# Bubble counter problem



## Fishguy10 (Aug 6, 2011)

I just set up pressurized CO2 and I filled my bubble counter with Glycerin. I had been told that Glycerin was good because it was a little bit thicker than water so it made it easier to count the bubbles, it wouldn't evaporate or grow algae, and it wouldn't harm anything if a little bit of it somehow got in my tank. 

Everything was going fine for the first day, but the second day I noticed that the glycerin was bubbling up really badly when the CO2 was on and it was starting to get into the tube that goes into my tank. Now I can actually see what looks like little drops of Glycerin throughout the entire tube. 

Will the Glycerin somehow damage my tubing or clog my diffuser? Luckily, I do not have any fish or shrimp in the tank yet and I don't think that the Glycerin will hurt the plants. Will I have to try to somehow remove the little bit of Glycerin that may be in my tank, or is it not bad for fish/shrimp? Hope you can help and thanks in advance.


----------



## Big_Fish (Mar 10, 2010)

anything that CAN find it's way into the tank WILL find it's way into the tank. :-D
I'd recommend putting the same water in your bubble counter that you top off your tank with. The Glycerin SHOULD not damage anything or hurt any animals in such small quantities, but since it will very likely happen again sometime, just use water.
my $0.02


----------



## Fishguy10 (Aug 6, 2011)

I guess I should just use water in the future, I just hope that the Glycerin doesn't cause any problems.


----------



## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

Are you using check valves before and after your bubble counter?

I used to use a check valve before my bubble counter and another check valve after my bubble counter. I've used bubble counter fluid and I've used mineral oil. These work fine and I'm sure that you glycerin should work fine too. I also fill my bubble counters between 1/2 to 2/3 full. There may be some of this fluid in my tubing, but I haven't seen any in my aquariums. My check valves aren't really close to the bubble counter. I place them closer to the regulator and the diffuser/reactor.

The aquarium that I am running now doesn't have a bubble counter. I am using an Ideal needle valve and a 4 dKH drop checker. I watch my fish, shrimp and snails too.


----------



## Fishguy10 (Aug 6, 2011)

My bubble counter is attached to my needle valve and therefore the rest of the regulator assembly, so it would be hard to have check valves before and after. I made sure not to fill it too much, it was just over halfway full, but the bubbles built up and it got into the tubing. 

I just made some adjustments to my drop checker today (I had decided to follow the instructions saying "use tank water" even though I had doubts whether or not that would work because my tanks Kh is around 1). I mixed baking soda and distilled water until I got the Kh between 4 and 5. So now hopefully my drop checker will be blue at night and green during the day instead of being yellow 24/7. If everything works out, there won't really be a huge need to watch the bubble counter at all, so I'll be able to take the glycerin out and I might not put any water in it at all. There's no problem with having an empty bubble counter right? I would assume that CO2 would still travel through it with no problems.


----------



## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

Fishguy10 said:


> My bubble counter is attached to my needle valve and therefore the rest of the regulator assembly, so it would be hard to have check valves before and after. I made sure not to fill it too much, it was just over halfway full, but the bubbles built up and it got into the tubing.


Do you have a check valve between the bubble counter and the diffuser/reactor now?

There are check valves that mount between your needle valve and your screw on bubble counter. They are a little pricey, but they work well. You can get them in 1/8" NPT male or female threads, in either brass or stainless steel and either 1/3, 1/2, 1.0, 5.0, 10.0, etc psig cracking pressures.

As an example, if I were using an Ideal V52-1-12 brass angle flow needle valve with 1/8" female NPT threads and a JBJ bubble counter that also has 1/8" female NPT threads. I could get a Swagelok B-2C2-1/3 Brass Poppet Check Valve, Fixed Pressure, 1/8 in. MNPT, 1/3 psig (0.03 bar) to mount between the needle valve and the bubble counter. The knockoff JBJ bubble counters do come with a check valve, but they aren't very good and have been known to fail. This is why many people use another check valve between the needle valve and the JBJ bubble counter.

More than likely, there is a check valve that you can use with your regulator assembly.



Fishguy10 said:


> I just made some adjustments to my drop checker today (I had decided to follow the instructions saying "use tank water" even though I had doubts whether or not that would work because my tanks Kh is around 1). I mixed baking soda and distilled water until I got the Kh between 4 and 5. So now hopefully my drop checker will be blue at night and green during the day instead of being yellow 24/7.


Most drop checkers tell us to use aquarium water. These are antiquated directions. They were written before Hoppy and some other people came out with the 4 dKH solution using baking soda and distilled water. Using these two components allow the pH/KH/CO2 relation ship to work correctly. Aquarium water usually contains other buffers, acids and bases that can skew the results of your reading. Even it your aquarium water is 4 dKH, it is still not wise to use it. It will give you a general idea, but all you are doing is measuring the pH. You aren't determining the CO2 level. Baking soda is a carbonate based buffer that is much weaker than the phosphate based buffers found in most aquarium water. Tannins are another compound that will affect the outcome of the buffering capacity.

It is good that you used distilled water and baking soda for your drop checker.



Fishguy10 said:


> If everything works out, there won't really be a huge need to watch the bubble counter at all, so I'll be able to take the glycerin out and I might not put any water in it at all. There's no problem with having an empty bubble counter right? I would assume that CO2 would still travel through it with no problems.


Just make sure that there are no leaks in your bubble counter. I suggest that you continue to use a bubble counter as a quick check if you are using a sub-par needle valve. If you are using a very good needle valve or very good metering valve, you may be safe by eliminating the liquid in the bubble counter.

I am sorry for the wordy explanation. It is like writing a term paper, but I just don't know how to tell you this stuff in a shorter, more direct way.


----------



## Fishguy10 (Aug 6, 2011)

I believe that there is a check valve built in to the bubble counter. It's not a separate unit, but I think that there is something that prevents the fluid from running into the needle valve.

My drop checker is now working perfectly, and surprisingly it was green yesterday, blue overnight, and then green again today after I turned CO2 on. Before it was working, I had randomly guessed a CO2 flow and hoped for the best. It's about 2bps but I had no way of knowing if I was putting in enough, or too much or what. My plants were pearling pretty nicely and that made me very happy, but it also made me feel like I might be putting in way too much CO2. After I put 4-5 Kh water in it though, it is blue at night and green all day which means I happened to guess correctly. 

My bubble counter doesn't have any leaks, which is good, and I don't think anymore Glycerin is getting into the tubing because the Glycerin level is now just barely above the part where the CO2 bubbles out of.


----------

