 different. The Hanna wand also didn’t match the reading from my TM float ever. At that point you may as well taste the water and guess. I also had the same issue with many of the cheap refractometers on the market. I eventually settled on the Reef Sea refractometer from National Industrial Supply. The Reef Sea refractometer was the only one that agreed with my TM float right out of the box, and it holds its calibration very well. I have only had to re-calibrate it 1 time since purchasing it 1 year ago and I use it 3-4 times a week.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I have used the Hanna salinity wand and ended up throwing it away. I would calibrate the wand test the water, clean it calibrate it again and test the water again within 5-10min. and get a reading the was 0.1-0.3 different.

If that is in ppt, that result is not surprising at all and is well within the Hanna claimed specifications. To think it would outperform its own specifications by a factor of 10 is unrealistic, IMO.

Salinity Accuracy

±1 ppt for 0.0 to 40.0 ppt, ±2 ppt for readings over 40.0 ppt, ±1 PSU for 0.0 to 40.0 PSU , ±2 PSU for readings over 40.0 PSU, ±0.001 S.G.

https://hannainst.com/marine-salini...CHe6tE1mld0VhnzSXU-i_827bOU5apeK_C-v0S7Rw_Rme

 

[dank.reefer]

I have used the Hanna salinity wand and ended up throwing it away. I would calibrate the wand test the water, clean it calibrate it again and test the water again within 5-10min. and get a reading the was 0.1-0.3 different.

If that is in ppt, that result is not surprising at all and is well within the Hanna claimed specifications. To think it would outperform its own specifications by a factor of 10 is unrealistic, IMO.

Salinity Accuracy

±1 ppt for 0.0 to 40.0 ppt, ±2 ppt for readings over 40.0 ppt, ±1 PSU for 0.0 to 40.0 PSU , ±2 PSU for readings over 40.0 PSU, ±0.001 S.G.

https://hannainst.com/marine-salini...CHe6tE1mld0VhnzSXU-i_827bOU5apeK_C-v0S7Rw_Rme

I realize now that I misreported the readings I was getting the 0.1-0.3 should have been 0.010-0.013.

Maybe I just got a bad one but this was on the SG setting, since I was using the TM float for the standard and it reads in SG. When testing the water in my mixing bin the SG rarely would correlate with my float. I would get readings of 1.015 then calibrate and get 1.027, then calibrate and get 1.020 and so forth. This was all within minutes and all in the same exact bin of freshly(24hour)mixed salt water. I even bought a whole new set of calibration fluids thinking that that was the issue. I also saw the same thing happen at my LFS were a customer was concerned with the accuracy of his wand so the LFS owner calibrated his wand and the customers wand and then placed them both in the same tank and the 2 wands would disagree.

This has just been my experience. Maybe this is within tolerance for their device? I feel that for the price the wand should have better accuracy, no? I mean 1.015-1.027 range that is the difference between hypo and hyper salinity. That may be ok but, I personally prefer to have a tighter range than that and I feel that I can achieve that using the TM float and calibrating my refractometer to that. I really should mix up a batch of your calibration liquid using table salt I just haven’t got around to it.

Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos of the discrepancy and looking back I probably could have had Hanna take a look at it and they may have been able to help. I feel like I have found a method that works well for me now, and I will stick with it.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I realize now that I misreported the readings I was getting the 0.1-0.3 should have been 0.010-0.013.

Maybe I just got a bad one but this was on the SG setting, since I was using the TM float for the standard and it reads in SG. When testing the water in my mixing bin the SG rarely would correlate with my float. I would get readings of 1.015 then calibrate and get 1.027, then calibrate and get 1.020 and so forth. This was all within minutes and all in the same exact bin of freshly(24hour)mixed salt water. I even bought a whole new set of calibration fluids thinking that that was the issue. I also saw the same thing happen at my LFS were a customer was concerned with the accuracy of his wand so the LFS owner calibrated his wand and the customers wand and then placed them both in the same tank and the 2 wands would disagree.

This has just been my experience. Maybe this is within tolerance for their device? I feel that for the price the wand should have better accuracy, no? I mean 1.015-1.027 range that is the difference between hypo and hyper salinity. That may be ok but, I personally prefer to have a tighter range than that and I feel that I can achieve that using the TM float and calibrating my refractometer to that. I really should mix up a batch of your calibration liquid using table salt I just haven’t got around to it.

Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos of the discrepancy and looking back I probably could have had Hanna take a look at it and they may have been able to help. I feel like I have found a method that works well for me now, and I will stick with it.

