What's the best Salinity checker?

[t5Nitro]

Looking to add a comparator to my Milwaukee digital. Would it make sense to go with the Vee Gee as a manual checker? Otherwise the pinpoint salinity monitor looks intriguing just to keep on the side of my stand. Of course wouldn't be checking my new saltwater with that.

 

[ScottB]

Looking to add a comparator to my Milwaukee digital. Would it make sense to go with the Vee Gee as a manual checker? Otherwise the pinpoint salinity monitor looks intriguing just to keep on the side of my stand. Of course wouldn't be checking my new saltwater with that.

I am a huge VeeGee fan. I have two. Yes, they are overpriced but this is such a fundamental piece of equipment to the hobby IMO. Rarely needs recalibration.

 

[t5Nitro]

I am a huge VeeGee fan. I have two. Yes, they are overpriced but this is such a fundamental piece of equipment to the hobby IMO. Rarely needs recalibration.

Seems the most reasonable as I already have a digital Milwaukee. I almost would rather somehow sell and trade the Milwaukee for the pinpoint salinity monitor for my tank, and then have the manual vee gee for new saltwater and periodic tank checks. I don't have anything to compare my Milwaukee to though to see if mine is actually off. The Milwaukee I check 3x in a row and the numbers are usually the same, if anything it'll read low on the first measure and then consistent the next few times.

 

[joseserrano]

This

Aquarium Glass Hydrometer with Thermometer Salt Marine Salinity Tester Meter | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Aquarium Glass Hydrometer with Thermometer Salt Marine Salinity Tester Meter at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[neeper]

Does the glass hydrometer work well? How accurate is it?

This

Aquarium Glass Hydrometer with Thermometer Salt Marine Salinity Tester Meter | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Aquarium Glass Hydrometer with Thermometer Salt Marine Salinity Tester Meter at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[Reef.]

Does the glass hydrometer work well? How accurate is it?

Tropic Marin hydrometer is very accurate.

 

[Dbichler]

I use the tropic marine hydrometer for accuracy and Hanna for convenience my Hanna is always .02 low

 

[Bnutz]

Hanna pen. Easiest to use by far. I know how many scoops make 1.025 for my mix water so if the hanna looks off I calibrate it. It floats and has temp too. I take it fishing some times and log temp and salinity in good fishing holes

 

[Cory]

I have many devices. I have a sybon refractometer which ive never had a problem with. I also have the tropic marine floating hydrometer which is great but annoying to use. 2 different swing arm hydrometers which i dont trust, the milwalkee digital refractometer which is not accurate enough imo. I also have a 40 year old hach conductivity meter but it doesn't read high enough to measure seawater but works great. Ive had the pinpoint salinity meter which feels cheap. My next investment is a scientific conductivity meter that can read 53 Ms/c.

 

[yongwooi]

Go with Hanna salinity checker. You will love it

 

[neeper]

Go with Hanna salinity checker. You will love it

I heard the Hanna salinity checker has to be calibrated every time before use. Do you calibrate it each time before use or does it hold the calibration?

 

[gerajn01]

Seems the most reasonable as I already have a digital Milwaukee. I almost would rather somehow sell and trade the Milwaukee for the pinpoint salinity monitor for my tank, and then have the manual vee gee for new saltwater and periodic tank checks. I don't have anything to compare my Milwaukee to though to see if mine is actually off. The Milwaukee I check 3x in a row and the numbers are usually the same, if anything it'll read low on the first measure and then consistent the next few times.

Why can't the Pinpoint Salinity Monitor be used on new saltwater? Looking to buy a salinity checker and almost pulled the trigger on this until I saw this thread. Twice I heard you can't use this on new salt mixtures.

 

[ClownWrangler]

I think consistency is more important than accuracy unless your operating at the limits of salinity range. I could be wrong, but is there anything that will not do well in a reef tank just the same with a salinity of say 1.024 vs 1.026 so long as you are consistent? Even the lowest end refractometer will accurately match one salinity to another.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

I think my refractometer is from red sea. Vertex prior.
Both are your basic $40-$70 refractometers. The red sea is the better one. Lol.
I use calibration fluid
-d

 

[Reef.]

Why can't the Pinpoint Salinity Monitor be used on new saltwater? Looking to buy a salinity checker and almost pulled the trigger on this until I saw this thread. Twice I heard you can't use this on new salt mixtures.

Not sure what you mean by "pinpoint checker"? If you are referring to the Hanna conductivity checker, it can be used on new and tank salt water, but you need to keep it calibrated or it will give a wrong reading.

 

[MnFish1]

It’s hard to find a refractometer that takes accuracy to a 4th decimal point. Some might feel like there’s a big enough difference between 1.0269 and 1.0260. Aim small miss small.

But that said, I also think the pinpoint salinity probe is awesome. It worked really well for me. And when the switch got finicky, the company replaced the entire device for me without issues.

I think it’s good to have two different methods to check salinity. Conductivity and refractometer, just to double check each other. If you have redundancy, you don’t need to get the most expensive model (kind of like dual return pumps).

This is a good point. But - one problem is if you have '2' - and they are disparate how do you know which one to trust? I.e. - you need 3 measurements. Is there really a proven benefit to measuring salinity to 4 digits? Is it possible to keep salinity to such a tight range? To me - the best way to check your meters (of any kind) - is a known reference solution.

For example in my tank - I know how much salt I need to add to my Brute can to get a specific gravity of 1.026. So - I add the same amount of salt each time. If it is 1.025 vs 1.026 - I don't care. I'm only changing a slight amount of water - so I personally don't care. I guess I'm curious how 'off' the OP's refractometer is. I have never had to adjust mine. I remember a thread - where someone mentioned that if the hinge on the refractometer is dirty/corroded (not oiled) - that it will give disparate results. I make sure my glass piece moves freely each time.