Drop Checker

[Andeekaii]

If a Kh of 4 gives 30ppm of CO2 when green and a Kh of 5 gives 38ppm of CO2 .. how much ppm of CO2 does a Kh of 2 give?

Is there a difference of 8ppm of CO2 each time?

 

[JenCliBee]

If a Kh of 4 gives 30ppm of CO2 when green and a Kh of 5 gives 38ppm of CO2 .. how much ppm of CO2 does a Kh of 2 give?

Is there a difference of 8ppm of CO2 each time?

Not to sure on the answer, but in what respect do you mean?.... where is the 2kh coming from?

 

[Geoff1991]

To be honest mate, if its for that DIY setup you have, i wouldnt bother measuring the levels, as long as your fish are fine and your plants are growing well i wouldnt worry.

 

[AdAndrews]

for drop checkers use 4dkh with the blue ph indicator solution found in the test kit

 

[aaronnorth]

if the pH is 6.6 (green) then it would be 15ppm

 

[Andeekaii]

Thankyou aaron.

What is the difference between 4Dkh water and just water that is altered to be 4kh, what is the d?

The reason im asking is because im running DIY c02, i wont be getting 30ppm anyway, so ive tested my tap water, which is 3kh, and i can just use that as a guide?
Or can i not, am i mistaken in thinking tap water at 4kh can be used to replace 4dkh bottled water?

As i said my tap water is at 3kh, i put the drop checker in about 4 hours ago and the water has turned a lime green to yellow colour.
Just like to get a rough estimate as to how much co2 is in there.

Cheers, Andy

 

[aaronnorth]

Thankyou aaron.

What is the difference between 4Dkh water and just water that is altered to be 4kh, what is the d?

The reason im asking is because im running DIY c02, i wont be getting 30ppm anyway, so ive tested my tap water, which is 3kh, and i can just use that as a guide?
Or can i not, am i mistaken in thinking tap water at 4kh can be used to replace 4dkh bottled water?

As i said my tap water is at 3kh, i put the drop checker in about 4 hours ago and the water has turned a lime green to yellow colour.
Just like to get a rough estimate as to how much co2 is in there.

Cheers, Andy

by the way the above figure is assuming you have a pH of 6.6
at 3dkh the CO2 would be about 22ppm
4dkh contains other acidic substances, such as humic acid for example. These affect the reading of the DC, and using tank water is exactly the same as using a pH/ KH relationship chart.

"proper" 4dKH is made up using DI or RO water as it is pure/ free of acidic substances.
imagine having tap water at 4dkh, with a pH of 6.6 - do you think there will be already 30ppm of CO2 dissolved without even injecting any
hence why you have to produce or buy 4dKh because it is free of acids.

d= degrees

 

[Andeekaii]

So how do people make there own 4dkh water then?
Could i use bottled water, and increase the kh to whatever...
Would the PH HAVE to be 6.6, or could i just assign whatever colour i need to regardless of the PH.
Like i could reassign green as having a PH of 7 instead of 6.6 and read it that way?

I dont know, this is all to confusing lol

Edit: I only want it as a rough rough guide e.g am i getting 10 - 20 or 30 ppm

 

[aaronnorth]

make sure you have accurate scales (0.01g) and use very accurate measurments:

Add 6g of pure Sodium Bicarbonate to 5l of DeIonised water (DI) to give you a solution at 40dKH.

Mix 10ml of this solution with 90ml of 'fresh' DI to give you 1l of 4dKH reference solution.

This obviously makes a lot, so you can sell some on (providing it is accurate), or scale it down

DI water is available from the car section at Halfords,





i would just watch a few signs:

algae growth, any algae appearing it is low.
plant growth, if it is slow/ stunted it is low
if fish are gasping it is high

that is all you need to know, i would use 2 or 3 bottles on your 28gal.

 

[Andeekaii]

I have some algae appearing, but i think thats due to the very low plant biomass, mr oder from java plants STILL hasn't arrived
Its on the gravel, its kind of brown/orange, it hasnt taken over but what can i do to remove it?
I sorted out my co2 a few days ago, how long will it take to notice a difference?

Cheers,

 

[aaronnorth]

it is probably diatoms which is common in new etups, keep cleaning it off and it will eventually go,

 

[Andeekaii]

I cant really clean it off because i will pull up the HC, which i think is gonna die anyway. Its not as green as it was, looks a bit yellow.
I added 5ml of TPN+ today, i dont want to add to much incase i cause an algae outbreak.
I also added some plants from another tank, fast growing ones to try and prevent algae.

 

[aaronnorth]

HC is CO2 & NO3 demanding. as an experiment i dosed 10ml of TPN+ daily for 1week on my 60l, the results were outstanding but i couldnt justify the cost... no algae neither
Usually it was 3ml daily.

Just leave the diatoms then, or get some ottos if it bothers you that much

 

[Andeekaii]

And did you get any algae with 3ml per day aaron?

Atm i am planning on dosing

Mon - 5ml TPN+
Wed - 5ml TPN+
Fri -10ml TPN+

Then the plants can use up the extra tpn on the weekend, and back to dosing on the monday.

Then i will do fortnightly sunday water changes. Probably around 25%

Will this be enough dosing to keep HC alive and no algae do you think ?

Thanks for the help, Andy

 

[aaronnorth]

And did you get any algae with 3ml per day aaron?

Atm i am planning on dosing

Mon - 5ml TPN+
Wed - 5ml TPN+
Fri -10ml TPN+

Then the plants can use up the extra tpn on the weekend, and back to dosing on the monday.

Then i will do fortnightly sunday water changes. Probably around 25%

Will this be enough dosing to keep HC alive and no algae do you think ?

Thanks for the help, Andy

no, the only time i got algae was at the start - BBA - no pressurized CO2. followed by Spyrogyra, after a big rescape and not following up on water changes, then lastly in December i got GSA for missing waterhcanges for about 3weeks. apart from that everything was fine. the only algae that took some getting rid of was the spyrogyra, as once you get that it can survive in the same conditions as plants.

i would just dose 5ml on the Friday aswell.