# Co2 drop checker color check please



## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

I'm not color blind. Well at least I do not think. Just having a hard time seeing if this is more green or too light in the yellow. Adjusting my co2 so any help is appreciated. Thanks.










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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Anyone? Really trying to get my co2 dialed in today as I will be at work and cannot monitor my livestock closely. 


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## Nigel95 (Mar 5, 2017)

It looks light green to me. Blast some more CO2 if it turns darker green you're good. If yellow lower CO2.


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Nigel95 said:


> It looks light green to me. Blast some more CO2 if it turns darker green you're good. If yellow lower CO2.




But by blasting more co2 wouldn't it turn lighter?


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## Attackturtle (Dec 30, 2016)

When mine goes that clear, it is very yellow. Did you add enough regeant? Can you show a pic without CO2 for a few hours so we can see how dark it is?


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Attackturtle said:


> When mine goes that clear, it is very yellow. Did you add enough regeant? Can you show a pic without CO2 for a few hours so we can see how dark it is?




Yes I added the solution that came with it which was the premade 4dkh solution and in fact changed it out yesterday after my water change. 
I will move it over to my non co2 tank for a bit. Took it out and for sure looks yellow. Turning down co2










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## thejoe (May 23, 2013)

Was also thinking the same as Attackturtle. Did you add enough regeant? It sure looks like you need to add more.


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

What it looks like with fresh regent


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

And in the tank with fresh regent. Seems is much easier to see the actual color out of the tank. 


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Also took a ph/gh/kh test and am a bit concerned. 
Kh 140ppm
Gh 230ppm
Ph 6.62


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## livingf1t (Dec 7, 2016)

Here's what I do, I used to have a drop checker and it doesn't react quick enough when you're trying to dial in co2. I use the co2 chart and monitor my ph until it's where I like it to be and then no more guessing. My kh is 5 so I know I would like my ph to be around 6.6-6.8 so i tested the ph without my co2 running and then tested about every half hour, at peak my ph never went below 6.6 now if it did I would have tweaked my co2 back a bit 


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Based on my numbers does anyone know what my co2 ppm is? On road now. 


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## MCFC (Feb 12, 2017)

According to rotalabutterfly it's 56.4ppm (60G tank right?).


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Holy smokes. According to the calculator I have 58.8 ppm of co2. Not good at all. 


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

MCFC said:


> According to rotalabutterfly it's 56.4ppm (60G tank right?).




Yes. Would say 55 gallons of water give or take. I turned it back quite a bit. What was throwing me off was my ph was not dipping more than .5. But it's because my KH is high to find out. At least all my live stock is ok even all my shrimp and such. 


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## Attackturtle (Dec 30, 2016)

I'm not convinced you have too much CO2 but that is very yellow. I dislike how translucent that regant dkh4 mix is. I keep my blue dark enough to where you cant see through it when it is added and I am following the instructions of my kit. When you have such a translucent mix, it is harder to tell the color. Mine will go dark blue to blue to dark green to green to light green and then yellow, the last 2 are easy to see through. This helps a lot with figuring out the color. 

What is your co2 method, BPS, filter, and how are you diffusing it.


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Attackturtle said:


> I'm not convinced you have too much CO2 but that is very yellow. I dislike how translucent that regant dkh4 mix is. I keep my blue dark enough to where you cant see through it when it is added and I am following the instructions of my kit. When you have such a translucent mix, it is harder to tell the color. Mine will go dark blue to blue to dark green to green to light green and then yellow, the last 2 are easy to see through. This helps a lot with figuring out the color.
> 
> 
> 
> What is your co2 method, BPS, filter, and how are you diffusing it.




Was at about 5bps but now is at 3.5. Pressurized co2 using Sera flora 500 reactor into dedicated Fluval 206 with zero media in it. Was hard to tell color of the drop checker in tank but taken out seems more clear yellow. Went same after I re added the pre mixed solution and in tank for about an hour. Ya I figured the drop checker should be easier to read. My KH is 7.8 and PH is 6.62. Honestly it could of been a bit faster than 5 bps but hard to count when that fast. Just counted twice and is now at 3.5 bps. Just feel bad I was gassing my fish. Second pic is the 206 out directly behind main filter Fluval FX4 out










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## ed.junior (Feb 2, 2017)

If you really had 58ppm of CO2 you would see something on the fish behaviour.

