# Drop Checker



## supersmirky (Oct 22, 2008)

I bought a Red Sea CO2 drop checker and followed the instructions by putting 1 ml of aquarium water in the cup and two drops of the solution. The stuff pretty much stays the same color whether in or out of the aquarium for any extended period of time. Is it possible the solution is bad?

Here is a pic of it and that is the color it stays regardless


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## chagovatoloco (Nov 17, 2007)

You should use 4dhk distilled water not aquarium water.


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## supersmirky (Oct 22, 2008)

ROFL...Wow...At least noobs provide entertainment!! Okay, I'll try the distilled water!! hahaha


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

supersmirky said:


> ROFL...Wow...At least noobs provide entertainment!! Okay, I'll try the distilled water!! hahaha


Not just distilled water. The point is 4dkh water.


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## supersmirky (Oct 22, 2008)

I could have sworn that the directions said aquarium water....I'll read it again when I get home


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## StevieD (Sep 23, 2008)

The directions for the unit are not correct. The reason you need the 4dkh water is when the drop checker is green, it it roughtly 25-30ppm of co2 when the water in the drop checker is at 4dkh. If you use tank water, it depends on the kh of your tank water, and unless you water is 4kh, you won't get an accurate reading.

THere is a way to make a 4dkh solution, but for it to be accurate you need a gram scale to measure out backing soda.

Another way is if you have a Kh test kit, add backing soda to a volume of water until ti reads 4dkh. Yout test kit might not be completely accurate, but at least you will be in the ball park for a good co2 reading.


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## supersmirky (Oct 22, 2008)

Is there a better CO2 indicator out there than the red sea then?


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## chagovatoloco (Nov 17, 2007)

Not with out getting in to the big bucks. There are other similar item's but they are basically the same. If you do not want to mess with mixing you own 4dkh water green leaf aquarium has a good deal on some premix.


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## supersmirky (Oct 22, 2008)

Its amazing red sea would have instructions that tell you nothing about how it really should be. Thanks everyone for the input. Now I am in the hunt for the solution


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## ray-the-pilot (May 14, 2008)

This is a fairly common problem. Two things will help.

First, here is how a drop checker works:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/equipment/56202-measure-co2-water-device.html

Here is how to make a 4 deg kH solution:

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilizing/56550-hardness-making-4-dkh-water.html

As I've said, I use that cheap Red Sea drop checker and it works great!


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## freydo (Jan 7, 2006)

here is an entire thread on how to make your own drop checker:

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/diy-aquarium-projects/32100-diy-drop-checker.html


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## supersmirky (Oct 22, 2008)

Okay...got the drop checker working now.

Obviously my current rio50 co2 reactor sucked because the checker stayed blue but I took the tube out of the reactor and put it on the top of my penguin power head to put a spray of co2 through the aquarium and it looks like it did a better job at dispersing. My checker turned green for the first time! Not I just need to put something together that will be more efficient than spraying it out a power head. 

Thanks for the help guys


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## ray-the-pilot (May 14, 2008)

supersmirky said:


> Okay...got the drop checker working now.
> 
> Obviously my current rio50 co2 reactor sucked because the checker stayed blue but I took the tube out of the reactor and put it on the top of my penguin power head to put a spray of co2 through the aquarium and it looks like it did a better job at dispersing. My checker turned green for the first time! Not I just need to put something together that will be more efficient than spraying it out a power head.
> 
> Thanks for the help guys


I'm curious? In the picture you have at the start of this post the DC looks yellow indicating that there was lots of CO2 or the water you used as very acid. Is your tank water very acid?

BTW when you get a really efficient CO2 reactor be careful because the amount of CO2 you need is much less than you would expect. You don't want to kill your fish.


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## supersmirky (Oct 22, 2008)

The checker started out yellow because I followed red seas instructions and used my tank water to fill it. My PH stays around 6.0 to 6.3

I modified my aquaclear as of tonight and stuck the tube under the intake to chop the water up. I'm hoping to get something to work much better than this in the future.


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