Refractometer suggestions..

[MarineFlake]

I have seen the refracotmeters for $1000 or more. Thats great, but I am not spending that kind of cash. I have come across a couple that are (Ocean Tech) like betwenn 90 and 250 dollars. Anyone have a suggestion? The all have ATC and at least one is calibrated with distilled water which seems easy enough. I am looking for something easy to read, not some kind of goofy color scale..

Thanks,

 

[reefrunner69]

RH10 ATC, you can find them on ebay for about 40-50 bucks, it's a numeric scale, not color.

 

[jamal-188]

I have one of the above and it's been working great for a year+

 

[MarineFlake]

Can you post the brand, not much on hits using rh10 atc..

 

[reefrunner69]

just use refractometer and then look for the rh10 atc. Almost all of them sold at the hobbyest level are rh10 atc, and different manufacturers put their name on it.

 

[RMPD109]

I have been checking around and been getting concerned about them. I have seen refractometers with a varied accuracy. anything from +/- 0.2 to the best of +/- 0.001 . It seems that an accuracy of +/- 0.2 would not be acceptable for our purposes. Am I looking at this wrong or do we need to be careful about the units accuracy?

 

[malkore]

if rh10 doesn't help, search for 'premium blue refractometer'...which is how I found mine.

As far as accuracy, I can tell you this model is more accurate than any swing arm hydrometer, and bulb/float type. People still use those and keep corals and fish, so I think my $45 refractometer is fine.

 

[RMPD109]

Well I got mine in the mail today. Once again ebay came through for me. Total cost of $38. Model # RHS-10ATC. If you search that on ebay you will get several hits. I am very happy with it. Accuracy is +/- .001 so its not bad at all.HTH

 

[MarineFlake]

So how do you test the accuracy? Just basing it on what the refractometer says is no more accurate than saying my hydrometer is accurate..Are you testing against a known? Just curious..

 

[BillyZ]

They are much more accurate than the swing arm hydrometers, IMO. Where the swing arms lose their accuracy is in the buildup of sediment on the arm, or if bubbles stick to the arm during testing and temperature of the tester vs the water.

An ATC refractometer can be adjusted with either a known SG solution (sold as calibrating fluid) or most simply use known pure RO/DI water. This has an SG of 1. Using a liguid with a known SG you calibrate the refractomere and rarely need to recalibrate it. (at least I rarely need to recalibrate mine) Also, reading them is so much easier, there's no.. "ahh somewhere around .021 and .023. Reading a refractometer you know exactly where the line is.

JMO

 

[randalp]

I have seen the refracotmeters for $1000 or more. Thats great, but I am not spending that kind of cash. I have come across a couple that are (Ocean Tech) like betwenn 90 and 250 dollars. Anyone have a suggestion? The all have ATC and at least one is calibrated with distilled water which seems easy enough. I am looking for something easy to read, not some kind of goofy color scale..

Thanks,

I bought this one http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...duct_Code=REFRACT-PA&Category_Code=Hydrometer

works great, and not terribly expensive as far as refractor's go.