I think you mean another zero too? 0.001 to 0.003 off? 1.024 to 1.027, for example?

Certainly I agree there's a problem with 1.020 to 1.027, but that's not a typical result as best I can tell from others comments.

In any case, while I'm not pushing the Hanna and have never used one, I do like good conductivity meters and think they are more handy, if not entirely fool proof like the TM hydrometer. As I mentioned earlier, I have a suspicion one of the issues with the Hanna is their calibration packets. If you use it again, try a diy calibration fluid.

 

[dank.reefer]

I realize now that I misreported the readings I was getting the 0.1-0.3 should have been 0.010-0.013.

Maybe I just got a bad one but this was on the SG setting, since I was using the TM float for the standard and it reads in SG. When testing the water in my mixing bin the SG rarely would correlate with my float. I would get readings of 1.015 then calibrate and get 1.027, then calibrate and get 1.020 and so forth. This was all within minutes and all in the same exact bin of freshly(24hour)mixed salt water. I even bought a whole new set of calibration fluids thinking that that was the issue. I also saw the same thing happen at my LFS were a customer was concerned with the accuracy of his wand so the LFS owner calibrated his wand and the customers wand and then placed them both in the same tank and the 2 wands would disagree.

This has just been my experience. Maybe this is within tolerance for their device? I feel that for the price the wand should have better accuracy, no? I mean 1.015-1.027 range that is the difference between hypo and hyper salinity. That may be ok but, I personally prefer to have a tighter range than that and I feel that I can achieve that using the TM float and calibrating my refractometer to that. I really should mix up a batch of your calibration liquid using table salt I just haven’t got around to it.

Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos of the discrepancy and looking back I probably could have had Hanna take a look at it and they may have been able to help. I feel like I have found a method that works well for me now, and I will stick with it.

I think you mean another zero too? 0.001 to 0.003 off? 1.024 to 1.027, for example?

Certainly I agree there's a problem with 1.020 to 1.027, but that's not a typical result as best I can tell from others comments.

In any case, while I'm not pushing the Hanna and have never used one, I do like good conductivity meters and think they are more handy, if not entirely fool proof like the TM hydrometer. As I mentioned earlier, I have a suspicion one of the issues with the Hanna is their calibration packets. If you use it again, try a diy calibration fluid.

It is very possible that the calibration fluid packets were the issue in my case however, I gave up on the meter a year or so ago. I no longer have it to verify against a DIY standard solution. I should be using a more consistent solution and I intend to make one at some point, once I have a spare minute.

 

[winxp_man]

I realize now that I misreported the readings I was getting the 0.1-0.3 should have been 0.010-0.013.

Maybe I just got a bad one but this was on the SG setting, since I was using the TM float for the standard and it reads in SG. When testing the water in my mixing bin the SG rarely would correlate with my float. I would get readings of 1.015 then calibrate and get 1.027, then calibrate and get 1.020 and so forth. This was all within minutes and all in the same exact bin of freshly(24hour)mixed salt water. I even bought a whole new set of calibration fluids thinking that that was the issue. I also saw the same thing happen at my LFS were a customer was concerned with the accuracy of his wand so the LFS owner calibrated his wand and the customers wand and then placed them both in the same tank and the 2 wands would disagree.

This has just been my experience. Maybe this is within tolerance for their device? I feel that for the price the wand should have better accuracy, no? I mean 1.015-1.027 range that is the difference between hypo and hyper salinity. That may be ok but, I personally prefer to have a tighter range than that and I feel that I can achieve that using the TM float and calibrating my refractometer to that. I really should mix up a batch of your calibration liquid using table salt I just haven’t got around to it.

Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos of the discrepancy and looking back I probably could have had Hanna take a look at it and they may have been able to help. I feel like I have found a method that works well for me now, and I will stick with it.

How are you calibrating the Hanna salinity checker?

 

[dank.reefer]

I realize now that I misreported the readings I was getting the 0.1-0.3 should have been 0.010-0.013.

Maybe I just got a bad one but this was on the SG setting, since I was using the TM float for the standard and it reads in SG. When testing the water in my mixing bin the SG rarely would correlate with my float. I would get readings of 1.015 then calibrate and get 1.027, then calibrate and get 1.020 and so forth. This was all within minutes and all in the same exact bin of freshly(24hour)mixed salt water. I even bought a whole new set of calibration fluids thinking that that was the issue. I also saw the same thing happen at my LFS were a customer was concerned with the accuracy of his wand so the LFS owner calibrated his wand and the customers wand and then placed them both in the same tank and the 2 wands would disagree.

