Co2 Dropper

[2pods]

Having installed said dropper in tank with the 4Dkh water (from Tom Barr's) and the blue reagent supplied with the dropper, it was blue.


I looked up my pH and KH (6.8 and 2) which said 9.5 was being produced - far to low but the dropper was green

I have eventually increased it to 40 bubbles per minute and the dropper is still green.

The tank is 400 litres, pH 6.8 ( though it had risen a bit about an hour before lights off), KH 2.0, Co2 being delivered via an inline reactor from my filter.

Thoughts ?

Peter

 

[Themuleous]

How long was the drop checker in the tank? It takes a good hour for it to change to the right colour.

If its green that should indicate 30ppm CO2, slightly blue to little CO2, slightly yellow to much CO2. I'd be tempted to believe the checker, how accurate are your KH and pH tests?

Sam

 

[fozziebear]

i find mine isnt too accurate on the colour scale, but thats with any liquid test really, its hard to tell, but basically blue means more c02 yellow means less and oxygenate your water otherwise your fish are gonna die, anywhere from dark green to lightish green is about right

 

[2pods]

How long was the drop checker in the tank? It takes a good hour for it to change to the right colour.

If its green that should indicate 30ppm CO2, slightly blue to little CO2, slightly yellow to much CO2. I'd be tempted to believe the checker, how accurate are your KH and pH tests?

The checker has been in there for 3 days, and I've taken the bubble rate up gradually.

The tests are the API liquid stuff, and is usually quite accurate

i find mine isnt too accurate on the colour scale, but thats with any liquid test really, its hard to tell, but basically blue means more c02 yellow means less and oxygenate your water otherwise your fish are gonna die, anywhere from dark green to lightish green is about right

What I'm trying to find is a good bubble rate for the plants without killing my fish, but green for 9 bubbles per minute AND 40 bubbles per minute

Peter

 

[JamesC]

They take a bit of getting used to as there are different shades of green. I aim for a light green which seems good for me. If it is a darker green then CO2 levels are too low. If it has a slight hint of yellow then CO2 levels are getting high.

What I love about drop checkers is that I can check the CO2 levels every time I pass the tank as I can tell at a glance if it's the right shade of green. If it is yellow then you'll have very high CO2 and if blue then you'll have very low levels. Generally it stays different shades of green.

To give you an idea of bubble rate I'm adding 2 bubbles per second on a 200 litre tank.

James

 

[2pods]

Thanks James, that gives me somewhere to start from.

Peter