Do the 5$ salinity checkers work??

[Mattl22]

I use the cheapy salinity checker to check my water it works for me are they unreliable ???

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[OzoneParkGuy]

not precise... can be on or off ( -5 or +5) same as deep six hydrometer. Just invest in a refractometer. Better yet check the 4 sale items, saw one on a post for $20 used and one for $50 new.

 

[tynman]

My cheap meter was off by 2 points. so if you want to take that chance then they work but how well not worth the money....

 

[tosiek]

There are people that never had a problem and people that have always gotten bunk ones. They are typically off by a bit after a while and you will never know when.

 

[masterswimmer]

I use the cheapy salinity checker to check my water it works for me are they unreliable ???

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When you say, 'the cheapy salinity checker', are you referring to the plastic swing arm hydrometers? If so, then I'd say that one of the best investments you can make for your system (under $40) is a refractometer.

Yes, this is proportionately close to 500% more expensive, but we're not talking about hundreds or thousands of dollars here. We're talking about $5 compared to $30. Well worth your hard earned money.

Russ

Edit (additional thought (or 2 :lol: ) ):
Under no circumstance do I mean for this to come off as a sales pitch. I just want to relate to you how strongly I/we feel about the inefficiency and consistency of swing arm hydrometers vs. refractometers. In our store, we can obviously sell whatever we want. Typically we inventory what customers are looking for. We obviously have the resources to stock swing arm hydrometers. There have been customers that come to us requesting them. WE DO NOT CARRY OR SELL swing arm hydrometers. We would rather lose the sale than sell them. On the other hand, we've never lost a sale of a refractometer because we refuse to carry and sell swing arm hydrometers.

We are entrusted with the lives of the animals we keep in our glass boxes. The primary life sustaining component of any marine fish, coral or invert is water. I don't think there would be any argument there. The second component is the salt used to modify the freshwater we use to ultimately arrive at an acceptable level of saltwater. Any disagreements? Ok, allow me to proceed If the saltwater we mix for our critters is the #1 component used to sustain their lives, don't you think that the least we can do for them (the fish/coral/inverts) is invest in an inexpensive enough piece of equipment (refractometer) that is arguably, infinitely superior to the cheap swing arm hydrometer that is sold in the pet big box stores?

We spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on equipment, even thousands on LED lights. Yet when it comes to the $32 refractometer, I've heard, 'that's more than I wanted to spend'. Why? Because a refractometer is not a sexy piece of hardware, like certain protein skimmers, or calcium reactors, or lights, or controllers, and the list is almost endless. This one piece of equipment should be one of the first purchases a reefer (even a FO keeper) should purchase.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox now. I hope I've made my $.02 very clear. :lol_large

Again, I remain......
Russ

 

[tttony]

For Years , a floating glass Hydrometer was all that was availble, just bobbing around reading 1.025 in my salt tank and calibrated in fresh water at 77 degrees.Then , they market the plastic ones , some can be cleaned with vineger and should be able to calibrated if they have a 1.000 marking. If they read 1.000 with freshwater and read 1.025 with my tank , then the same as my local pet shops refracter then its fine for me.. Just think how this hobby would be if we all had the same refrac, the same skimmer , the newest LED,s , if we all had Starfire glass .ect.....

 

[beerfish]

If you decide on one of the plastic hydrometers, ask someone with a refractometer to check the calibration. A lot of guys give these away once they buy a refractometer, so you can get one that will match their new refractometer and make it through your cycle.

Since you're spending a ton of cash on initial setup, if you can get one of these for free and buy one at the end of the cycle it may make sense initially, otherwise just buy a refractometer. Remember that consistency is more important than your exact salinity (within reason). If your tank is kept at 1.025 instead of 1.206 it's not a big deal as long as it doesn't go back and forth.

 

[MIKE NY]

Matt...ditto to all of the above...those plastic swing arms are useless...spend the $ for a refractometer....I can calibrate it for ya.

 

[johnny roastbeef]

I have one and I use it all the time. Yes, I have a good refractometer also. I make my salt water in the basement, while the display is upstairs. I keep the refractometer upstairs as I prefer to use daylight with the refractometer. I think it makes it much easier to read. Downstairs, when I'm making ASW, I use the swing arm to get my salinity 'close enough'. Since I always have replacement salt water on hand, I don't really care about the exact salinity, its going to change anyway due to evaporation, and I can adjust it just prior to use. I have compared the two devices and the swing arm is consistently off by .001.

I wouldnt trust it as my only means of measuring salinity, but I think it has its purpose.

 

[jerl77]

i been using them for 5 years i replace every year but i have never check it againt a refractometer so for me it works

 

[CJM1224]

sometimes it is the indian, and not the arrow...

if there are no bubbles on the swing arm, it should give you a decent reading. refractomoter is much more precise, if its calibrated correctly.