Refractometers and Salinity Measurement

Salinity is one of the most important parameters measured in reef aquaria. It controls not only the
salt balance between an organism and its surrounding environment, but also the levels of a host of ions
in seawater that aquarists neither measure nor control independently. Consequently, aquarists must
monitor salinity to ensure that organisms are not stressed by moving between aquaria of potentially
different salinity, and that the salinity of the aquarium itself is controlled within ranges that organisms
thrive in.

Fortunately for aquarists, most marine organisms are fairly forgiving of the exact salinity, and high
quality reef aquaria can seemingly have a fairly wide range of salinity. Reef aquarists monitor salinity
in a variety of ways. These include specific gravity measurement using hydrometers, conductivity
measurement using electronic meters and refractive index measurement using refractometers. For
many years reef hobbyists have had high expectations of accuracy when using refractometers. To some
extent this may be because early models may have been more accurate than some of the very
inexpensive refractometers in use today, but the lack of standards available to actually test them
probably also contributed to this acceptance of their accuracy. Now that such standards are both
commercially available and can be DIY projects, many aquarists have come to find that their
refractometers are not as accurate as they had assumed.

This article describes how refractometers work, what the concerns are with different types of
commercial models that may be less than optimal for reef aquarium purposes, and how best to
calibrate them (which is often not what the directions that come with them claim).

The sections are:

 General Salinity Discussion

 What is the Index of Refraction?
 Refractive Index and Salinity
 Refractive Index and Ion Imbalances in Seawater
 How a Refractometer Works
 Temperature and Refractive Index: ATC
 Refractometer Calibration
 Imperfect Refractometer Calibration: Offset Miscalibration
 Imperfect Refractometer Calibration: Slope Miscalibration
 Imperfect Refractometer Use: Scale Misunderstanding and Salt Refractometers
 Brix Refractometers
 Clinical Refractometers
 Commercial Refractometer Standards
 Do-it-yourself Refractometer Standards
 Tips on Selecting a Refractometer
 Tips on Calibrating a Refractometer
 Other Tips on Using a Refractometer
 Summary

General Salinity Discussion

As far as I know, little evidence suggests that keeping a coral reef aquarium at anything other than a
natural oceanic salinity level is preferable to natural seawater's salinity. It nevertheless appears to be
common practice to keep marine fish and, in many cases, reef aquaria, at somewhat lower than natural
oceanic salinity levels. This practice stems, at least in part, from the belief that fish are less stressed at
reduced salinity. Substantial misunderstandings also arise among aquarists as to how specific
gravity really relates to salinity, especially considering the effects of temperature.

Seawater's salinity is generally defined in parts per thousand by weight (ppt) or in practical salinity
units (PSU), which often is shown simply as S=35, or whatever the value actually is. In this article I will
mostly use ppt, because that more appropriately applies to solutions whose composition deviates
greatly from seawater (such as sodium chloride solutions used to make certain standards).

The salinity on natural reefs has been discussed in a previous article. Based on such information, my
recommendation is to maintain salinity at a natural level of about 35 ppt (abbreviated as ‰ and also as
PSU, practical salinity units). If the aquarium's organisms are from brackish environments with lower
salinity, or from the Red Sea with higher salinity, selecting something other than 35 ppt may make
good sense. Otherwise, I suggest targeting a salinity of 35 ppt (specific gravity = 1.0264;
conductivity = 53 mS/cm; refractive index = 1.33940).

Recommendations aside, high quality reef aquaria exist with a fairly wide range of salinity. Many
highly successful reef aquaria have salinity in the range of 32-36 ppt, or specific gravity in the range of
1.024 to 1.027.

What is the Index of Refraction?

The index of refraction (or refractive index) is the ratio of the speed of light traveling through a
vacuum to the speed of light in the material being tested. Most aquarists do not realize that when using
a refractometer, they are measuring the speed of light through their aquarium's water, so having such
knowledge might be a good way to impress friends with your technical abilities!

Light travels through most materials more slowly than it does through a vacuum, so their refractive
index is higher than 1.00000. The detailed mathematics and physics behind refractive index are
actually quite complicated, because it is often a complex number with real and imaginary parts, but a
simple version is adequate for all purposes that a reef aquarist would encounter. Some materials slow
light traveling through them more than others, and slower light travel leads to a higher refractive
index. Table 1 shows some typical refractive index values for comparative purposes.

