nabokovfan87 Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 Well, I have had "some change" in coloration on my previous tank, but it looks like I really need to buy a better drop checker to get some quality results. This one I have only tells me to add X amount of drops of the liquid reagent and then I view the color. Because I'm looking at drops of liquid it's hard to see and I always feel like I want to add 2-3x the amount to make it easier to see. I am sure that affects the value too. 😞 OK SO.... I found this. It is from CO2Art and one of their blog articles. The one I purchased was just some random thing from amazon and I have been trying to find out if the liquid expires. That rabbit hole has let me to the following and wondering if the information on how to use these things properly is just escaping us. I've never heard of this or seen this before. Quote Why tank water should not be used in the drop checker If dissolved CO2 were the only source of acidity in the tank it would be a simple matter to measure the pH and use the equation/chart to determine CO2 levels. Unfortunately this is almost never the case. There are many acid and alkaline sources in the tank varying from urine and ammonia to phosphates we ourselves add as nutrients. The pH measured in the tank is therefore unreliable because it does not accurately reflect the acid caused by CO2 dissolving in water alone. The accepted practice is to fill the drop checker with distilled /deionized/RO water that has been adjusted to a known kH value. In this way the drop checker water is isolated from the tank water and only reacts to direct contact with CO2 evaporating from the tank into the checkers air bubble and then into the water sample. It was reasoned that a distilled water sample adjusted to a carbonate hardness of 4 dkH a 30 ppm concentration results in a pH of approx 6.6 which, using the reagent of a pH test kit in the drop checker turns the water sample in the checker green. 4dkH water has now become the standard solution for drop checkers, however 5 dkH can be used as well. With a 5 dkH a green color (6.6 pH) will indicate 38 ppm. These solutions can be made but AE also sell it. How is the checker assembled and mounted - Are all drop checkers equal? Drop checkers come in various sizes, shapes and materials such as plastic or blown glass. The more exotic, the more expensive. Blown glass is valued as it adds an aesthetic appeal to the tank when mounted. There is no difference to the dropcheckers performance due to geometry of the shape. Sometimes the shape and construction makes it difficult to read the colors. Some dropchecker kits are sold with pH reagent plus 4DKH water separately. Other kits sell a pre-mixed liquid that combines the two. Either way will work but the mixture is more convenient. Using the syringe, pull 1.5 ml of the 4dkH (or 1.5 ml of the pre-mixed liquid) from the bottle and transfer to the dropchecker bowl. If the reagent is separate to the water squeeze 3 drops of the reagent into the vessel and shake gently. The solution will turn a blue-green indicating a pH of around 7. Now invert the assembly being careful not to spill the fluid Next, holding it level, mount the checker anywhere on the front glass inside the tank so that air is trapped in the vessel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seattle_Aquarist Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 (edited) On 7/30/2022 at 3:50 PM, nabokovfan87 said: Well, I have had "some change" in coloration on my previous tank, but it looks like I really need to buy a better drop checker to get some quality results. This one I have only tells me to add X amount of drops of the liquid reagent and then I view the color. Because I'm looking at drops of liquid it's hard to see and I always feel like I want to add 2-3x the amount to make it easier to see. I am sure that affects the value too. 😞 OK SO.... I found this. It is from CO2Art and one of their blog articles. The one I purchased was just some random thing from amazon and I have been trying to find out if the liquid expires. That rabbit hole has let me to the following and wondering if the information on how to use these things properly is just escaping us. I've never heard of this or seen this before. HI @nabokovfan87, No, the bromothymol blue that is used in indicator solution does not expire. The article is correct, do not use tank water in your drop checker. The indicator solution in a drop checker is typically a mixture of water with a 3.0 dKH carbonate hardness along with the bromothymol blue (which is the same chemical used in pH test kits). Also, drop checkers are not an 'instant read' method to check CO2 concentration in my tanks. It can take several hours for the drop checker just to start to measure the CO2 level and 24 hours to achieve a stable fairly accurate reading. That is why, when I adjust the CO2 level in my tanks I only make one very small adjustment with the needle valve per day. These days I use the Fluval CO2 indicator kits which consist of an easy to read drop checker and 3.0 dKH indicator solution ('pre-mixed' 3.0 dKH water and bromothymol blue.) I like the Fluval design because I read the color of the solution against a white background and it is easy to take apart and clean any algae that may form on the inside. The Fluval CO2 Indicator Solution is also available separately. I used to use make my own 3.0 dKH water using distilled water and bicarbonate of soda (baking soda / NaHCO₃) but that was a pain so no I just buy the pre-mixed. Hope this helps! -Roy Edited July 31, 2022 by Seattle_Aquarist 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 31, 2022 Author Share Posted July 31, 2022 On 7/31/2022 at 6:46 AM, Seattle_Aquarist said: These days I use the Fluval CO2 indicator kits which consist of an easy to read drop checker and 3.0 dKH indicator solution ('pre-mixed' 3.0 dKH water and bromothymol blue.) Yeah, I guess the big issue is trying to find out if my solution is purely the reagent or if it's premixed. I ran a test yesterday. I had some of the dennerle CO2 tests, expired, but it was just my way of randomly checking on things. I tested my tank water a few hours into the CO2 window, towards the end, and then I ran a test using the distilled water that's been sitting without any aeration compared to my tank that had CO2 dumped into it. Needless to say the randomly sitting there distilled water had the right PH/KH to show results while the tank still seems to have some balance issues. With the fish I have as well, I need to raise KH, but then use something to drop PH only. The wood in the tank is helping, but it's giving too much of a swing when I dose the tank with buffers. I will grab some new solution at your suggestion and give it a shot. I'll clean out the glass drop checker I have and go from there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seattle_Aquarist Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 On 7/31/2022 at 10:48 AM, nabokovfan87 said: Yeah, I guess the big issue is trying to find out if my solution is purely the reagent or if it's premixed. I ran a test yesterday. I had some of the dennerle CO2 tests, expired, but it was just my way of randomly checking on things. I tested my tank water a few hours into the CO2 window, towards the end, and then I ran a test using the distilled water that's been sitting without any aeration compared to my tank that had CO2 dumped into it. Needless to say the randomly sitting there distilled water had the right PH/KH to show results while the tank still seems to have some balance issues. With the fish I have as well, I need to raise KH, but then use something to drop PH only. The wood in the tank is helping, but it's giving too much of a swing when I dose the tank with buffers. I will grab some new solution at your suggestion and give it a shot. I'll clean out the glass drop checker I have and go from there! HI @nabokovfan87 If it came with a drop checker like the one in the picture below it is very likely just the bromothymol blue indicator solution and not the pre-mixed indicator solution with 3.0 dKH water. You do not need to do anything to the dKH/pH of your tank to use the drop checker. To use the drop checker above fill it half way with 3.0 dKH water and add 1-3 drops of the indicator solution that come with the drop checker. Hope this helps! -Roy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 31, 2022 Author Share Posted July 31, 2022 Cool, I actually double checked. A. It's the solution with the water already in the bottle. (indicated on the bottle itself) B. They actually updated their directions to remove the "use X drops" verbiage and added the clarification to fill it 1/2-2/3 full. Thank you for the help and guidance, much appreciated. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted August 2, 2022 Author Share Posted August 2, 2022 Algae shot! but, it's good to see the drop checker back to usual again. Cleaned it, set it up, and everything looks good now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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