Refractometer Question

[Jeb0823]

Hey everyone, I just ordered a Refractometer tonigt and the calibration fluid did not come with it. Will RO water work OK to calibrate with until I get some calibration fluid?
Thanks

[HulaDad]

I have always been told distilled water is the best to calibrate with, and the refractometer I got, the instructions say use distilled to calibrate... I've never used the calibration fluid though... Never had any trouble either...

[Jeb0823]

Cool thanks for the reply. I have read a lot of people with positive and negatives of both ways on other forums but it seems the general consensus is to use calibration fluid. I will just use the distilled water for a couple days though until I can get some. Was yours pretty close right out of the box? I have been getting mine tested by a refractometer but decided it was time to get my own. What brand do you have?

[HulaDad]

Honestly, I don't know what brand I have, I bought it at The Fish Room in Raleigh, and there isn't a name on the box, or the instructions. I took it to Sea Critter's Depot, and tested it with their numerous refractometers, and it is right on the money with theirs. Theirs costed WAY more than I paid for mine... lol... He is the one that told me to use distilled over RO, because of the dissovled solids, they are always 0 in distilled, but can vary in RO. O ppm is what your looking for in a calibration fluid. That way you can set your refractometer to 0 and it will tell you the accurate salinity to a T...

[reeffreak]

There are different opinions on this. I have always used my RO/DI. I have meant to pick up some calibration fluid over the past year to use or test against but I have never gotten around to it.

[WDRAGAN]

I used distilled water on my milwaukee refractometer. The directions that came with it says to use distilled.

[CritterHeaven]

Mine is a Sybo (I think) and came with calibration fluid.