Table 1. Index of Refraction of Various Materials.

Material Index of Refraction
Vacuum 1.0000
Air 1.0003
Water (pure) 1.3330
Seawater (35 ppt) 1.3394
Ethyl alcohol 1.361
Sugar Ssolution (80% sugar) 1.49
Glass (soda lime) 1.510
Bromine (liquid) 1.661
Ruby 1.760
Diamond 2.417

In solutions of two compounds, such as ethyl alcohol in water, sugar in water or salt in water, the
refractive index changes in step with how much of each component is present. Scientists have long
known this to be true, and refractometers have a long history of use in brewing, sugar refining,
analyzing blood and urine protein and many other industries where a quick measure of refractive index
can lead to a good assessment of what is present.

Refractive index generally cannot reveal the identity of compounds in water, but when an aquarist
knows roughly what material is there he can determine how much of it is there (within the refractive
index's detection capability). Changes in refractive index are not suitable for determining trace levels of
ions (such as the purity of freshwater coming out of an RO/DI (reverse osmosis/deionization)
purification system), but it can do a good job when significant amounts of a known material are
present.

For example, refractive index cannot determine whether a salt in water is potassium sulfate, sodium
chloride, magnesium nitrate or calcium bromide, but if you know which of these you have by some
other means (such as the name on a chemical's bottle), then you can determine how much is present in
solution by measuring the refractive index, and then looking it up in a table that relates the refractive
index to the concentration of that material.

Refractive Index and Salinity

Aquarists can use the effects that added salts have on the refractive index of a water solution to
determine the salinity of reef aquarium water. As the salinity of seawater rises, the amount of salt
added rises, so the refractive index rises. Figure 1 plots seawater's refractive index vs. its salinity.
Figure 2 shows a similar plot of seawater's refractive index vs. specific gravity. These data are also
summarized in Table 1. These sets of data demonstrate how aquarists can use refractive index to
measure salinity and specific gravity, assuming they have a refractometer that can read in the
appropriate refractive index range.

Figure 1. A plot of the relationship between the refractive index and the salinity of seawater.
 Figure 2. A plot of the relationship between the refractive index and the specific gravity
of seawater in the range of interest to most reef aquarists. The black circles represent data
points for whole values of the salinity (33, ppt, 34 ppt, 35, ppt, etc).

Table 2. Specific gravity and refractive index as a function of seawater’s

salinity of seawater. The darker blue rows represent the range usually
encountered in the open ocean.
Specific Gravity at 25°
Salinity (ppt) Refractive Index (20° C)
C
0 1.0000 1.33300
30 1.0226 1.33851
31 1.0233 1.33869
32 1.0241 1.33886
33 1.0249 1.33904
34 1.0256 1.33922
35 1.0264 1.33940
36 1.0271 1.33958
37 1.0279 1.33976
38 1.0286 1.33994
39 1.0294 1.34012

Refractive Index and Ion Imbalances in Seawater

It turns out that an aqueous solution's refractive index is relatively insensitive to small changes in the
solution's ionic makeup. For example, the usual changes in seawater's major ions that are encountered
in a reef aquarium do not greatly alter the measured salinity. However, large differences in the big four
ions (chloride, sulfate, sodium and magnesium) will alter the relationship between refractive index and
salinity or specific gravity.

From refractive index tables found in chemical reference books, we can find that a 10 weight percent
solution of sodium chloride has the same refractive index as a seven weight percent solution of
magnesium chloride, a nine weight percent solution of magnesium sulfate and a 12 weight percent
solution of sodium sulfate. These results indicate that some effects could relate to shifts between these
ions in a reef aquarium, but that these effects are small. We can use these values to roughly predict how
far off salinity measurements might be with some typical changes in the major ions. If we start with 35
ppt seawater, which normally has the following components,

Chloride 19,350 ppm

Sodium 10,780 ppm
Sulfate 2,700 ppm
Magnesium 1,280 ppm

and substitute more or less magnesium chloride in place of sodium chloride, while maintaining overall
salinity at 35 ppt, we get the results shown in Table 3. The effect can be readily understood in that
sodium chloride has a smaller effect on refractive index than does the same weight of magnesium
chloride. So if magnesium is low, the refractive index will be low, and reported salinity will be a bit low.
But overall these issues result in a very small error in salinity (in terms of the precision that reef
aquarists are typically concerned with, say, ± 1 ppt), so the conclusion is that refractive index is a
suitable way to measure salinity regardless of ordinary chemical imbalances.

