Question on using ADA dropchecker...

[ranmasatome]

was looking at the drop checker and realised taht it doesn't actually touch the water....it seems to measure the amount of co2 gas coming out from the water...so..i have a question.

In this case, can i use it to measure the "exact" co2 in my water when i use acidic substrates like aquasoil and or maybe things like ketapang? i figured that since alot of people have problems measureing the amount of co2 in their water because of some other factor taht makes the water acidic or alkaline...whould this be a good method since it only measures the GAS molecules taht react with the liquid inside???
in this way...can i just use the scale given in the kit and compare that to my Kh values to get the "exact" concentration of co2 in my water??

[liuhao]

was looking at the drop checker and realised taht it doesn't actually touch the water....it seems to measure the amount of co2 gas coming out from the water...so..i have a question.

In this case, can i use it to measure the "exact" co2 in my water when i use acidic substrates like aquasoil and or maybe things like ketapang? i figured that since alot of people have problems measureing the amount of co2 in their water because of some other factor taht makes the water acidic or alkaline...whould this be a good method since it only measures the GAS molecules taht react with the liquid inside???
in this way...can i just use the scale given in the kit and compare that to my Kh values to get the "exact" concentration of co2 in my water??

not sure about ADA drop checker. does it need to mix tank water with test solution? if yes, it will be affected by KH and acidic buffer in your tank therefore the co2 would not be accurate. otherwise it measures the exact concentration of co2.

i tried the dennerle one before. the test solution doesnt need to mix with tank water so it measures and reads the co2 gas amount in ur tank. the scale will tell u how much co2 you have. you dont need to care about KH.

however the co2 indicator is a rough test only. the response time is a few hours. it wont give you a realtime reading. unless ur co2 is running 24/7 which is stable all the time.

[ranmasatome]

What is i mix the solution with some tap water?? that should work no?

[liuhao]

What is i mix the solution with some tap water?? that should work no?

mixing tap water will give you false reading because KH of your tap water is different from your tank water.

[benny]

The solution for the drop checker does not interact in the tank water at all and is used straight out of the bottle.

These checkers are usually just a guide as their reaction time is not as quick as doing a pH and kH calculation.

But it's very nice though. I leave it in my tank without the solution because I like the look of it.

Cheers,

[liuhao]

The solution for the drop checker does not interact in the tank water at all and is used straight out of the bottle.

These checkers are usually just a guide as their reaction time is not as quick as doing a pH and kH calculation.

But it's very nice though. I leave it in my tank without the solution because I like the look of it.

Cheers,

ic. so if no need to mix with tank water then it's same as dennerle long term co2 indicator lah. it will give you instant co2 reading.

and hah? use it as a decoration? haha...

[greenie]

posted by liuhao

ic. so if no need to mix with tank water then it's same as dennerle long term co2 indicator lah. it will give you instant co2 reading.

and hah? use it as a decoration? haha...

Bro, instructional diagram shows only add 1 drop of solution and fill half of the rest with water (tank water?). That's why they provide a small pipette to fill water into the end of the drop checker.

[liuhao]

Bro, instructional diagram shows only add 1 drop of solution and fill half of the rest with water (tank water?). That's why they provide a small pipette to fill water into the end of the drop checker.

oh oh ic. the water is most lilely to be tank water. if so, the result will be offset by peat or acid buffer in your tank thus not accurate.

i am very curious, since this thing is produced by ADA, why it will have problem working with ADA aquasoil? and how does mr. amano test co2 in his tank? hehe...

[ranmasatome]

Say i mix it with my tank water...yes..i agree that the Ph buffers and all that kinda things in my TANK water will affect it...but if i mix it with tap water...then shouldn't i get a true reading since there is no acidic influence to it? i say this because i always change the liquid in it every 2weeks and during a water change... so most of my water is tap water...well..about 50%
it only measures the co2 gas that is coming from the water...so it should have nothing to do with the Kh of your water...it should deal more with pH no??
so i think if i mix it with tank water...i get some reading taking my tank parameters into consideration...but if i mix it with tap water...then i should get some reading without the acidic influence that is present in my tank water no?? hence in this case would i not get the "true" value as if my tank did not have acidic stuff in it?

[liuhao]

Say i mix it with my tank water...yes..i agree that the Ph buffers and all that kinda things in my TANK water will affect it...but if i mix it with tap water...then shouldn't i get a true reading since there is no acidic influence to it? i say this because i always change the liquid in it every 2weeks and during a water change... so most of my water is tap water...well..about 50%
it only measures the co2 gas that is coming from the water...so it should have nothing to do with the Kh of your water...it should deal more with pH no??
so i think if i mix it with tank water...i get some reading taking my tank parameters into consideration...but if i mix it with tap water...then i should get some reading without the acidic influence that is present in my tank water no?? hence in this case would i not get the "true" value as if my tank did not have acidic stuff in it?

the KH/PH of tap water is different from that of tank water. even you do 100% water change, the KH/PH will change immediately after you inject it into your tank. my tests always show this.

the second part you said seems make sense. it should work even i mix test solution with tap water. it shouldnt matter right? interesting thinking.

[greenie]

Bros, the drop checker is off by + 0.1 ~ 0.2 pH when I check with pH instrument in my company lab for my tank water with KH 6 and GH 2. Anyway the colour reading is too close to really differentiate for every 0.2 pH.

Anyway reading off the colour chart is not that accurate unless if for every 0.2 difference is a totally different colour eg 6.4 - yellow, 6.6 - red, 6.8 green etc....

For me it's more for continous monitoring and also aesthetics reasons. Never come across anyone (yet) who continously dip their electronic pH meter probe in the tank.