This has just been my experience. Maybe this is within tolerance for their device? I feel that for the price the wand should have better accuracy, no? I mean 1.015-1.027 range that is the difference between hypo and hyper salinity. That may be ok but, I personally prefer to have a tighter range than that and I feel that I can achieve that using the TM float and calibrating my refractometer to that. I really should mix up a batch of your calibration liquid using table salt I just haven’t got around to it.

Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos of the discrepancy and looking back I probably could have had Hanna take a look at it and they may have been able to help. I feel like I have found a method that works well for me now, and I will stick with it.

How are you calibrating the Hanna salinity checker?

The Hanna salinity "tester"(Hanna doesn't make a salinity "checker" that I am aware of)uses packets of Hanna calibration fluid. So in order to calibrate the Salinity wand I would rinse the tester in RODI thoroughly dry the wand including the contacts using a clean lint free towel and drop the wand in the Hanna calibration fluid.

 

[W31Olds]

My Hanna is usually within +.001+.002 SG of my TM. This is good enough to mix up SW and check my Tanks. I usually make a mental note of the offset. It's very easy to tell if it gets out of wack when you have a couple of Tanks running. Mine holds Calibration very well. I also think people place far too much emphasis on Salinity Accuracy. Salinity variations in the Ocean happen and variations of +/- .002 in a Home System don't seem to cause problems. It's the sudden changes that can cause issues and standard water changes can't impact the overall Tank all that much. We should focus more on ATO Systems anyway as they can cause real problems if they dump water.

 

[winxp_man]

The Hanna salinity "tester"(Hanna doesn't make a salinity "checker" that I am aware of)uses packets of Hanna calibration fluid. So in order to calibrate the Salinity wand I would rinse the tester in RODI thoroughly dry the wand including the contacts using a clean lint free towel and drop the wand in the Hanna calibration fluid.

What I did with the two I have is keep the sample pack in to temp regulate in the tank I’m gonna tests. Has yet to fail me. I would do the version where you clean off the reader then in the sample pack it goes and it would give me readings that were way off. No issues since.

 

[dank.reefer]

What I did with the two I have is keep the sample pack in to temp regulate in the tank I’m gonna tests. Has yet to fail me. I would do the version where you clean off the reader then in the sample pack it goes and it would give me readings that were way off. No issues since.

If I ever get another one I will try this. For now I will just stick with the float hydrometer and refractometer. It has worked well for me to this point. Thanks for the advise though. I admit I can be a bit quick to pass judgment and give up on devices that don't work the way I expect them too. A little more patience could certainly help me in this arena.....LOL

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

One thing I have found with inexpensive conductivity meters relative to higher end instruments is the time needed for the temperature sensor to correctly compensate for the difference in temp from 25 deg C. That was a big advantage of my Orion over the Pinpoint, even when both eventually got to about the same reading.

That may be why you would get a better reading and calibration at tank temp: you do not have to wait as long as if the water or standard temp is farther from 25 deg C.

 

[RobertK]

I eventually settled on the Reef Sea refractometer from National Industrial Supply.

I looked for that but couldn't find any refractometers on the NIS website. Do you mean Red Sea?

 

[dank.reefer]

I eventually settled on the Reef Sea refractometer from National Industrial Supply.

I looked for that but couldn't find any refractometers on the NIS website. Do you mean Red Sea?

https://www.nisupply.com/collections/pet-supplies-fish-aquariums-aquariums-tanks

 

[dank.reefer]

I don't see The Reef Sea refractometer listed here at the moment but they have many to chose from from cheapo to precision digital. Refractometers is the game of nisupply.com

 

[RobertK]

I don't see The Reef Sea refractometer listed here at the moment but they have many to chose from from cheapo to precision digital. Refractometers is the game of nisupply.com

Thanks. I was looking at a different company with the same name!

 

[dank.reefer]

Thanks. I was looking at a different company with the same name!

I don't see The Reef Sea refractometer listed here at the moment but they have many to chose from from cheapo to precision digital. Refractometers is the game of nisupply.com

https://www.nisupply.com/products/s...kdLchptCC9TUpOb7pFnZ8DeTlwUA3TeA6ZGjrfSc8CBbI
I did a Google search and I was able to find a link to the exact refractometer that I purchased a little over a year ago and am quite happy with. I was originally shipped their newest version of this refractometer and called them to specify that this Reef Sea version is the exact one I wanted. I was pleased to reach a real human being on the phone who swapped out my refractometer no questions asked and covered the shipping for the mix up. If you intend to purchase this refractometer you may want to call them directly to make sure this is what they send.