CO2 Exposure to the tank environment

[SRIDENZ]

OK .... so i ordered a long term drop tester! great price, great delivery...... no instruction as to which of the colour charts i need to use! It appears i need accertain whether my water perams are between 2-7dkh and 8-15dkh..... But i only have tests for amonia, ph, nitrite and nitrate..

Is my only option to buy another test kit?

 

[patw]

Sridenz,

Just caught your guestion on a search for something else.

Did you ever get your Drop Checker questions answered? If not, just let me know and I'll help all I can.

Pat

 

[jcardona1]

OK .... so i ordered a long term drop tester! great price, great delivery...... no instruction as to which of the colour charts i need to use! It appears i need accertain whether my water perams are between 2-7dkh and 8-15dkh..... But i only have tests for amonia, ph, nitrite and nitrate..

Is my only option to buy another test kit?

i know this is a little old, but i'm not sure what youre asking. you dont need a test kit for the drop checker. all you need is lab certified 4dkh solution and a few drops of ph testing solution from your test kit.

fill the drop checker with the 4dkh solution and add 3-5 drops of ph reagent until it turns a deep blue color and place it in the tank. change the solution every 2-3 weeks.

using 4dkh solution and ph reagent, an emerald green color means you have what is considered to be optimum co2 levels, approximately 30ppm. blue is too low, and yellow is too high.

easy as pie!

 

[patw]

Exactly.

If you have a hard time finding a good source for the 4dkh solution you may have to make your own. If you do, there are several recipes on the internet. Just google 'diy 4dkh solution'. The one I used is simple.

1. Dissolve 6 grams of sodium bi-carb into 1 litre of distilled water.
2. Take 10mL of this solution and disolve it further into 490mL of distilled water.

This yields 500ml which should last a very long while. Make sure the sodium bi-carb is completely dry (bake @325 deg. F for an hour or so). It will carry as much as 1/3 its weight in moisture and throws the mesurement. The result will be a light solution and a drop checker that reads low.

Later,
Pat