Table 3. The error in salinity measurement via refractive index when

magnesium is present at unusually high or low concentrations. The darker blue
row represents natural seawater.
Relative
Magnesium Predicted
Salinity (ppt) Refractive Index Error in
(ppm) Salinity (ppt)
Salinity (%)
800 35 1.33925 34.2 2.2
900 35 1.33928 34.3 2.0
1000 35 1.33931 34.5 1.4
1100 35 1.33934 34.7 0.9
1200 35 1.33938 34.9 0.3
1280 35 1.33940 35.0 0
1300 35 1.33941 35.1 0.3
1400 35 1.33944 35.2 0.6
1500 35 1.33947 35.4 1.1

How a Refractometer Works

There are several types of refractometers, but this discussion will focus on hand held
refractometers because reef aquarists rarely use any other type. Figure 3 shows the workings of a
typical refractometer. In that figure, light enters from the left and passes through the liquid sample.
When the light hits the prism at the bottom of the liquid, it suddenly is slowed more than in the liquid
because the prism has a higher refractive index. The physics of light is such that when it passes from a
medium of one refractive index to one with a different refractive index, the light bends (refracts) at the
interface, rather than passing straight through. The amount it bends or, in technical jargon, the angle
of refraction, depends on the difference in the two media's refractive indices.

Figure 3. A schematic drawing of a typical hand held refractometer.

In the case of a refractometer, the light bends in proportion to the liquid's refractive index. As the light
then travels down the refractometer, it passes through lenses and lands on a scale. The bending of the
light at the liquid/prism interface sends the light higher or lower in the scale's grid. Aquarists then look
through the viewfinder on the other end and read where the light is falling on the scale. Light covers a
portion of the scale, and the remainder is dark. The dividing line between light and dark is the place to
read the scale. Calibration is accomplished by turning the calibration screw, which raises or lowers the
reticle (the scale) relative to the path of the light.

Temperature and Refractive Index: ATC

It turns out that refractive index is highly dependent on temperature. When using a refractometer that
does not account for this effect, temperature changes can be a large source of errors. Most liquid
materials expand slightly when heated and shrink when cooled. For a given material, light can pass
through it more easily when it is expanded, so the index of refraction falls when materials are warmed.
However, the magnitude of this effect is different for every material, and refractometers must somehow
take this into account.
Handheld refractometers account for temperature by employing a bimetal strip inside them. This
bimetal strip expands and contracts as the temperature changes. The bimetal strip is attached to the
optics inside the refractometer, moving them slightly as the temperature changes. This movement is
designed to exactly cancel temperature's effects on refractive index, and generally does a very good job
IF the refractometer is designed to cancel out the temperature effects of the specific material being
analyzed.

Because many refractometers are designed to use aqueous (water) solutions, the bimetal strip can be
designed to account for the change in refractive index of aqueous solutions, although it may not be
perfect in some situations because salts and other materials in the water can change temperature's
effects on refractive index by a small extent (possibly to a larger extent for very concentrated solutions,
like 750% sugar in water, but seawater is not in that category). Other details of this compensation may
cause it to be imperfect (for example, the bimetallic strip provides a linear correction while the true
temperature effect may be nonlinear), but those issues are beyond the scope of this article, and in
general automatic temperature compensation (ATC) is a very useful attribute for aquarists using
refractometers.

Refractometer Calibration

Assuming that a refractometer is made correctly for the fluid it is intended to measure, the way to
calibrate a refractometer is to put a liquid of known refractive index on it, and adjust the scale's
position by turning the calibration screw (Figure 3) until it reads correctly. When a refractometer is
perfectly calibrated, it will show the fluid's exact refractive index (assuming that it reports the results in
refractive index, but this is not always the case). Figure 4 shows a graph of the measured refractive
index vs. the real refractive index for a perfectly calibrated refractometer. At all points these two values
are the same. While this graph alone is not particularly enlightening, it forms the basis of later graphs
that explain how errors in calibration get corrected.
 Figure 4. The relationship between the real (actual) refractive index and the measured
refractive index for a perfectly calibrated refractometer.
For many refractometers used by reef aquarists, the manufacturer calls for pure freshwater to be used
for calibration. With a perfectly made refractometer (that hasn't changed since its manufacture), that
single point calibration at the end of the range (Figure 5) would be adequate, albeit not perfect. A
better single point calibration might be performed in the middle of the range being used, and for higher
accuracy, more than one calibrating solution would be used.
 Figure 5. The relationship between the refractive index and the salinity of seawater, showing
that the usual point of calibration using pure freshwater is far from the range of measurement
used in reef aquaria.
Imperfect Refractometer Calibration: Offset Miscalibration

