Help on CO2 drop checker - Equipment

DUHK · 11-17-2009, 05:30 PM

How long does it take for your CO2 drop checker to synchronize? I bought a glass drop checker on ebay and after that I put the Sumo drop checker solution half full in the checker. It's been over a day now and my solution still is blue. I've dosed excel and yet it hasnt changed. Am I doing something wrong? What can I do?

ghengis · 11-17-2009, 08:36 PM

Excel won't make any difference...

Ummm, sorry for the silly question, but you are running CO2, yeah??

DUHK · 11-17-2009, 08:44 PM

yeah. i'm running a diy co2. sorry if its a dumb question but why wouldn't excel make a difference?

aquatic_clay · 11-17-2009, 08:59 PM

Excel wouldn't have any effect on a drop checker since it's a liquid source of carbon and has no way to transfer from the tank water to the drop checker solution. Drop checkers will only work for co2 since it's a gas. CO2 escapes from the water column and transfers in to the drop checker and then in to the drop checker solution resulting in a drop in the ph of the solution which is why it turns from blue to green to yellow.

Since your last post said that you have DYI CO2 you should have a change in color. It seems like your CO2 isn't getting disolved in to the water column.

What are you using to diffuse CO2?

Clay

DUHK · 11-17-2009, 09:19 PM

I place the airline tubing that is attached to my DIY CO2 system into an internal filter. The propellers chop up the bubbles and spits it out. Also, I have my CO2 drop checker on the opposite side of the tank near the bottom of the tank. Would that cause any affect in the ability for the drop checker to read?

ghengis · 11-18-2009, 02:13 AM

It may not change the results you are getting, but you should have the checker on the same side as where your CO2 is dispersed from and up above the mid line. The reason being that it is more indicative of how much CO2 is in the whole tank.

Think about standing in a room with an airconditioner. If you stand opposite the AC, you get cool, quickly. But if you stand under it, by the time you feel the difference, the entire room will have been filled with the cooled air.

aquatic_clay · 11-18-2009, 06:25 AM

A lot of people move their checkers all over the aquarium to try to find "dead spots" where co2 isn't making it's way to that part of the tank. I've heard about some checkers taking about 15 minutes to change and some taking over a day to change colors.

Has yours changed colors yet?

If not there could be 2 problems...

co2 may not be getting dissolved in to the water efficiently.

or...

the solution in the checker is not working.

DUHK · 11-18-2009, 03:24 PM

I will try to move the drop checker to the same side as where the CO2 is being dispersed and see if that makes a difference.

I got the method as to how to diffuse the CO2 actually on this forum in an thread and a lot of people said it was a good method. As for the solution, I got the solution from Sumo which is a really good solution. :\