best brand of refractometer?

[Skeptic9962]

was looking at getting one not really sure if it matters too much between brands since they all look the same and work much better then a hydrometer...but since there all around the same price was checking to see if anyone has had good luck with one certain brand or bad luck with a brand

thanks for the input

=)

 

[edwing206]

I just know that the cheaper= harder to read, more expensive=easier to read, so I have read.

 

[spongebob lover]

I just know that the cheaper= harder to read, more expensive=easier to read, so I have read.

which one do you use dood? .

 

[edwing206]

I don't use one, I do the taste test. :lol:

 

[chadmace]

I got one as an early Valentine's Day gift. Tested my water that I thought was at 1.023 (recovering from a bone headed move...slowly upping to 1.026) and fount out that my water was actually at 1.020. Tested steven11's water at 1.025 however his hydrometer thinks his tank is at 1.028. Both of our Hydrometers were off by the same margin.

Don't know what one I have since I am at work, but it is easy to read, and works great.

 

[spongebob lover]

I don't use one, I do the taste test.

yuumi :lol: .
i got a hydrometer too .

 

[Curtswearing]

Most refractometers are off as few are calibrated for NSW (Natural Salt Water) or ASW (Artificial Saltwater). Most are calibrated strictly for NaCl (Sodium Chloride) and are not capable of dealing with all the additional ions (Magnesium, Strontium, Iodine, etc.) that are included with our NSW or ASW if calibrated to zero using distilled water. There is a way around this though. Instead of calibrating to 0 with distilled water, you can use 53.0 microsiemens fluid for salinity meters. More details are here. http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19518&highlight=refractometer

With all of the above caveats, I would rather have a refract that is CONSISTENTLY off by the same amount than a hydrometer that is variable.

 

[Allenfamily]

The 39.99 marine depot model is fairly easy to use, after reading the posts above I'm not sure if it is accurate but I'm betting that it is pretty close. I know the hydrometer that I was using was reading two points lower than tha RO calibrated refractometer. (We're going withe refractometer reading)