Drop checker not working

[tearingwaif17]

This is a 20 gallon long aquarium, and currently I am running a DIY Co2 setup using two 2L bottles to store citric acid and baking soda. I placed my aquario neo diffuser next to a power head so the Co2 could be spread out better, but despite all this my drop checker refuses to change color. Is there something wrong with my drop checker or do I need to add more Co2. Also the drop checker liquid has been in there for less than a week and the Co2 at the time of the recording had been running for at least 2 hours.

 

[StevenF]

The fluid in the drop checker is DI water with sodium bicarbonate which should have a KH of of 4 degrees. Added to that is a PH reagent that changes color as the PH of the solution changes.

IN the past people used aquarium water instead of the 4DKH solution. Since aquarium water can have a different KH you don't want to use aquarium water in the drop checker.

However even with the proper set up of a drop checker people still have problems controlling CO2 levels. There is however a better way of getting CO2 into the tank. It is called the Inverted CO2 methode.

Basically a bottle upside down in the tank is filled with CO2. The CO2 then dissolves into the water. With this methode you cannot put to much CO2 into the tank and as long as you fill the bottle at least once a day you will always have a safe effective amount of CO2 into your tank . I have been using this methode for 6 months ( I use a timer to automatically refill the bottle. Although I am using a lot less CO2 and plants are still doing well and pearling.

And oddly enough, drop checkers don't work with this methode. But you don't need them since there is no way to get too much CO@ into the tank.

 

[Wills]

Did you use a home mix drop check solution or a pre mixed one?

From your diffuser do you have enough flow around the tank and what is your surface agitation like?

Wills

 

[tearingwaif17]

Did you use a home mix drop check solution or a pre mixed one?

From your diffuser do you have enough flow around the tank and what is your surface agitation like?

Wills

From a premixed one, and I have a powerhead right next to my diffuser shooting the bubbles all throughout my tank. The rate of Co2 being injected is one bubble per second.

 

[mbsqw1d]

From a premixed one, and I have a powerhead right next to my diffuser shooting the bubbles all throughout my tank. The rate of Co2 being injected is one bubble per second.

I think you should increase to more like 4 per second

 

[Wills]

Ah yeah 1 bps might not be enough increase it over time and see what happens just remember your drop checker won’t instantly change I usually assume what my drop checker is showing is what was going on 1-2 hours ago