The pH/KH table can only be used for pure water (e.g. without any sort of acids in it). It is very easy to get skewed results. I would have 100+ ppm of CO2.

If you want to confirm this, take some of your tank water (e.g. 300ml) and let it rest on an open container for 24h, or use a running air stone for 30 minutes. Then measure CO2 content with pH/KH table. You should have 0.5 to 1.0 ppm of CO2. This is because CO2 in the air will balance itself with CO2 in the water. Because the water sample is left open, without any animals or substrate, this is a reliable way to see if your water has any distortions on the pH. 

This is too much work for me.
Instead, measure the pH drop. A 1 point pH drop is okay for most people. This is a much more reliable way of measuring CO2 concentration, because you see the direct influence it has on the pH.



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## Attackturtle (Dec 30, 2016)

clownplanted said:


> Was at about 5bps but now is at 3.5. Pressurized co2 using Sera flora 500 reactor into dedicated Fluval 206 with zero media in it. Was hard to tell color of the drop checker in tank but taken out seems more clear yellow. Went same after I re added the pre mixed solution and in tank for about an hour. Ya I figured the drop checker should be easier to read. My KH is 7.8 and PH is 6.62. Honestly it could of been a bit faster than 5 bps but hard to count when that fast. Just counted twice and is now at 3.5 bps. Just feel bad I was gassing my fish. Second pic is the 206 out directly behind main filter Fluval FX4 out


I agree with Ed I think the fish would probably have been letting you know. A 60 gallon even fully dissolved 5 bps... I just don't know that that should be overgassing the tank to that extent. What is the brand of the mix you bought and the supplier? What is your PH when you don't add CO2?

You can fill your BPS counter with a gel substance to make it easier to count bubbles. I have seen it on youtube. Not sure what it is but somebody else may chime in with that.


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

ed.junior said:


> If you really had 58ppm of CO2 you would see something on the fish behaviour.
> 
> The pH/KH table can only be used for pure water (e.g. without any sort of acids in it). It is very easy to get skewed results. I would have 100+ ppm of CO2.
> 
> ...




I will try your approach of taking out some of the water and measuring. That is a great idea. 

As far as the 1 point ph drop that is what I was trying to do hence the ever increasing co2 and no matter how much I would run, even at around 8+ bps it would only go down say .5. The someone else on here had some info that the 1 point drop you usually want unless you have high KH. And I do and yesterday was first day I could take and measure and sure enough it was 140ppm. He explained that if you have high KH is resist ph change much more than lower kh which seems to be the case. I am telling you I had the co2 running too fast to count and still would only effect the ph so much. Do you agree with the high KH could more resist a drop in PH?


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

And want to add that while none of my fish were gasping for air at the top I did notice most of the fish were breathing faster than normal. Ocosianally my Cory cats would dart up real quick to the surface but was just a dart and would go right back down. Is it normal to have this high KH? Today when I get home I am going to do a tap water kh/gh check. Because to me they seem really high and I did a 50% WC the day before. 


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

And I really appreciate all of your expertise in helping me get to the bottom of this. I am new at this and you are all really helping me a ton so I just hope I can help you in some way or another. You all are great people. 


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## MCFC (Feb 12, 2017)

Just for reference, I keep the bubbles going faster than I can count in my 55G, have a KH around 105-125ppm, and I'm currently getting a pH drop of around 0.8.


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

I am so glad that I got this seneye monitor as it allows me to monitor my ph nearly real time. So because of that I will share the data with you guys. So the first day that I installed and ran co2 was on Sunday March 12th. I got my Seneye ph monitor in Wednesday March 15th. Now when I first had the seneye ph monitor in, I was not able to leave the laptop on 24/7. Only since three days ago have I had a laptop on getting constant monitoring. But I still have a bunch of data. When I first started monitoring my PH hit a high of 8.08 right before co2 came on. Then throughout the day(not immediately) in about a 5 hour span dropped down to 7.19. Now that day was the highest my ph ever was. Since then it has not got up higher than 7.71 which happened at about 4:00am about 2 hours before co2 came on. In fact yesterday the high it hit was exactly 7.08 and that was right before co2 came on. Then it dropped to a low of 6.62 at about 2 hours later. This was when I was running 5+bps. Again that could of easily been 7 or 8bps as it was really hard to tell. I am using mineral oil in bubble counter. Bubble counter does stay at a constant of what I set it at so it is not like its adjusting or anything.

