# When Should My Drop Checker be Green



## nokturnalkid (Apr 3, 2007)

It should be green by the time your lights come on. Then yellow-green by the end of the photoperiod. Depending on how you dissolve co2, you might have to have your co2 come on earlier. Just do your adjustments slowly and watch your fish.


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## 57770 (Nov 14, 2012)

nokturnalkid said:


> It should be green by the time your lights come on. Then yellow-green by the end of the photoperiod. Depending on how you dissolve co2, you might have to have your co2 come on earlier. Just do your adjustments slowly and watch your fish.


Slow adjustment is key. 

Right now its blue-ish green by the end of the day.
I have an atomic inline diffuser. I will upload some pics of the setup.
Right now its taking almost 10 hours to get blue-green at about 1 BPS.


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## 57770 (Nov 14, 2012)

Attached Pictures of the setup.


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## nokturnalkid (Apr 3, 2007)

If anything, it should be bluish-green when the lights first come on. How big is the tank? Do you have 4dkh solution for your dc?


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## 57770 (Nov 14, 2012)

75 Gallon

I just put the solution in the drop checker that came with it.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Since there is a delay in the change of the drop checker's color and it takes time for the CO2 to build up in the water you would probably at the maximum CO2 level a couple hours before lights on if the drop checker was showing blue green at lights on. Not really a problem unless the tank tends to be low in oxygen or you are trying to get as much out of the CO2 tank as possible.

Try taking a water sample from the tank itself at lights out and trying to get close to that level at lights on instead. That won't tell you how much CO2 is in the water as there are other substances in the water affecting pH but it will give you a relative amount. So if your water is 7.4 at lights out then you would like the water to be 7.4 at lights on.


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## 57770 (Nov 14, 2012)

My tap water is normally 6.8/7.0.

That said my tank is ~6.6 at mid day.

I do have a circulation pump running 24x7 and it creates some surface current.

I have increased to ~1.5 - 2 BPS and will track it tomorrow.
I also enabled my CO2 to start 60 minutes before.


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## 57770 (Nov 14, 2012)

My fish don't seem upset at all with the addition of the CO2 at that level. Would be nice to see more of a color change to be sure the drop checker is working.

Would investing in the pH controller add-on for the apex be worth it?


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## 57770 (Nov 14, 2012)

I will report back to see how the extra 30 min and 1 BPS help out the coloration throughout the day. Thanks again for the help.


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## ThatGuyWithTheFish (Apr 29, 2012)

I find that it takes a few hours for the inline-diffuser to change the drop checker.


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## 57770 (Nov 14, 2012)

ThatGuyWithTheFish said:


> I find that it takes a few hours for the inline-diffuser to change the drop checker.


How many BPS and what size tank?

I would assume the inline diffuser would be extremely efficient.

Especially with the amount of flow I have in my tank.
2x Eheim 2217 and 1x 1600 JBJ Circulation Pump

Unless I am mistaken.

Thanks, this pressurized CO2 is very new to me.
I appreciate all the help!


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## nokturnalkid (Apr 3, 2007)

ronaldvalente said:


> 75 Gallon
> 
> I just put the solution in the drop checker that came with it.


Not quite sure what type of solution that comes with that dc. Might wanna ask who you bought that from. 

The reaction time of a dc is slow but 1 bps in a 75gal sounds a bit low. I would try around 3-4 bps to start with. Best thing to do when adjusting co2, do it when you are able to be home all day. Use the dc to get close and then monitor the fish while you fine tune. Different tanks have different amounts of dissolved o2. Said tanks can handle more/less co2.


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## 57770 (Nov 14, 2012)

Thanks I will keep a look see. I get the feeling that getting a pH controller is prob overkill with a dc. Might want to have it just in case as a fail safe.

If my normal pH is 6.8, tap water KH is 3.
Is it worth adding baking soda to up my KH or should I operate within the bounds of my tap water?

Thanks


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## 57770 (Nov 14, 2012)

I have been taking pictures of my plants since I setup the CO2.
Some new growth but nothing explosive.

Hopefully something will be happening soon-ish.

I will report back on the DC today to see how it looks in an hour or so when the lights turn on.


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## 57770 (Nov 14, 2012)

nokturnalkid said:


> If anything, it should be bluish-green when the lights first come on. How big is the tank? Do you have 4dkh solution for your dc?


