Does it work? ADA glass dropcheck co2 indicator - Page 7 - General Aquarium Plants Discussions

Squawkbert · 06-12-2007, 11:07 AM

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According to this one person on ebay, they say use tank water...

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Ok so what happens when you run out of pH indicator solution? Can you order refills or just use a standard pH test kit?

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I have 2 different indicators, one is from RedSea and the other 2 are from Azoo. Both state in their directions to use tank water in the units and add the reagent to it. I have done it this way the entire time that I have had them and I have found them both to be very reliable. For the most part, the reagent reacts for anywhere from 1-2 months for me, but I usually like to clean out the indicators every other month or so or else I find they can build up with slime or other stuff. Just adding my 2 cents to the thread.

^^Guys - Read #42 above.^^

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I can see how tank water will give you your pH, which you can couple with KH (not an exact measurement like known KH solution) but I doubt that it's anywhere close to as helpful as the known KH method. Known KH is literally "read the color and know your CO2 level as low, high or just right".

Turbomkt - Right. pH/KH charts are not as accurate because KH is a measure of (just) carbonate hardness. Your tank has sources other than carbonate contributing to hardness, but your test kit for hardness can't discern carbonate hardness from all other possible sources of hardness, so it's not that accurate. Even if it were accurate, all you get is a point in time reading. You can't spot trends without a lot more testing. Drop checkers may be a little behind in terms of time, but where things have been vs. where they're going is quite valuable information (and they're more accurate than charts unless you have aquarium water that is unusually devoid of ion sources).

Blacksunshine · 06-12-2007, 11:59 AM

Best way is to use a soloution of known kH. using tank water introduces alot of variables to the soloution that won't read in the expected range properly.
I make ready to go regent as well as Drop checkers. And I've found in my testing of these things that using the known stable soloution is much more accurate and easier then trying to use tank water.

Dutch-AquaDesign · 06-13-2007, 01:26 AM

On this moment the pH=7 and the dKH=8 of my fish tank water (CO2=24 ppm)
Remark: My dKH is this high because I don’t use RO water in my fish tank.

When I understand this well, I still measure the pH value.
And the RO solution with pH reagent has a turning point of color at pH=6.6, no matter what.

So:
I need a RO solution with a dKH=4 to get a CO2=30 ppm, and do I need a RO solution with a dKH=3.6 to get a CO2= 27 ppm, no matter what.

Is this correct?

So the pH value of my fish tank has to drop to pH=6.6 directed by CO2 and will change my dKH automatic to dKH=3.6. Or is there more I need to do to get the right values?

Will this only work at a pH=6.6 or will this also work at an different pH value?
Do I need an other dKH of my RO solution when I have an different pH value?

Dutch-AquaDesign · 06-13-2007, 03:45 AM

I read a lot about a dKH=4

Is it necessary to use RO water (not pure) in my fish tank?
In my fish tank the dKH=8.

Can I use this test to see my co2 value is right?
Do I need an other dKH value in my tester?

Bert H · 06-13-2007, 04:58 AM

The drop checker needs kh4 water NOT tank water to do its job properly. If you're going to use tank water, you'll still be subjected to the same errors you had when you were just measuring kh/pH from the tank directly.

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Is it necessary to use RO water (not pure) in my fish tank?

No. Unless you want to completely control the kh of your system and/or need softer water to grow the few 'soft water' plants.

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In my fish tank the dKH=8.

Nothing wrong with that.

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Can I use this test to see my co2 value is right?

You can use the drop checker to measure your CO2 values, IF you use kh4 water in your drop checker.

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Do I need an other dKH value in my tester?

You need water with kh4 for your drop checker.

Dutch-AquaDesign · 06-13-2007, 05:06 AM

@ Bert H,

Thanks for your reply.

So, I only need KH=4 water for in the tester.
And also, the KH in my fish tank is about 8 dKH, the tester tells me still the accurate CO2 value.

Is this right?

Bert H · 06-13-2007, 05:15 AM

If the water in your drop checker is kh4, you will have an accurate reading of the CO2 in your tank, no matter what the kh of the tank water is.

Dutch-AquaDesign · 06-13-2007, 11:30 PM

Last night (Europe time) I have read a lot about this tester here on this site.
( http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...p-checker.html )

And now I fully understand the concept and working.

Everyone thank you for you help.
And Special thanks for Hoppy

For now, I gona order one on ebay………..

Dutch-AquaDesign · 06-21-2007, 11:44 PM

Can someone tell me, how many grams of Baking Soda I need in one liter or gallon of RO/DI water to get a KH=4

Left C · 12-13-2007, 06:11 PM

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Originally Posted by Dutch-AquaDesign

Can someone tell me, how many grams of Baking Soda I need in one liter or gallon of RO/DI water to get a KH=4

I used billionzz's instructions to make my solution using baking soda. You need 3.60 grams to make a 40 dKH solution that you dilute further down to 4 dKH, 5 dKH, etc.
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...standards.html