With all of this what it seems to me like the co2 is not dissipating out of the tank like it should be. Should not my ph go back up to like 8?? If that is the case that would explain why it is only dropping so much because in reality it would be more than a 1 point drop even though not right away. See right now before I left for work my ph is at 6.98 and my kh is at 7.8(about 7:30am). The drop checker does show a more noticeable green. Again have to take out of tank to get a really good look at it. With those readings it shows my co2 at 24.5ppm. I even did a kh test again first thing this morning and it shows again 140ppm(7.8)

I just feel that the co2 is staying in the tank. What I will do to test this is when I get home I am going to shut off the co2 for 24 hours and see how high my ph gets back up to. I just don't get it because the co2 should be leaving much faster than it seems to be. I do run a HOB filter(only at night simply for surface agitation) that is causing surface agitation and of course the co2 gets shut off every evening at 5:00pm 1 hour before lights off. So co2 shuts off at 5pm and HOB turns on at 5pm all with timers. I even verify the co2 is not running. Many times throughout the day/evening I have been checking everything lol. The bubble counter always stays consistent with what I have it set at and all.

So do I have a good approach here guys? Am I on the right path? I will update with ph graphs here in a minute.

Bump:


MCFC said:


> Just for reference, I keep the bubbles going faster than I can count in my 55G, have a KH around 105-125ppm, and I'm currently getting a pH drop of around 0.8.


Does yours still slowly go down throughout the day(ph) or does it stay constant as soon as lights come on once plants start feeding??


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

So with this graph the first highest point was 16 March at 7:00am(8.08PH), Low was at (7.19PH) 5 hours later. The not as consistent couple spikes after that were due to me not having a laptop on the monitor throughout the night the first couple nights. So the 17th March at 6:00am the highest point it was at (7.73PH), low (6.81) again 5 hours later. Then the same time the next day at (7.71PH) then (6.62PH) 8 hours later. Then this moring the high was (7.40PH) right before co2 came on and now its at (6.95PH) 3 hours after co2 came on. The lights come on always an hour after co2 comes on to give you the time frame.

What I am noticing is its taking a good 10-12 hours to peak right before the co2 comes on. Should the PH not go up at a much higher rate after co2 is off???


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Or could it be that the Seneye PH Monitor is not updating as fast as it should be?? I am going to get a separate PH test kit.


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## RobnSonji (Oct 6, 2013)

Clown my situation is similar to yours.....

My tank water tests GH 10 and KH 5 (a little higher than my tap water for some reason)

Currently just running my co2 into the intake of the FX6....which seems to be dissolving it 100%
I have no idea my bubble rate....too fast to count.

This does give me visible results both changing my drop checker greenish and dropping my pH
I have never been able to get my pH to drop a full point. It starts off at 8 and over the course of the day it will drop to 7.4 at best. But its a gradual thing that takes most of the day.
I dont know if my plants are consuming it that fast....or my water has enough buffering capacity to resist the pH drop or what. I have no air stones or anything running that would off gas the co2....just the FX6
I suppose I could achieve a point drop.....but Id probably be streaming co2 not bubbling lol

It puzzles me a bit because I dont have soft water.....but its not exactly liquid rock either. I used to live in another city about 8 miles from where I am now and my water there would test similar in all aspects except pH. My tanks there would run about neutral 7.0 to 7.2


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

RobnSonji said:


> Clown my situation is similar to yours.....
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Hmm yes very interesting indeed. In fact in the other thread is where you mentioned that higher KH could potentially buffer/slow down he ph drop? I do not know but that is what bothers me and I need to know 100%. Like I said i am going to turn off co2 for an entire day and do many before and after tests. Something is not right. 