If somehow a refractometer is not perfectly made or calibrated, two different types of errors are often
encountered. Figure 6 shows a graph of what I call an offset miscalibration. Essentially, the
refractometer reads a refractive index that is either lower or higher than the real refractive index, and
this difference, or "offset," is the same at all values of the refractive index. This type of miscalibration
is, for example, what happens when the calibration screw on a perfect refractometer is intentionally
moved off perfect calibration.
 Figure 6. The relationship between the real (actual) refractive index and the measured
refractive index for an incorrectly calibrated refractometer. This refractometer has an offset
error, with all values reading higher than the actual value.
Fixing this problem requires simply adjusting the offset. This adjustment is what happens when the
calibration screw is adjusted on a refractometer. The scale simply moves up or down inside the
refractometer (or in some other way the scale moves relative to the refracted light) as the user turns the
screw that moves it. The scale's apparent reading changes, and the user turns the screw until the scale's
reading matches the known refractive index of the standard being used for calibration. Figure 7 shows
how the relationship between the reported refractive index and the real refractive index changes
during this type of calibration when using pure freshwater for calibration. Figure 8 shows how the
relationship between the reported refractive index and the real refractive index changes during this
type of calibration when using 35 ppt seawater for calibration. Both methods work equally well for this
type of correction.
 Figure 7. The relationship between the real (actual) refractive index and the measured
refractive index for an incorrectly calibrated refractometer. This refractometer has an offset
error, with all values reading higher than the actual value. This type of error can be corrected
by recalibrating with pure freshwater (refractive index = 1.3330) as shown as well as by
calibrating with seawater (Figure 8).
 Figure 8. The relationship between the real (actual) refractive index and the measured
refractive index for an incorrectly calibrated refractometer. This refractometer has an offset
error, with all values reading higher than the actual value. This type of error can be corrected by
recalibrating with 35 ppt seawater (refractive index = 1.3394) as shown as well as by calibrating
with pure freshwater (Figure 7).
These same issues apply to refractometers that read in units of salinity (ppt) or specific gravity. In
those cases, the measured and true salinity (or specific gravity) relate to one another in exactly the
same way that measured and true refractive index relate to each other in Figures 6-8. Figure 9, for
example, shows the relationship between the measured and actual specific gravity for a refractometer
with an offset miscalibration. It is clear that seawater (35 ppt) which has an actual specific gravity of
1.0264 reads much lower in this case, at about 1.0235. Similarly, Figure 10 shows the relationship
between the measured and actual salinity for a refractometer with an offset miscalibration. It is clear
that seawater (35 ppt) reads much lower in this case, at about 31 ppt.

Figure 9. The relationship between the real (actual) specific gravity and the measured
specific gravity for a perfectly calibrated seawater refractometer (green) and an incorrectly
calibrated seawater refractometer (red). This refractometer has an offset error, with all values
reading higher than the actual value. The error in measuring the specific gravity of seawater
with a real refractive index of 1.0264 is indicated.
 Figure 10. The relationship between the real (actual) salinity and the measured salinity (in
ppt) for a perfectly calibrated seawater refractometer (green) and an incorrectly calibrated
seawater refractometer (red). This refractometer has an offset error, with all values reading
higher than the actual value. The error in measuring the salinity of seawater with a real salinity
of 35 ppt is indicated.
Just as was shown for refractive index, recalibration of a refractometer with an offset error can be
discussed in terms of specific gravity and salinity. Figure 11 shows what happens when adjusting the
calibration screw so that the specific gravity of a 35ppt seawater standard (with a known specific
gravity of 1.0264) really reads 1.0264. In this figure, the miscalibrated red line moves exactly onto the
green line, and the refractometer is then good to go at all specific gravity values. Similarly, Figure 12
shows what happens when adjusting the calibration screw so that the salinity of a 35 ppt seawater
standard really reads 35 ppt. In this figure, the miscalibrated red line moves exactly onto the green
line, and the refractometer is then good to go at all specific gravity values.
 Figure 11. The relationship between the real (actual) specific gravity and the measured
specific gravity for a perfectly calibrated seawater refractometer (green) and an incorrectly
calibrated seawater refractometer (red). This refractometer has an offset error, with all values
reading higher than the actual value. The error can be corrected using a seawater standard. By
turning the calibration screw until a seawater standard reads 1.0264, the red line moves onto
the green line and the refractometer is properly calibrated. In this case, accurate calibration
can also be performed using freshwater.
 Figure 12. The relationship between the real (actual) salinity and the measured salinity (in
ppt) for a perfectly calibrated seawater refractometer (green) and an incorrectly calibrated
seawater refractometer (red). This refractometer has an offset error, with all values reading
higher than the actual value. The error can be corrected using a seawater standard. By
turning the calibration screw until a seawater standard reads 35 ppt, the red line moves onto
the green line and the refractometer is properly calibrated. In this case, accurate calibration
can also be performed using freshwater.
This analysis makes it clear that offset miscalibration is readily corrected by turning the refractometer's
adjustment screw, and that it can be corrected using either pure freshwater or 35 ppt seawater.

