Fluval Co2 indicator

[Twigflinger]

Has anyone used this?  I have had one in the tank for a month or 2.  Never seen it actually turn green.  More of a bluegreen.  I had the bubble counter at several bubbles per second but was afraid to go any higher.  Lost 2 neon tetras so i turned it down slightly.  The other 2 have been fine the last few weeks.  Not sure if the tetras dying was Co2 related, parasites or something else..  I have misplaced the refill liquid so now I am debating getting a different indicator and liquid.  Is all liquid the same or are some brands better than others?

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/30/2022 at 1:07 PM, Twigflinger said:

Never seen it actually turn green.

I have some off brand one, but yeah. Mine was exactly the same way.

[Pepere]

I find having a white piece of plastic behind the drop checker and illuminating it helps discern the color difference better.

I used carbonated water to help establish the plants in my display tank.  I dont have any fish in the tank yet, and I am not necessarily planning on CO2 afterI have fish present. I keep the carbonated water, which is just water with carbonation, no salts or citric acid or other stuff in fridge before opening which reduces co2 loss when opening.  (Gas laws)…

a fresh bottle will have roughly 8,000 ppm co2 in it, previously opened but still bubbly about 6,000, from what I read.

in my 29 gallon tank, adding 3 cups would get me to 51 ppm if none were lost in the process of putting it in the tank.  Some effervescence occurs upon instilling.  I find 3 cups in the tank gets the drop checker a bright green after 2 hours. As the bottle loses its umph more needs to be added.  The drop checker is designed to be green at 30 ppm.  It is deep blue early in the morning when I add the co2 water.  It takes about 2 hours to respond to changes.   Again I have no valued livestock in the tank, only some hitch hiker snails and detritus worms from plants purchased.  I hadn't bleach dipped the plants when I planted them as I was wanting to seed tank with bacteria from them.  The hitchhiker snails are not at all affected by the carbonated water.

I increased one day to 6 cups to see if this would eradicate the snails. It turned the drop checker yellow, and didnt faze the snails a bit.  The plants responded by pearling with abundance, and yes it was O2 and not CO2 bubbles because it would stop when lights were dimmed and ramp up again as brightened…

the drop checker is nothing more than a ph device. The indicator solution is ph solution.  Blue base, yellow acidic.  I don't believe you need brand specific solution for your drop check.  You just ned solution that works for a drop check.  But I am open to being corrected if my belief is wrong.  I use a Seachem drop check.

For those who might be interested by the thought of carbonated water in aquarium use, a daily does in the morning does keep  the drop checker green until evening when it starts getting more of a blue green.  I have read of people being convinced it off gasses in an hour or two, and I dont believe it is the case.

I believe the goal of CO2 infusors is to maintain 30 ppm during lighted hours, that being close to maximum level fish safely tolerate plus a safety factor.  Lessor amounts of CO2 however still benefit plants as CO2 is often the limiting factor in their growth.

iam not currently supplementing my tank with carbonated water now that the plants have filled in and established themselves.  As such fertilization requirements have fallen, yet Algae is currently held at bay.

 

and no, the sponge filter is not a centerpiece, just convenient temporary placement.  I keep a powered dual sponge filter with ceramic media and air that mounts on back of the tank  that is pulled out to place in quarantine tank for instant cycling of quarantine tank.  This sponge filter is helping with aeration in the meantime and will act as emergency backup in case of biofilter collapse in quarantine tank.  This tank also has a main seachem tidal 35 hob filter.

[Pepere]

The color rendering of the green is not the best with my camera. It is a deeper green in person than the camera is picking up.

[nabokovfan87]

Question.

How long does the solution last.  Monthly for in the checker (usually) but the bottle itself. When do I need to go and just buy more / dispose of the old bottle?

I added mine to my tank, CO2 will be there soon. And I have 2 Dennerle CO2 tests to verify results of the checker once I add it.

 

 

[Mmiller2001]

If your drop checker is blue green, then you are low on CO2. You will be close to 30ppm when the checker is lime yellow. If the drop checker is blue green, then the CO2 did not kill your fish.

When CO2 is too high, the fish will swim to the surface and be gasping. They will then begin passing out which would eventually end in a slow death.

[Twigflinger]

Thanks guys this is all great information.  I guess I will order more solution.  I do want to experiment a little bit and bubble co2 directly into the indicator to see it change.  I have been pretty cautious with raising co2 levels so far but still noticed an increase in plant growth.  Algae still sticking around though.  Last week I started increasing potassium and phosphate doing.

[Twigflinger]

Just picked up the NilocG glass indicator. Will check it in 2 hours.  how quickly should I increase bubble rate until it turns green?  I have heard that wild swings can cause algae issues.  Got some thread algae multiple inches long making a mess in moss that I am hoping increased Co2 will take  care of.

 

[Mmiller2001]

On 6/6/2022 at 12:48 PM, Twigflinger said:

Just picked up the NilocG glass indicator. Will check it in 2 hours.  how quickly should I increase bubble rate until it turns green?  I have heard that wild swings can cause algae issues.  Got some thread algae multiple inches long making a mess in moss that I am hoping increased Co2 will take  care of.

 

The current color is from about 2 hours in the past.