refractometer question

Hello
I bought my first refractometer from ebay.
Salinity Refractometer 4 Aquarium Hydrometer - SOFTCASE - eBay (item 390240155644 end time Dec-14-10 12:53:42 PST)
The question is; what side do you read? the left or right.

 

I read the left side personally .. 1.02x is the area (I have been shooting for 1.024) he seems to be a bit high in that image. lol.

 

Left side on that one, 1.025 for your reef. That appears to be for alcohol but should work for saltwater.

 

Most of us will probably refer to the number on the left as we look at it

which is 1.036 ish ( and extremely high)
your target would be that line right next to 1.020 - which if I am reading the scale correctly would make it 1.025 - which on the right would be 30 (half way between 20 and 40)

Steve

 

which refractometer to get?
post #5

 

Is 1.027 the red line I marked?

 

I have purchased a refractometer from Ebay; however, you have seemed to purchase one for distilled alcohol. They sell one for salinity and the one for salinity shows the SG on the left and the PPT on the right. Also make sure it has ATC (Automatic Temperature Compensation) otherwise it will be inaccurate and i'm not totally sure about the accuracy of the alcohol meter but if it does what it says which is reads specific gravity of water(salinity or dissolved salts in the water) then it should be fine.

 

The refractometer is a RHS-10ATC model just like
REFRACT-PA-K Premium Aquatics - REFRACT-PA-K
Guess I got to wait for it to come here.

 

I'm assuming that it is judging by this refractometer. btw i think that the salinity is the right side and specific gravity is left

 

SG equals ppt, but SG is temprature dependant. This means that at 20 degrees celsius (68 degrees farenheit), the left side is accurate ppt.

"At 60 degrees F
35 ppt = 1.026 S.G.

At 70 degrees F
35 ppt = 1.025 S.G.

At 80 degrees F
35 ppt = 1.023 S.G.
"
From another forum post @ SWF

The scale on this refractometer is pretty weird, TBH. It has 10 large hashes with 5 smaller between, one smaller in the middle, and 5 on the other side (the middle one matches one on the inner side, for 92 total markings), but measures from 1.000 to 1.070. The other side is just as weird, with the same number of markings, but with 100 values (0 to 100).

So, for SG, each hash mark is equal to .000761. To get SG, do number of hashes times .761. For ppt, do number of hashes times .92. Also, your water needs to be at 20 Celsius for the SG measurement to be correct, and possibly for the ppt to be correct, unless you recalibrate it with water at a different temperature.