Imperfect Refractometer Calibration: Slope Miscalibration

A second way that refractometers can give incorrect values is when they are imperfectly made or are
made for an application different from seawater. One such error results in what I call a slope
miscalibration (Figure 13). Essentially, the refractometer reads a refractive index that is either lower or
higher than the real refractive index, and this difference changes with the difference from some point
of calibration (here chosen as the bottom left hand corner, matching pure freshwater). In this case, the
error becomes larger and larger as the reading moves away from the point of calibration. Such an error
can arise, for example, if the scale is not made to exactly the right dimensions. In that case, no amount
of moving the scale up or down can make it accurate at all values of refractive index.
 Figure 13. The relationship between the real (actual) refractive index and the measured refractive
index for an incorrectly calibrated refractometer (red) and a perfectly calibrated refractometer
(green). This red refractometer has a slope error, with values far from the calibration point (here
shown as refractive index = 1.3330 for pure freshwater) reading higher than the actual value. The
error in reading refractive index values as far away as that of seawater can be significant, as shown.
Can such a refractometer be used? Yes, but only if it is calibrated using a solution known to have a
refractive index close to that of the samples to be tested. Calibrating using a liquid matching seawater,
for example, can lead to a slope correction as shown in Figure 14. In this type of calibration, the
refractometer is accurate at that refractive index, but not necessarily at other values.
 Figure 14. The refractometer of Figure 13 (red) has a slope error, with values far from the calibration
point reading incorrectly. This type of error can only be corrected by calibrating with a solution with
refractive index near to the expected measurement point. For use in seawater, recalibration with 35 ppt
seawater (refractive index = 1.3394) moves the red line onto the green line at the refractive index used
for calibration (here, 1.33940), and the refractometer now reads accurately in the region of refractive
index similar to seawater.
For example, to measure the salinity of seawater at 35 ppt, calibrate a refractometer using a standard
with the same refractive index, and the slope miscalibration error disappears when measuring seawater
samples near that salinity (Figure 14).

