# CO2 Drop Checker?



## LindaC (Nov 7, 2005)

I just received the new CO2 Drop Checker that I purchased off of Ebay, only thing is there are no directions, there's the drop checker, the CO2 Test Regent and a PH color strip. Can somebody please tell me how to use this device? I have a general idea, I know what they are supposed to do, just not sure on how to set it up.

Thanks!


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## snickle (Apr 8, 2007)

Can you post a picture or link? They all work the same way, but the setup can be a little different depending on shape.


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## kromo (Feb 5, 2007)

is lika ada style? input destilled water , until you get middle bulle with water, after that drop reagent until the water get blue color.
if is not afa style is the same way... maybe 3 ml of water and few drops of reagent.
put in the aquarium and wait , maybe 1 or 2 hours, if is good the color change, if not, maybe you need more co2.

P-s my english sucks, but i hope you understand,


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## LindaC (Nov 7, 2005)

Sure, here's the one I bought below from Aquaticmagic:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Chameleon-Drop-...ryZ66794QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Kromo, thanks for responding but I'm still not quite sure how to set it up. I know I need distilled water and must bring that water to a KH of 4.0 ppms, but from there, I'm not sure how to get the water and CO2 regent through the curve and into the ball. Also, will it stay up in that ball, it won't leak into the water, will it?


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

I use an eyedropper. I mixed a batch of 5dkH water and I filled one of those little brown homeopathic medicine bottles with the dropper and added 1 drop of indicator for each ml of water in the bottle. I simply use the eyedropper to fill my drop checker. You'll want to use about 1ml of the solution to fill the drop checker bulb about half way full. Obviously you fill it upside down and turn it over carefully. 

No, the indicator solution will not leak into the aquarium unless you fill it past the bend of the neck You can also use a syringe with a little piece of airline tubing (or a baby medicine dosing syringe from CVS) to fill the crop checker.


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## Squawkbert (Jan 3, 2007)

It looks like the reagent you got is a standard 4dKH solution w/ the dye already in it (what's the text on the label say?). You should confirm this w/ the seller. If it is, all you have to do is put enough to fill the lieele ball end maybe half way (squirt, jiggle, repeat). Then attach the suction cup and roll it over so that all of the solution stays in the ball. Then lower the whole assembly, opening pointed down, into the aquarium and stick it to a wall where you can see it. Take care not to stick it right near any filter or CO2 fittings. Deeper placement will keep your lights from prematurely trashing the pigment.

If the dropper bottle contains only dye, you will need to make a 4dKH solution (unless you like more than 30ppm CO2, then make 5dKH). There are numerous threads w/ directions for that here, at AC and at AA (just search "standard KH solution").

Once it's in the aquarium, it should go from blue to green in ~30 minutes (assuming you have enough CO2 in your tank). It will turn yellow if you have too much CO2 (>30ppm for a 4dKH, >70 for 5dKH (I think - am not sure on that one)).


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## ihooklow (Sep 20, 2006)

The Aquamagic reagent is a joke. Toss it. You can either buy a 4dKH (green at about 30ppm, 5dKH is green at 40ppm) or make one.

If you want to buy it I can highly recommend Billionzz (http://liquidarthome.net/khstandard). You get too much but you can share it around your local club and make people happy. He ships quickly and the bottle is nicely marked so you don't confuse it with your dechlorinator or something.

If you don't already have one, go out and get an Aquarium Pharm pH Test Kit. It has the pH change dye that shows a yellow to blue transition. Others also have this type (look at the strip - it should have a yellow - blue scale) but I am familiar with the AP test kit.

Put about 1/2t. of the 4dKH solution and 3 - 4 drops (doesn't really matter too much, just changes color intensity) of the AP pH indicator solution in a cup and stir gently (don't shake - you don't want to introduce air).

Filling the Aquamagic is easy. Turn it over (bulb on bottom, mouth on top - like a "J"). Pour a small amount in the mouth. It will likely stop there. You will then need to jostle it gently to get some air out of the bulb and allow the solution to enter. Do this in very small increments. When the bulb is roughly 1/3 full, turn it back over and wipe out the inside of the mouth with a clean paper towel. Careful, this stuff can stain.

Add suction cup and place in your quarium (mouth down) about 2 - 3" from the top. I like to place mine furthest away from my CO2 source so I don't measure the highest concentration in the tank.

