Originally Posted by hoppycalif

This works because a sealed container of air in contact with water will reach an equillibrium amount of CO2 that is at least proportional to the ppm of CO2 in the water. So, two containers with their water in contact with the same sealed container of air will reach the same ppm of CO2. The "drop checker" has distilled or DI water in it, with a known KH obtained with bicarbonate only - no other source of alkalinity, and no source of acidity. That makes the equation that is behind the pH/KH/CO2 table work correctly (see Chuck Gadd's website). So, if we can measure the pH of that little bit of water in the "drop checker", and we can, by using a pH indicator solution, we can accurately calculate how much CO2 is in that container of water, which will be the same as is in the tank water, since they are connected with a sealed air column. At KH=4, and 30 ppm of CO2, the pH will be 6.6 which turns the bromothymol blue indicator, used in almost all pH kits, green. So, green means you have the right amount of CO2 in the water, and yellow green means you have too much, while blue green means you have too little.

There is no way for the indicator solution to migrate to the tank water, since there is an air gap separating it from the tank water. If it did get into the tank water, it would be about 4-8 drops of a 4% sodium hydroxide in water solution with a little bit of bromothymol blue dye in it. It wouldn't be desirable to have it mixed into the tank, but I doubt it harming anything if it were mixed in.

So, to use this:
First, get some distilled water from the grocery store.
Using clean glass container, pour about a cup of that water into the container.
Next, add a very small amount of bicarbonate of soda - baking soda - Arm and Hammer soda, etc. to the water and stir it up with a very clean stirrer.
Test the KH of that water with your test kit.
Most likely it will be a higher than 4 KH. So, add some more distilled water and repeat the test. (If the first KH comes out to 8 degrees KH, double the amount of water. If it is 6 degrees of KH, add 50% more water, etc.)
When you get close to 4 degrees KH, repeat the test using twice as big a water sample in the vial as the kit calls for, then count each drop of KH reagent as being half the degrees of KH that the kit normally says - for AP test kit, that makes each drop equal to .5 degrees KH. I found I can get very near "exactly" 4 degrees KH by doing this carefully.
Use a syringe to squirt some of this 4 degrees KH water into the bulb of the "drop checker". Fill the bulb about 2/3 full of the water.
Add a few drops of your pH test reagent - use enough to get a strong blue color, but not so much that the water becomes opaque with the blue dye.
Use the suction cup on the "drop checker" to suspend the device two or three inches below the tank water surface, with the "horn" of the "drop checker" pointing down so it traps air in the horn.

After a couple of hours or so the color of the "drop checker" fluid will be at about the equillibrium color, and that should be green if you have 30 ppm of CO2 in the water. If the color is yellow, you have at least 70 ppm of CO2 (and your fish are in serious trouble!). If it is blue, you have about 10 ppm of CO2, which is not nearly enough.

Originally Posted by kamel_007

is the color will be the same of PH test color??

and the water inside the DROP CHECKER with KH of 4.. i do add 7 drops of PH test.. and do i've to add KH test drops?

Originally Posted by hoppycalif

The color will be the same as for the pH test kit, since that is what you are doing - measuring the pH of the bit of water in the bulb. It works because that water is "perfect" water for using the pH/KH/CO2 chart, unlike the tank water, which is far from "perfect". Don't add any KH test reagent to the bulb.

Originally Posted by kamel_007

OK.. im understand

SO i put 5 ml of water with KH of 4 and 7 drops of PH test.. as written in my PH test kit,

then.. i can't get this glass of drop checker.. it's not available in my country..

and till now.. i didn't find anything mach it.

could you help me?

Originally Posted by dennis

I used a propane torch to bend the test tube from a pH kit. It takes a little practice but the tubes are like $.50 so you can get a few extras. Teh trick is to spin it as you heat it and to make the bend, keep spinning it while pulling slightly apart and forming the bend.

Originally Posted by hoppycalif

I did some glass blowing in college, many years ago, but I still recall it being a lot of fun. You could actually make a usable version of this that looks almost like an ADA product, just by starting with that same test tube and heating the closed end until it shrinks a bit, then blow a bubble - not too big - heat the neck and bend it, then anneal the whole thing by heating all of it and letting it slowly cool. You could then heat the open end and use a carbon rod to open it to a larger diameter. Of course you could burn yourself, the garage, the house in the process, but it would still be fun for awhile!