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## MCFC (Feb 12, 2017)

@clownplanted - Here's my schedule (check the picture from Excel if you're more of a visual learner):

"Moonlights" - 9am - 1pm, 9pm - 12am
36" T5HO - 12pm - 10pm 
48" T5HO #1 - 1pm - 9pm
48" T5HO #2 - 2pm - 8pm
CO2 - 9:30am - 10pm
Airstone - 11pm - 7am

At 9am my pH is 7.6. By 12pm my pH is 6.8. At 7pm it's still 6.8. By 10:30pm it's starting to climb back up and is at 7. 
(I should note that I need to test on a handful more days to get an idea of how consistent my numbers are. And I also use the API test kit where the colours can make getting a definitive answer very difficult. I'll be switching to my digital probe as soon as I can make some buffer solutions and calibrate it.)


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## RobnSonji (Oct 6, 2013)

clownplanted said:


> Hmm yes very interesting indeed. In fact in the other thread is where you mentioned that higher KH could potentially buffer/slow down he ph drop? I do not know but that is what bothers me and I need to know 100%. Like I said i am going to turn off co2 for an entire day and do many before and after tests. Something is not right.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



If i go by the co2 calculator on rotalabutterfly
tank size 125g
dkh 5
ph 8.0

it tells me i would need to get my ph down to 6.7 to achieve 30ppm co2

im here to tell ya.....to get a ph of 6.7 i would have to hook up my co2 line to a sponge filter and open it wide open LOL

Bump: I bet if i had to rely on a diffuser i could never achieve 30ppm co2


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## GrampsGrunge (Jun 18, 2012)

You definitely need to add more pH test reagent to your drop checker.

Bump:


RobnSonji said:


> If i go by the co2 calculator on rotalabutterfly
> tank size 125g
> dkh 5
> ph 8.0
> ...


When I think back on my old DIY CO2 tanks with water that averaged about 2~3 kH out of my tap, my mornings would start with the pH at about 6.8 and slowly drift up to about 7.1 or 7.2 over the period of a day. I sometimes wonder if 30 ppm should be something achieved with a dedicated CO2 controller. The Booths, back in '93 used a controller on their 120 gallon display tank, but ran their tank at less than 20 ppm.


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

GrampsGrunge said:


> You definitely need to add more pH test reagent to your drop checker.
> 
> Bump:
> 
> When I think back on my old DIY CO2 tanks with water that averaged about 2~3 kH out of my tap, my mornings would start with the pH at about 6.8 and slowly drift up to about 7.1 or 7.2 over the period of a day. I sometimes wonder if 30 ppm should be something achieved with a dedicated CO2 controller. The Booths, back in '93 used a controller on their 120 gallon display tank, but ran their tank at less than 20 ppm.




It comes pre mixed already. I ordered some different co2 4dkh pre mixed solution. I will definitely be getting a controller. I have ph test coming and will be here Wednesday. 


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Funken_A said:


> Do not panic. those charts are more of a ball park estimation for aquariums. They are not perfect science do to so many variables
> 
> Are your fish gasping furiously and hanging near the surface.. is your PH above 6.. then all is ok
> 
> ...




I do not have ph test solution but ordered today Amazon prime and will be here Wednesday. Initially measuring ph using strips till as I mentioned I got the Seneye monitor which closely monitors ph the last almost week. Will kh solution work?? I have API gh/kh solution. 


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## GrampsGrunge (Jun 18, 2012)

clownplanted said:


> It comes pre mixed already. I ordered some different co2 4dkh pre mixed solution. I will definitely be getting a controller. I have ph test coming and will be here Wednesday.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I recall seeing a 1 oz bottle of Bromothymol blue reagent on Amazon recently.

https://www.amazon.com/General-Hydr...id=1490035399&sr=1-3&keywords=pH+test+reagent

only $6 versus about $11 for the LaMotte refill.


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

GrampsGrunge said:


> I recall seeing a 1 oz bottle of Bromothymol blue reagent on Amazon recently.
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/General-Hydr...id=1490035399&sr=1-3&keywords=pH+test+reagent
> 
> only $6 versus about $11 for the LaMotte refill.




