redstrat

thats ok hoppy, I just thought you were making a few extras before.. no problem. I dont have the time to DIY one myself right now so I'll probably just pay the extra for the e-bay ADA look alike version. although, I may have time in a couple weeks to build one diy... we'll see.

hoppycalif

As best I can determine, bromothymol blue is the only pH indicator dye that gives yellow to blue readings, that is used in such test kits. There are a few others that give different colors, and for differenct pH ranges, but not for yellow to blue.

redstrat

Thats what I thought but figured I'd ask to be a little more confident with that assumption. Thanks

I just bought one of the Red Sea versions of the drop checker and I love it. I would almost consider a drop checker to be a must have item for anybody trying to get the most out of DIY Co2. I really like being able to adjust the "good" color to match the CO2 concentration I'm trying to achieve.

caymandiver75

Cool. I also have that Red Sea version drop checker and last night got some distilled water and baking soda and got the kh to 4. Place the drop checker back in the aquarium and within 2 hrs it went from Blue to Very very light green almost yellow.

jolywoo

I use the redsea version too with distilled water set to kh of 5. Looks like you have a good co2 in your water, even all the bba on your driftwood is gone.

caymandiver75

Hehe yeah the BBA is gone because I took about an hour to scrape off all the algae, trim the plants that had it, etc. What a pain in the butt! Now that my water conditions are checked and I reduced my lighting I'm hoping the stuff never grows back. What little is left i'm praying my 6 Oto's will take care of.

hoppycalif

I experimented with the AP test kit, adding varying amounts of the pH reagent to tubes with the same water - tank water - in them. It made no difference to the results whether I used the three drops the instructions call for, or 2 or 6 or even 9 drops. With larger numbers of drops the result becomes a murky opaque liquid, where reading the color is harder, not easier. But, the color stayed the same for all. So, I just add whatever amount makes it easiest to judge the color.

Naja002

Hi Hoppy,

Thanx for the Clarification. I found the answer from some previous posts of Your's here:

DIY Drop Checker--Post #1

Which leads to here--More in-depth:

Does it work? ADA glass dropcheck co2 indicator--Post #25

Here's some Pix of the 1 I just made--Mind you, its cost was $0 (I had everything) and it's going into my A. javanicus setup--so, looks are not currently of utmost importance:

Parts:



Assembled--the top heater holder just goes above the bottle to help reduce the buoyancy-pull on the heater holder around the bottle neck:



Full:



Its an 8.45 Fl oz. "Kid's Connection Soda" bottle. I bought them at Walmart in a 4-pak for $1-2 and I use them for DIY C02 Bubble Counters. This one was an Extra. The PVC is just 1/2" and the bottle opening fits it like a glove--No glue, silicone, etc. It currently has about 95ml of RODI water set to 5kh w/ BS.

I added 114 drops of pH liquid--and its really too dark. I am going to install it an see how it looks under the light. But I will probably redo it with less drops. The water color is not Blue, but Blue-green--what does that mean? The RODI water was made yesterday and was putting out 0-2ppm TDS. The Gallon jug has just be sitting capped overnight. Any thoughts on that?

EDIT: I was afraid that the bottle body was just going to be too wide for the suction cup to hold--and it is. So, I have eliminated the suction-cups and tied 2--1 1/2 oz lead weights around the neck--dangling about 3" below the bottle. So, now it is a floating version.

Anybody know if the entire Drop Checker Must be below the water surface--like for pressure? I guess we'll find out in a few hrs!

I also redid the fluid mixture: 100ml and 10 drops of pH liquid. Now its a nice pretty blue and should be easy to read....

Thanx!

hoppycalif

The reason for keeping the entire device under water is to avoid any temperature difference between the device and the tank water. If there is a difference some distillation will occur - water will migrate from the warmer to the cooler area, which changes the KH of the tester water.

Are you sure there is no leakage between the pvc tube and the bottle neck? If so, that has to be the easiest one yet to make. (But not the most unobtrusive or most elegant or coolest!)

Naja002

Absolutely? Positively? Well, No, but as You can see in the pic above--there is no leakage onto the Towel. And in order to get the PVC pipe back out--I have to insert my finger, bend it to kind of Lock it in place, and fight and struggle for a bit. I can't guarantee that there will not be any osmosis at all, but its a solid fit. Time will tell, I guess!

I just got the fishing line back out and tied it to a rock that will reach the bottom yet keep the Checker below the surface. Its in my Plant Filter, so looks really isn't a Big Deal. Ghetto? Yes, but if it provides some benefit--I'll do it right later...After 4hrs of floating--the color didn't change at all (floating). According to the Chart: I have pH 6.0, Kh 2, so C02 should be around 60ppm. We'll see if the color changes now that its completely submerged.

Thanx!