These same issues apply to refractometers that read in units of salinity (ppt) or specific gravity. In
those cases, the measured and true salinity (or specific gravity) relate to one another in exactly the
same way that measured and true specific gravity relate to each other in Figures 13 and 14. Figure 15,
for example, shows the relationship between the measured and actual specific gravity for a
refractometer with a slope miscalibration. Figure 16 is an expansion of the region of specific gravity of
interest to reef aquarists. It is clear that seawater (35 ppt) which has an actual specific gravity of 1.0264
reads much lower in this case, at about 1.0235.
Figure 15. The relationship between the real (actual) specific gravity and the measured specific
gravity for an incorrectly calibrated seawater refractometer (red) and a perfectly calibrated
seawater refractometer (green). This red refractometer has a slope error, with values far from
the calibration point (freshwater with a specific gravity of 1.000) reading higher than the actual
value. The amount of error in measuring seawater is indicated.
 Figure 16. The relationship between the real (actual) specific gravity and the measured
specific gravity for an incorrectly calibrated seawater refractometer (red) and a perfectly
calibrated seawater refractometer (green). This red refractometer has a slope error, with values
far from the calibration point (freshwater with a specific gravity of 1.000) reading higher than
the actual value. The amount of error in measuring seawater is indicated. This figure is an
expansion of Figure 15 in the region of most interest to reef aquarists.
Similarly, Figure 17 shows the relationship between the measured and actual salinity for a
refractometer with an offset miscalibration. Figure 18 is an expansion of the region of salinity of
interest to reef aquarists. It is clear that seawater (35 ppt) reads much lower in this case, at about 30
ppt.
Figure 17. The relationship between the real (actual) salinity and the measured salinity (in ppt)
for an incorrectly calibrated seawater refractometer (red) and a perfectly calibrated seawater
refractometer (green). This red refractometer has a slope error, with values far from the
calibration point (freshwater with a salinity of 0 ppt) reading higher than the actual value. The
amount of error in measuring seawater is indicated.
 Figure 18. The relationship between the real (actual) salinity and the measured salinity (in
ppt) for an incorrectly calibrated seawater refractometer (red) and a perfectly calibrated
seawater refractometer (green). This red refractometer has a slope error, with values far from
the calibration point (freshwater with a salinity of 0 ppt) reading higher than the actual value.
The amount of error in measuring seawater is indicated. This figure is an expansion of Figure
17 in the region of most interest to reef aquarists.
Just as was shown for refractive index, recalibration of a refractometer with a slope error can be
discussed in terms of specific gravity and salinity. Figure 19 shows what happens when adjusting the
calibration screw so that the specific gravity of a 35 ppt seawater standard (with a known specific
gravity of 1.0264) really reads 1.0264. Figure 20 is an expansion of the region of salinity of interest to
reef aquarists. In this figure, the miscalibrated red line moves onto the green line, and the
refractometer is then good to go at specific gravity values near 1.0264 (say, 1.020 to 1.030), but it is no
longer accurate at a specific gravity of 1.000 (freshwater; Figure 19).
 Figure 19. The refractometer of Figure 15 and 16 (red) has a slope error, with values far
from the calibration point reading incorrectly. In this figure it has been recalibrated with
seawater and so is accurate in the region around the specific gravity of seawater, but not in
the region of freshwater (specific gravity = 1.000).
 Figure 20. The refractometer of Figure 15 and 16 (red) has a slope error, with values far
from the calibration point reading incorrectly. In this figure it has been recalibrated with
seawater and so is adequately accurate over the range of specific gravity from 1.020 to 1.030
despite the slope error. This figure is an expansion of Figure 19 in the region of most interest
to reef aquarists.
Similarly, Figure 21 shows what happens when adjusting the calibration screw so that the salinity of a
35ppt seawater standard really reads 35 ppt. Figure 20 is an expansion of the region of salinity of
interest to reef aquarists. In this figure, the miscalibrated red line moves onto the green line, and the
refractometer is then good to go at salinity values near 35 ppt (say, 30 to 40 ppt), but it is no longer
accurate in freshwater (salinity = 0 ppt; Figure 22).

Figure 21. The refractometer of Figure 17 and 18 (red) has a slope error, with values far from
the calibration point reading incorrectly. In this figure it has been recalibrated with seawater
and so is accurate in the region around the salinity of seawater, but not in the region of
freshwater (salinity = 0 ppt).
 Figure 22. The refractometer of Figure 17 and 18 (red) has a slope error, with values far from
the calibration point reading incorrectly. In this figure it has been recalibrated with seawater,
and so is adequately accurate over the range of salinity of 30-40 ppt despite the slope error.
This figure is an expansion of Figure 21 in the region of most interest to reef aquarists.
This type of slope correction turns out to be important for reef aquarists, as slope miscalibration errors
seem to abound in inexpensive refractometers. Many aquarists have found that when calibrated using
pure freshwater, their refractometers do not accurately read 35 ppt seawater standards. Many read 1
ppt, which is likely acceptable to most aquarists, but some read much further from the actual value.
These inaccuracies may be partly because many of these may actually be salt refractometers and not
actual seawater refractometers (see next section).

Correction of slope miscalibration errors should be carried out using a fluid that approximately
matches the refractive index of the water being tested, so for reef aquarium water, calibration with 35
ppt seawater solves this problem, while calibration with pure freshwater does not.

Imperfect Refractometer Use: Scale Misunderstanding and Salt

Refractometers

Refractometers can lead to incorrect readings in additional ways and, again, these issues abound for
reef aquarists. One is that many refractometers are intended to measure sodium chloride solutions, not
seawater. These are often called salt or brine refractometers. Despite the scale reading in ppt (‰) or