Awesome thank you very much. Just bought it. 


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Bump:


Funken_A said:


> No your CO2 drop checker is a glorified PH checker. SO no that would not work...
> 
> 
> Basically look at your KH PH chart. The solution in the glass bubble you put in it is 4 dKH water....... Now look at that PH KH chart and follows 4 dKH till you find 30 ppm.. You will see it equals 6.6 PH which is the color of good CO2. Which is why the Color in the drop checker looks like a PH test kit color. CO2 gas gets trapped in the glass bulb mixes with the 4 dKH water/solution in bulb and changes the color because CO2 and water mixed created carbonic acid which reduces PH. Because we have a known KH in the bulb we can now associate the color change in the bulb to the color chart for PH... and so back to the KH PH chart 4 dKH water turns bright green at 6.6 PH means 30 ppm
> ...


Awesome now I know thanks to all of you. You all are so great at helping a newbie like me seriously.

Bump: So thanks to my Seneye I can see my PH readings throughout the day even though I am here at work. So with my bps at about 3.5, which was turned down from 5+ yesterday, my PH is at 6.84 now which then means my co2 level is at 33.8. It seems to of stopped going down and is staying at a constant 6.84 with my kh at 7.8 so co2 at 33.8. Just wish I could be at home to see what the drop checker looks like now, am betting its much more green then yesterday. Now just need to get a video camera on the tank to monitor from work lol.


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Still a mystery to me and maybe someone here may know by why on the day I first installed my co2 my ph was at a very accurate 8.08 but why has it not peaked up to that again when co2 has been off for hours?? Does that mean that there must still be co2 in the system even when the co2 has been off for hours? How can that be??


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## MCFC (Feb 12, 2017)

I've heard of CO2 getting trapped in the reactor and so still providing some PPMs even after the CO2 tank has been turned off. Not sure if it would last for hours though...


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

MCFC said:


> I've heard of CO2 getting trapped in the reactor and so still providing some PPMs even after the CO2 tank has been turned off. Not sure if it would last for hours though...


Maybe if it was so backed up from me blasting it for days? Not sure how it could though as the dedicated Fluval 206 filter stays running even after co2 turns off. Water always flowing through the Reactor. Hmmmm. Well like I said I am going to turn off my co2 early today when I get home and leave it off tomorrow and see if I can get my ph back up to 8. Wonder if because I was blasting co2 very high for a few days it really was that backed up in there. I feel it really was a lot of co2 because I had no way of measuring kh before yesterday and could not read drop checker very well obviously. and the bps was faster than I could count at least 5bps.

Bump:


Funken_A said:


> Yeah I keep my KH up to about 8/9 and my diffuser coupled with my filter was not enough water movement nor was it dissolving enough CO2.. SO I built a cerges CO2 reactor
> 
> 
> 
> ...


All makes sense now that you mention it. I do have a piece of drift wood that sits on the bottom so I see how that could collect and trap some co2. Also I see how it could potentially collect at the top of the reactor. Does make sense that it may not return to a certain point. All good stuff, thank you :smile2:

Bump: I would be totally lost without this site and all of you so thank you again very much for all the help.


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Love this Seneye. My current readings. Don't mind the par. The light sensor not facing toward the light. 


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Funken_A said:


> realtime data so at least you know your completely screwed in real time when your out of town..
> 
> 
> Pretty neat


LOL so very right so at least not surprised when you get home, you know it will be disaster. :surprise:


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## onlycrimson (Sep 7, 2010)

Excuse me if I'm too low tech on this, but if the fish are fine I wouldn't worry about it. Seems like too much micromanaging on a bunch of variables that are fairly hard to accurately read. Just my 2 cents.


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

onlycrimson said:


> Excuse me if I'm too low tech on this, but if the fish are fine I wouldn't worry about it. Seems like too much micromanaging on a bunch of variables that are fairly hard to accurately read. Just my 2 cents.




Do agree to a point but for one I am learning a ton on all of this from you guys and also I like to know exactly what is going on. I just want to be sure I am not doing any bad and adding stress to the fish even if they may not be swimming all the way to top. 

