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

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

by the way, I believe approx 3 drops of the blue standard ph testing agent
such as by API along with the 4 kh standard can be used as your chemicals.
the solution should start off blue.

On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 8:07 PM, Hostetter, Kypros <
hostetter2003@lawnet.ucla.edu> wrote:

> 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
>> >
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>
>
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