# what liquid in bubble counter



## foster (Sep 23, 2012)

What liquid can I use in a bubble counter? Can I use plain old water> The liquid offered by the seller I bought my co2 system from was very expensive.


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## owens81jw (Feb 7, 2009)

Use water, 

Most ppl I know on here use water too.


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## foster (Sep 23, 2012)

Thank You!! I am new to CO2 Pressurized systems, and wasn't sure. I use water in the yeast reactor co2, so thought it might work in pressurized system. I wanted to be sure.


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## homemadepopcorn (Mar 19, 2012)

You can use water, or mineral oil which won't really evaporate.


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## pmcarbrey (Jan 19, 2013)

Water will not give you as accurate results as 4dkh solution, and depending on your water conditions may actually not work at all


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## owens81jw (Feb 7, 2009)

homemadepopcorn said:


> You can use water, or mineral oil which won't really evaporate.


Where can you get this at?


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## haruko05 (Jan 23, 2013)

Water for the bubble counter. I think DKH4 water is for CO2 drop checker.


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## pmcarbrey (Jan 19, 2013)

haruko05 said:


> Water for the bubble counter. I think DKH4 water is for CO2 drop checker.


Sorry, fail on my part. That's what skimming gets me :icon_conf
Use mineral oil. I've also hear of people using corn syrup to make the bubbles easy to count, but..... That just sounds like a sticky mess to me


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## jccaclimber (Aug 29, 2011)

Mine evaporates the water in a couple days, so I use mineral oil. As a warning, on one occasion I flipped my drop checker over and dumped all the mineral oil in to my line, and subsequently the tank. Ten minutes of surface skimming with a siphon later all was well, with no related problems, but I was in a panic for a bit.


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## VAtanks (Feb 1, 2013)

owens81jw said:


> Where can you get this at?


Drug store...walgreens etc etc has it for like a buck a bottle


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## Allentan97 (Jul 1, 2012)

I used to use water, now I use olive oil, cuz its sooooooooo much easier to count the bubbles


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## owens81jw (Feb 7, 2009)

VAtanks said:


> Drug store...walgreens etc etc has it for like a buck a bottle


thanks


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## kevmo911 (Sep 24, 2010)

I'd strongly recommend not using any type of oil if you use a diffuser.


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

Baby oil is mineral oil with baby smell


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## Allentan97 (Jul 1, 2012)

*liquid in bc*



kevmo911 said:


> I'd strongly recommend not using any type of oil if you use a diffuser.


 why not??


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## angelsword (May 16, 2009)

kevmo911 said:


> I'd strongly recommend not using any type of oil if you use a diffuser.


I'm new to pressurized CO2. I would think that whatever is in the bubble counter could potentially work its way through the line, onto the diffuser and into the aquarium. Is this why you suggest avoiding oil?


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## kevmo911 (Sep 24, 2010)

Sorry, I should have elaborated. As angel guessed, oil can make its way into the tank as jca had it do. But oil can also clog a diffuser.

If you have an Atomic diffuser, it's more significant. If that thing gets clogged, you may not be able to get it to work quite as well again. The pores on it are much smaller than a generic diffuser, and easier to clog. Further, it requires a higher pressure to function, so when the solenoid kicks in, you get a much larger blast of CO2, making it more likely that whatever is in the bc will get shot into the line.

A lot of people talk about water evaporating in their bubble counters. Others say it takes months for this to happen, which suggests (to me, anyway) that the water is getting shot into the line little by little, rather than evaporating.

So, while it's true that oil makes it easier to do a bubble count, for me it's not worth the hassle of worrying about what the oil may do. Up to you. Clearly, many people prefer oil. I don't.


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## jester56 (Oct 28, 2012)

wow. I've been using vegetable oil for several months. I have a check valve and a Fluval diffuser. After reading about the potential for problems, ill be going back to good old water!


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## gus6464 (Dec 19, 2011)

Do you think mineral oil is a problem even with the JBJ bubble counter where it would be super hard for the oil to get in the line?


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

gus6464 said:


> Do you think mineral oil is a problem even with the JBJ bubble counter where it would be super hard for the oil to get in the line?


Mineral oil is also commonly used, so should not be a problem.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

kevmo911 said:


> Sorry, I should have elaborated. As angel guessed, oil can make its way into the tank as jca had it do. But oil can also clog a diffuser.
> 
> If you have an Atomic diffuser, it's more significant. If that thing gets clogged, you may not be able to get it to work quite as well again. The pores on it are much smaller than a generic diffuser, and easier to clog. Further, it requires a higher pressure to function, so when the solenoid kicks in, you get a much larger blast of CO2, making it more likely that whatever is in the bc will get shot into the line.
> 
> ...


 Couldn't agree more !


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## shift (Jan 7, 2013)

i use mineral oil


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## dmagerl (Feb 2, 2010)

VAtanks said:


> Drug store...walgreens etc etc has it for like a buck a bottle


In the laxative aisle.


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## Eric Spears (12 mo ago)

The liquid sold for so expensive is Plain old Propylene Glycol.
Its non-toxic and im betting there are 3 dozen items in your kitchen and medicine cabinet that have it in them.
Although if you buy it at your Pharmacy or big box stores you find it for 500ml at $3.99 US.
You can use uncented Baby oil, Castor oil, avocado oil anything more viscous than plain water, all of these products are also non-evaporating. However Propylene glycol is anti microbial too.


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