I want to make sure I can maximize my co2 without endangering any live stock. So not undergoing it or overdoing it. 


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

So does it make sense that since this morning my kh and gh would change? 
This morning. 
Kh 140ppm
Gh 200ppm

Today after work lights and co2 still on

KH 130ppm 7.25
GH 185ppm 10.33

Sorry I am sure it is a dumb question but still trying to understand everything. And also did a tap water test

Tap water
Kh 50ppm 3 drops 
GH 64ppm 4 drops

Does this make sense?


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## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

clownplanted said:


> Still a mystery to me and maybe someone here may know by why on the day I first installed my co2 my ph was at a very accurate 8.08 but why has it not peaked up to that again when co2 has been off for hours?? Does that mean that there must still be co2 in the system even when the co2 has been off for hours? How can that be??


Many things affect pH, your tank does not exist in a closed environment, where only things that happen in the tank affect it. The cause of pH changes in your tank are not solely due to CO2 injection. For example, pH is affected by temperature as well, the higher the surrounding temperature the lower your pH (this has to do with Le Chatelier's principle and enthalpy). Pure water has a pH in the high 6's where I live (it's hot), whereas it is in the low 8's to high 7's in cold countries. In reality both solutions are neutral, but due to the way pH is measured and calculated, one appears to be slightly acidic, the other basic.
Don't stress over pH there is no point, it is actually not a very useful indicator of much IMO. Especially if you are looking at miniscule differences in pH, in your case 8.1 vs 7.7. There could be other things also affecting your pH like Funken was saying (driftwood yadda yadda), but at the end of the day it didn't cause a huge change so it doesn't matter. In addition not all the CO2 is gassing off most likely and it ain't really a big deal either. Do not become consumed by things such as pH which are largely irrelevant and try to overcomplicate it.
Sorry I went on a bit of a rant my chemistry teacher has a strong dislike for pH and has instilled it in me too. It is useful for measuring acidity of mixed solutions to some degree (like our tanks), but also has a few large issues.

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## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

By the way the driftwood lowers your pH not because it 'traps CO2'. Driftwood leaches small amount of acids in to your water, that is what lowers your pH.
Your KH and GH didn't change a great deal it is nothing to worry about. As to why it is different from your tap, that is down to what you are adding to your water or any rocks etc. you have in there. Example: Seiryu stone will increase the GH and KH of your tank over time.
Gonna repeat what OnlyCrimson said though, I really do think you are overcomplicating things here. If your fish show no signs of distress you are in the clear. There is no point measuring all these different variables. In aquariums we don't deal in exacts for many reasons. Plants and animals don't need exact values of things such as pH etc., and the measuring equipment we use at home is pretty inaccurate anyway. It is more important to watch how your plants and animals do than to try and measure all the different variables and go on a wild goose chase. 
I still think there is value in knowing around what ballpark of most things you are in like GH and KH, but don't read into the numbers too much unless there is a problem. Right now you haven't seen any problems, and you are just measuring the variables trying to find a problem. Let everything go! You will be more sane for it. Just make sure your CO2 is good enough for the plants (green drop checker, good plant health) and it isn't stressing your fish.


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Funken_A said:


> I have another theory on why you may not be able to improve your absorption and seeing more PH drop.
> 
> I have a do it your self cerges CO2 reactor I put together this weekend. I Have a 1 - 2 inch or 25 - 50 mm gap at the top of my reactor because the bio balls I bought are to big. I am looking into improvement here.
> 
> ...


Agreed there for sure could be co2 buildup. Not ruling it out. With my Sera flora reactor seems there is nearly no air space as you see at the top is where the two blades are spinning. There still could be a bit though.









