Re: [GSAS-Member] Who's using a drop checker in their planted tank?

["Hostetter, Kypros" <hostetter2003@lawnet.ucla.edu>]

Depends on your budget but you can buy a 4 kh standard now sold by green
leaf aquariums http://www.greenleafaquariums.com/co2-drop-checkers.html,

that is more expensive than DIY but presumably accurate- a 250 ml bottle has
lasted me a long time. . .  Also Sumoregulator.com sells a pre mixed drop
checker solution.  http://sumoregulator.com/DropCheckerSolutions.html.


Also, if you want a slightly more elegant looking drop checker, you can get
the glass drop checkers from aquaticmagic.com (cheaper knockoffs of ADA or
the more espensive ones sold by greenleaf aquarium.

Kypros

On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 7:13 PM, Matt Staroscik <matt@wrongcrowd.com> wrote:

> Following up to my own post here--
>
> If my checker isn't working as expected, the fault lies either with the KH
> standard I made or the indicator in my drop checker package.
>
> I tried the pH indicator from a test kit, which *should* be the same
> bromothymol blue that came with the drop checker... and got a blue solution
> from the standard, as expected. Bubbling CO2 through it sent it through
> green and yellow too though I don't know the PPMs involved.
>
> Maybe the Red Sea kit came with bad chemicals.
>
> <shrug>
>
> I put the drop checker back in the tank with the new indicator solution and
> it seems like it is lightening towards green a bit. I have also turned up
> the CO2 rate by about 1 bps because regardless of what the always-green
> drop
> checker showed, the plants weren't pearling yet. We'll see what tomorrow
> brings.
>
> MS
>
>
> On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 1:33 PM, Matt Staroscik <matt@wrongcrowd.com>
> wrote:
>
> > I just installed mine but I think it is not working properly and I wanted
> > another opinion. Obviously they are very simple and there is not much to
> go
> > wrong, but I think my 4 dKH standard solution is bad. I have the Red Sea
> > model, by the way, which comes with indicator, but no standard solution.
> > They tell you to use tank water, which I don't want to do as the tank is
> 6
> > dKH and has an unknown amount of phosphates etc in it.
> >
> > I made the 4 dKH standard myself with baking soda, RO/DI water and a
> series
> > of dilutions. A KH test kit verified that it is correct, but as I used
> > kitchen glassware maybe there was enough residue from detergent to mess
> > things up. My RO/DO filter shows 0-1 ppm TDS as it should, so it is still
> > working well... but maybe not well enough for this.
> >
> > When I added the indicator to the solution, it immediately turned green,
> > about the shade of green that you want to see when the CO2 in the
> aquariumis
> > at the right level. For a sample of the reference that has not had CO2
> added
> > to it, the solution should be blue, right?
> >
> > In the tank, the solution in the drop checker stubbornly stays green,
> even
> > after the overnight lights-out.
> >
> > I put a sample of the solution + indicator into a graduated cylinder to
> see
> > if it was sensitive to pH changes at all. If I blow in to it with a
> straw,
> > the CO2 in my breath turns in yellow, as expected. Shaking it to drive
> off
> > CO2 got it down to blue. The strange thing is, it stayed blue overnight.
> If
> > the solution was off I would have expected it to bounce back to green
> when
> > left alone.
> >
> > Some forum posts have said that drop checkers may not work right until
> they
> > have broken in for a week or so, but that just doesn't sound right to me.
> >
> > Does anyone have ideas, and/or a convenient source of good 4 dKH
> reference
> > solution? It's easy to make, but maybe not easy enough to make one that's
> > pure enough in a kitchen.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > MS
> >
> _______________________________________________
> GSAS-Member mailing list
> GSAS-Member@thekrib.com
> http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member
>
_______________________________________________
GSAS-Member mailing list
GSAS-Member@thekrib.com
http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member