This is the drop checker that I have: http://greenleafaquariums.com/co2-drop-checkers/oracle-drop-checker.html

Here is the solution that is in it: One (1) Bottle of CO2 "Indicator" Solution (4dKH) (15 mL)


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## hbosman (Oct 5, 2006)

ronaldvalente said:


> Thanks I will keep a look see. I get the feeling that getting a pH controller is prob overkill with a dc. Might want to have it just in case as a fail safe.
> 
> If my normal pH is 6.8, tap water KH is 3.
> Is it worth adding baking soda to up my KH or should I operate within the bounds of my tap water?
> ...


Nice water, a KH of 3 is ideal. You might want to get closer to a ph drop of "roughly" one whole point. Increase CO2 slowly over several days to get your ph to 5.8 by the end of the day. Keep that water pump running, the more O2 in the water, the more CO2 your animals can tolerate. I have a 57 gallon aquarium using an Ista Mix Max Reactor and the bubble stream through the bubble counter is uncountable. The 5 lb cylinder lasts 3 months so its working well. I have a kh of 4 and drop the ph from 7.6 to about 6.4 and the fish aren't breathing hard. Surface movement is important, don't minimize it hoping to save a little CO2 but, don't have it splashing either. That 4 kh drop checker water from Greenleaf is good to use. You probably want to see a little yellow by the end of the day.


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## 57770 (Nov 14, 2012)

*Thanks hbosman!*

So if I recap:

1. Keep 1600GPH pump running pointed slightly at the surface to keep movement at the top. This will encourage O2 exchange, keep the tank rich in O2 and CO2. I might use a little more CO2 but that is fine.

2. I should be reaching pH of 5.8 not 6.6 by the end of the day with a slight yellow in the drop checker.

3. I should *SLOWLY* increase the BPS rate every few days until the desired drop checker level is reached.

4. I should note there is a 2-3 hour equilibrium delay for the CO2 to register with the drop checker. All changes should be made very gradually as to not stress the fish.

5. Fish are the best measures of CO2, never let them display signs of labored breathing.

6. Use a better fertilizer. (Currently using Kent Pro Plant)

Thanks,
Ron


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## 57770 (Nov 14, 2012)

Here is my DC after 5 hours of being on.

I have also attached two pictures of new growth after 6 days of adding my CO2 setup.

The last shot is my pH of the tank after 5 hours of CO2 being on.

Before CO2: pH 6.8
After CO2: pH 6.6
Tap Water: pH 7.4


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## 57770 (Nov 14, 2012)

Here is a pic from my DC at CO2 running for 8h.
As you can see even at 2 BPS I am not getting a large change in my DC.


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## 57770 (Nov 14, 2012)

Here is my current pH after 8 hours of CO2 being on.
Still at 6.6 give or take.


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## 57770 (Nov 14, 2012)

Bump for Input. Thanks!


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## 57770 (Nov 14, 2012)

At the new BPS my drop checker has turned a dark green much quicker today. I will be keeping an eye on it. Hopefully by the end of the day today I will be at around a pH of 6.4.


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## sessionthree (Aug 24, 2012)

Hi Ron,

Not sure if this helps, but in my 120g, I ended up just taking my drop checker out of the tank (I ended up always being in the yellow). Ideally, you should start with ~1 point pH drop during the day. My tank runs at about 1.2 pH drop. When I get to between 1.3-1.4 I start to see signs of fish stress, so 1.2 seems ideal for my tank. Your mileage may vary. I also have dKH of about 3 deg.

My bps is uncountable. It's maybe 10 bps or more? who knows? I just let my bubble counter dry up and only use the pH drop as a gauge for CO2 now.

In the image below you can see my pH trends over several days. The pH rises to about 7.0 in the CO2 off period and immediately starts to drop when the CO2 is turned on each day. I turn the CO2 on 2 hours before lights turn on (1 hour would probably be plenty.) When the lights turn on, my pH is about 6.0 and then it drops to about 5.8 during the lighting period. I turn the CO2 off 1 hour before lights off and the pH immediately starts to rise.










-Clayton


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## 57770 (Nov 14, 2012)

Clayton,

Thanks that is VERY helpful. I might invest in the pH controller for my Apex after all!
One question: How long is your lighting period?