Bump:


Opare said:


> By the way the driftwood lowers your pH not because it 'traps CO2'. Driftwood leaches small amount of acids in to your water, that is what lowers your pH.
> Your KH and GH didn't change a great deal it is nothing to worry about. As to why it is different from your tap, that is down to what you are adding to your water or any rocks etc. you have in there. Example: Seiryu stone will increase the GH and KH of your tank over time.
> Gonna repeat what OnlyCrimson said though, I really do think you are overcomplicating things here. If your fish show no signs of distress you are in the clear. There is no point measuring all these different variables. In aquariums we don't deal in exacts for many reasons. Plants and animals don't need exact values of things such as pH etc., and the measuring equipment we use at home is pretty inaccurate anyway. It is more important to watch how your plants and animals do than to try and measure all the different variables and go on a wild goose chase.
> I still think there is value in knowing around what ballpark of most things you are in like GH and KH, but don't read into the numbers too much unless there is a problem. Right now you haven't seen any problems, and you are just measuring the variables trying to find a problem. Let everything go! You will be more sane for it. Just make sure your CO2 is good enough for the plants (green drop checker, good plant health) and it isn't stressing your fish.
> ...


Very great information and helping me very much. I agree that I probably have been overracting to this a bit. I guess had it not been for me not being able to read my drop checker I would of never done all of this checking and such. Weird that nilocG would send the drop checker and pre-mixed solution to where it seems there is no PH regent. As you all said it should be a lot easier to read. I think that and the fact of me being able to constantly monitor parameters has made me a bit more paranoid lol. But the good thing is you all have taught me a ton going through this. Well the good news is my PH regent got delivered today so will head home here in a few minutes to add to my co2 drop checker solution as that should make it much clearer. Again than you for your thoughts I truly do value them. And really appreciate you helping a new guy like me out. :grin2:


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Funken_A said:


> you might not be able to see the air gap at the very top because there doesn't appear to be a clear view from this angle. Cant see behind the threads on the unit, but bottom line is if flow is not fast enough to force the bigger bubbles down far enough they won't dissolve as fast and eventually the CO2 absorption will max out for flow you have.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




They are all the way up. Blades spinning very fast from the water flow. Zero bubbles in the out. Can see them spinning and chopping up the bubbles pretty good. Will try to get a better pic when I get home. 


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Here is a couple pics of the new regent in the co2 checker. I must say night and day difference. Also a couple pics of closer of the reactor. Turned off the filter so you can see the blades not spinning to see the position. Also of lower to see it processing the bubbles. 


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Filter off. Blades not spinning








Filter on. Blades spinning


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## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

Its okay! I think this was a good learning experience though, because you got to learn tonnes about the mechanisms in your aquarium. I think adding more pH reagent has done the trick and then using your drop checker should have you set.


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Much easier to read for sure.










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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Think I finally have it dialed in. With the green drop checker color and my water PH/KH I am right at 34.8ppm co2. Perfect. Only took two weeks to dial it in all thanks to the bad drop checker mix lol. You all are the best.

Bump: I wanted to personally thank Opare Funken_A RobnSonji GrampsGrunge MCFC onlycrimson Attackturtle ed.junior Nigel95 thejoe livingf1t

You all were right in some way or another. I am now dialed in at co2 35ppm. I am at exactly 4bps. Woot :grin2::icon_smil:fish::thumbsup:


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

I too have some super clear looking drop checker fluid, it would actually go fully clear in my tank (no fish / shrimp so I cranked the co2) I ended up replacing the fluid but would like to use the rest of the bottle some day. I have seen ppl say add some PH test solution to the rather clear looking drop checker, would this just be the standard low range ph test solution?


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> I too have some super clear looking drop checker fluid, it would actually go fully clear in my tank (no fish / shrimp so I cranked the co2) I ended up replacing the fluid but would like to use the rest of the bottle some day. I have seen ppl say add some PH test solution to the rather clear looking drop checker, would this just be the standard low range ph test solution?


Yes. Just add a couple drops and issue fixed. Will most likely fix your issue as well like me 

This is what I added a couple drops of. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000255NAK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> I too have some super clear looking drop checker fluid, it would actually go fully clear in my tank (no fish / shrimp so I cranked the co2) I ended up replacing the fluid but would like to use the rest of the bottle some day. I have seen ppl say add some PH test solution to the rather clear looking drop checker, would this just be the standard low range ph test solution?


Drop checker solution is just 4dKH water and bromothymol blue, which is the standard low-range pH indicator. Your drop checker solution probably doesn't have enough of the indicator. Like OP said it is an easy fix as he did, just add a bit of pH indicator, which is pretty easy to get and you may already have at home.


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