Drop Cheaker Colour......

[aibo210]

Hi

Got my drop cheaker off aquaessentials today its the boyu type 1 ive put some 4dhk solution in and 3 drops of a API low rang PH its turned a dark navy blue colour that right? Ive had it in about an hour now and no colour change just wonderd is it working? my co2 is pumping out prity fast aswell bout 80 bpm from a spiro glass diffuser.


Also is there any easy way to fill it? when I pour the 4dkh in air gets traped and it just pours back out.

Carl

 

[aaronnorth]

aim for green, it can take a few hours to correct itself, if it is stillblue then you need to up the co2.

I fill mine by putting 3drops of ph reagent in the using a pippette i squirt a very small amount then tip it so it runs into the ball part, the air should push out, kep putting in small amounts until it is njust over half full.

 

[ulster exile]

Won't the number of drops of PH reagent needed be relative to the requirements of the test kit you are using and the amount of water needed for the test? What I mean is, if you're using say a Hagen PH test, you may need 2 drops per 5ml of water. So if you can only put in 2.5ml of water, you'd only need 1 drop of reagent? Whereas a different test kit may require 5 drops per 5ml of water...do you get my drift?

I've never had the above confirmed by anybody, it's just what I presumed...

 

[SuperColey1]

No the number of Ph drops you use is 'to taste'

wether it be 1 drop or 10 the colour will still be blue/green/yellow but some people prefer to be able to see a clear green yellow while others prefer it to be more transparent.

The more drops the deeper the colour which means that the dark blue is hard to distinguish from dark green (which I would say doesn't matter as you dont want it dark green either.)

I put 3ml of 4dKH and 4/5 drops of API PH.

Andy

 

[ulster exile]

Thanks for the clarification and apologies for the hijack aibo210

 

[aibo210]

Thanks for the clarification and apologies for the hijack aibo210

Its ok all good info for me aswell lol i am just starting out with one..... so would light green vergin on yellow be best then? i laminated some white card and diped it behind my drop cheaker as its hard to see a clear color its now a ph of 6.6 is that ok? thats using 3 drop of api ph fluid .

 

[SuperColey1]

The Ph of your tank is of no consequence really. In general a drop of 1 means 30ppm but this can be different for ceratin water parameters KH wise.

I try to get it between grass green and limeade colour. limeade being very close to too much for fish. so it should be limeade at lights on and grass green is OK for lights out. You need to set your system up so that it hits peak at lights on (limeade) but due to the delay in the DC changing colour this means that 2 hours AFTER lights on you should check the colour as this will be what the lights on ppm would be.

So in other words adjust the needle valve until every day at lights on you have limeade. If it doesn' drop at all during the day then it doesn't matter if it goes closer to yellow then turn it down.

Andy

 

[aibo210]

The Ph of your tank is of no consequence really. In general a drop of 1 means 30ppm but this can be different for ceratin water parameters KH wise.

I try to get it between grass green and limeade colour. limeade being very close to too much for fish. so it should be limeade at lights on and grass green is OK for lights out. You need to set your system up so that it hits peak at lights on (limeade) but due to the delay in the DC changing colour this means that 2 hours AFTER lights on you should check the colour as this will be what the lights on ppm would be.

So in other words adjust the needle valve until every day at lights on you have limeade. If it doesn' drop at all during the day then it doesn't matter if it goes closer to yellow then turn it down.

Andy

Ok so if i set my solinoid 1 hour befor lights on and try to get limeade colour after 2 hours light time then leave it running till light out do i need to turn off with the lights or just befor?

say....1pm co2.. 2pm lights..10pm lights off co2 off

that ok?

 

[aaronnorth]

Ok so if i set my solinoid 1 hour befor lights on and try to get limeade colour after 2 hours light time then leave it running till light out do i need to turn off with the lights or just befor?

say....1pm co2.. 2pm lights..10pm lights off co2 off

that ok?

 

[SuperColey1]

Ok so if i set my solinoid 1 hour befor lights on and try to get limeade colour after 2 hours light time then leave it running till light out do i need to turn off with the lights or just befor?

say....1pm co2.. 2pm lights..10pm lights off co2 off

that ok?

I would start 2 hours before lights and turn off 2 hours before dark.

The important thing is to get the CO2 to optimum at lights on as they will take most of what they need in the first few hours of the photoperiod. Theres no point pumping it in till the end of the photoperios as you will be pumping excess CO2 in for the dark period.

Andy

 

[boonc]

Does it matter if you use low or high range Ph solution? I only have a high range test kit at present.

 

[ulster exile]

It needs to have Bromothymol blue in it to work. I know Hagen Low Range kit does, since I use that kit (and Aquaessentials kindly point out that it is suitable to use).

 

[SuperColey1]

You want the test kit that covers 6-8Ph