Drop Checker Question

[danski]

are these fairly straight forward to use?
i just purchased one and it says all i need to do is fill it and add the reagent. could it be that easy? i hope so. what type of results are others getting? can you notice a difference in your plant health with one? thanks ...dan

 

[Dave Spencer]

They are currently the most cost effective method available to us for ensuring a relatively accurate 30ppm CO2 reading.

For the best results you will need to use a 4dKH reference solution, to which you add the reagent. By giving you a better idea of CO2 levels in your tank, it should improve you better plant health indirectly.

Dave.

 

[danski]

oh man..i just knew there was somethin else involved in this. so dave how do i go about making a 4dkh soultion for better accuracy? I sure hope i dont need to be some sort of chemist.
any help is appreciated. it should be here in about 2weeks.

 

[Dave Spencer]

Your drop checker instructions will probably suggest you use tank water and reagent in the dropper, but this will have inherent inaccuracies.

By using RO water with a carbonate hardness of 4 and Bromo Blue as your reagent (hopefully, this came with your dropper), you are looking for the blue solution to turn green after an hour or two in your tank. The Bromo turning green in 4dKH corresponds to a pH drop of 1 which, using KH/pH charts, will correspond to CO2 levels of 30ppm.

You don`t sound as if you want to make your own 4dKH, but there are bottles of the stuff starting to become commercially available.

Dave.

 

[nicklfire]

You can buy it from AE (aqua essentials). I've gone through the trouble of making it and i've chosen to just buy a accurate dosing amount instead :

 

[danski]

ok. i dont wanna sound too lazy.i suppose with a little guidance i could mix up a batch. are there some common instructions on doing this?thanks. p.s where can you buy this stuff anyway..just in case i really cant figure out how to do it.
dan

 

[Dave Spencer]

This is off the top of my head, so I hope I get it right:

Mix 6g of Sodium BiCarbonate with 5l of RO water.
Mix 10ml of this with 90ml of RO water.

You will now have 1l of 4dKH reference solution, but you will need to be accurate with your measurements.

By the way, there are people having some accuracy issues with AE 4dKH at the moment.

Dave.

 

[danski]

okay..thanks..i also found another good article over on Tom Barrs site...dan