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## sessionthree (Aug 24, 2012)

ronaldvalente said:


> Clayton,
> 
> Thanks that is VERY helpful. I might invest in the pH controller for my Apex after all!
> One question: How long is your lighting period?


I have 4 48" T5HO bulbs. My total lighting period is 8 hours, but my lighting period with all 4 bulbs on is 5 hours. I turn the rear two on at 2pm and the front two on at 3:30pm. The rear two turn off at 8:30pm and the front two turn off at 10pm. I might change this a bit, but this is what I'm running now.

Also, understand that I'm only monitoring pH. I'm not using it to control the CO2 directly. I get slight pH drift through the week and a bit of a pH shift right after weekly water changes. If I use pH to control CO2, this will affect how much CO2 I'm injecting. I care more about a consistent CO2 level, so I merely monitor pH to make sure I'm getting the same pH drop day-to-day. (Pretty much set and forget once I got it dialed in with my needle valve.) To illustrate this, you can see my pH shift after a water change if you look in the graph when my pH goes to nearly 9.0. The pH during the water change goes this high becuase my pH probe is near where the inlet water is for the water change. After the water change, you can see my pH curve shifts slightly lower (look at the max pH point). If I controlled the CO2 solenoid with the pH meter, this would result with less CO2 being injected than the day before which is not what I want.

-Clayton


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## 57770 (Nov 14, 2012)

Interesting, I like your method to monitor pH without controlling CO2 to ensure an even injection of CO2 each day. That said, you are running 8 hour photo period. I am using the season table on the apex. It is giving me about 10 hours of light (2x 65W Power Compact). I am moving to an LED fixture today. Hopefully I wont have too long of a photo period.

Thanks again,
Ron


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## sessionthree (Aug 24, 2012)

ronaldvalente said:


> Interesting, I like your method to monitor pH without controlling CO2 to ensure an even injection of CO2 each day. That said, you are running 8 hour photo period. I am using the season table on the apex. It is giving me about 10 hours of light (2x 65W Power Compact). I am moving to an LED fixture today. Hopefully I wont have too long of a photo period.
> 
> Thanks again,
> Ron


 
If you wanted to use a shorter photoperiod, you could still use the seasonal table, but do something like this:

If Sun 060/-060 Then ON 

This would turn lights on 60 minutes after sunrise and turn them off 60 minutes before sunset as defined in the table.

-Clayton


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## 57770 (Nov 14, 2012)

Yeah that is what I am doing for my CO2. Might be worth it.
That said, just tested my pH. After CO2 being on for 7 hours, my pH is at 6.4.
Before CO2 comes on my pH is 6.8. Clearly I need to up the CO2 a tad more.
I have no problem increasing slowly, less stress on the fish.

Thanks again for the input!


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## sessionthree (Aug 24, 2012)

ronaldvalente said:


> Yeah that is what I am doing for my CO2. Might be worth it.
> That said, just tested my pH. After CO2 being on for 7 hours, my pH is at 6.4.
> Before CO2 comes on my pH is 6.8. Clearly I need to up the CO2 a tad more.
> I have no problem increasing slowly, less stress on the fish.
> ...


Yeah, go slow. And don't freak out when you go past when your drop checker is bright yellow (that's why I eventually just took mine out.) When you get the max CO2 that you can possiby get into tank without stressing fish, then you can see what photoperiod works best for you. Are you dosing EI? If so, with max CO2, you should use light as your limiting factor for plant growth and algae.

-Clayton


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## nokturnalkid (Apr 3, 2007)

Definately up the co2. I hardly ever measure ph but when I did, I was close to a 1.2-1.4 point drop. Your dc should be a solid green at startup than your 5hr pic. It's hard to tell but I can still see a blue tinge in that pic. My dc is usually a light green at startup and almost yellow at the end. I use a 5dkh(sold as 4 but was 5 when I tested) so I actually have more co2 than the same colors using 4dkh. Green using 5dkh is around 45ppm and yellow is 60ppm+ so I have quite a bit of co2 going into my tank. I do have lots of surface agitation though to compensate.


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## 57770 (Nov 14, 2012)

Right now I am changing as few variables at a time.
I have the apex automatically dosing my ferts M, W, and F.

I am doing a nice water change weekly. Not 50 % though.


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