If you use a CO2 diffusion technique that causes microbubbles throughout the aquarium you might get falsely high CO2 readings as CO2 bubbles hit the air pocket and diffuse into it. This can be avoided by putting it away from micro-bubbles or by pulling it out of the aquarium occasionally and letting it re-equalize with ambient air (back to blue) and then putting it back in.

You do not need to do anything during water changes - even if the tanks water level will fall below the mouth of the checker. Just drain and refill the tank gently and the checker will re-trap the necessary air pocket.

The solution should be re-freshed (drop checker cleaned, new solution made) every several weeks. I do mine about monthly. It doesn't seem to change very much, but the dye eventually gets washed out by the light and natural decay.

Email or PM with any questions.

You can see mine in the upper left side of my aquarium HERE (my diffuser is in the bottom right [rear] of the tank)

_Sorry that my post repeats some of what Squakbert just said. It took me a while to compose (I am doing it between projects at work) and got semi-ninja'd._


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## creative-fury (Sep 8, 2006)

ihooklow said:


> If you want to buy it I can highly recommend Billionzz (http://liquidarthome.net/khstandard). You get too much but you can share it around your local club and make people happy. He ships quickly and the bottle is nicely marked so you don't confuse it with your dechlorinator or something.[/I]


Do you have a link that works?


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## ihooklow (Sep 20, 2006)

http://liquidarthome.net/khstandard

It was picking up the final ")"

Fixed in the original post as well.


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## Troy McClure (Aug 3, 2005)

Funny I should come across this...I just set up my Chameleon a few minutes ago - 









I used the reagent that came with the glassware only because I've already been to the LFS once today and I don't feel like driving back. I used the 4dkh solution from Bill, about 5ml or so in a cup, and added four drops of the reagent. Stir gently. I took a 10ml syringe and put it into the drop check but the solution would NOT get into the bulb. I just hung in the throat. I ended up having to use the black twist tie that holds the Chameleon to its protective shipping foam, sliding it in and out of the bulb, which caused air bubbles to escape, thus allowing the solution to enter.

I'll post another picture in a few hours if it's working.


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## ihooklow (Sep 20, 2006)

Ahhh. A fellow Rena XPx owner, I see.

Stupid blue intake...


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## Troy McClure (Aug 3, 2005)

Yeah, I know...I don't see why they color code everything...people are still going to screw it up no matter what they do. Eventually I'll get some glass intake/outflow pieces, but I don't trust my discus to not break them. I'm even a bit edgy having a drop checker and diffuser in there.

The drop checker has turned green, though there is still a bit of blue tint to it...I'm shooting for yellow-green while the plants acclimate.


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## LindaC (Nov 7, 2005)

I finally got an answer from the person I purchased this drop checker from and he told me that all I need to do is add distilled water to the CO2 Regent that came with the droper and it will be ready to go. He said, no need for baking soda, but wouldn't this give me a KH of 0? I want a KH of 4.0, isn't this correct?


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## ihooklow (Sep 20, 2006)

ihooklow said:


> The Aquamagic reagent is a joke. Toss it. You can either buy a 4dKH (green at about 30ppm, 5dKH is green at 40ppm) or make one.


No matter what dKH the reagent is, adding an unmeasured amount of distilled water to it will give you an unknown dKH, which gives you an unknown CO2 level.


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## Muirner (Jan 9, 2007)

No need for distilled water at all. All you use is the KH solution you want, (4 dKH will give you green at 30ppm) about 5ml of the KH solution, and about 4 drops or so of the "co2 reagent" you were provided with (PH indicator solution really) and fill the drop checker with this fluid. You should be good to go. Check out this thread it helped me a lot.
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/aquarium-equipment/38343-co2-drop-check-how-to.html


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## Troy McClure (Aug 3, 2005)

Haha! Maybe it's just my screen here at work Muiner, but the last part of that link you have shows up as "f...ck-how-to.html" Oh my... 

Re: the checker. Mine doesn't seem to be working right. It's at a yellow-green and doesn't change, even after the CO2 has been off all night. Should I try a different reagent?


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## ihooklow (Sep 20, 2006)

Erik,

I would use the Billionz solution with a known indicator (AP pH test indicator is what I use) just to be sure, but your CO2 levels will likely stay pretty constant - even with the pressure off all night. Keep in mind that plants put out small amounts of CO2 at night and don't use it up. So, in theory, without any off-gassing of CO2 at the water surface, you should actually have a fractionally higher CO2 level when the lights come on than when the light went off, even without any CO2 added.


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