Ocean Free Co2 Indicator Solution

[milk_vanilla]

Ingen,
You are correct. Water tank is not ideal to be used with ph regent on your drop checker

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[Urban Aquaria]

The staffs told me to use aquarium water than add a couple of drops of the solution that came with it! So is that also usable? Did they suggest that because they do not sell 4Dkh solution?!

When i started in this hobby, i also got that advice from a LFS staff to add aquarium water too, the drop checker mis-read too much Co2 when in fact there is not enough, end up didn't pump enough Co2 and algae ran rampant in my first tank.

Then i checked with the same LFS staff and he said he also don't know, he also just read from the instruction and follow. So it was basically like the blind leading the blind!

Its amazing up until this day and age, LFS staff (and some aquarium equipment manufacturers) still give the wrong advice of using aquarium water to mix with indicator reagent... cause so much unnecessary confusion and panic amongst new users.

[limz_777]

i made 4dkh solution before , but formula doesnt seem to react fast , maybe my mixing not good

[felix_fx2]

I don't think brand will affect reaction time, the drop checker design might, depending on how big the opening is (more surface area to the water probably will mean CO2 can difuse into the air pocket faster). The solution itself is just made with a few drops of pH indicating solution and the rest 4dKh water...

let's put it this way, maybe your not looking at my angle.

OF and cal labs, are premixed in factory with 4dKh.
my understanding is the amount of regent affects the reaction.

im asking if the mixed ratio is similar.

[felix_fx2]

i made 4dkh solution before , but formula doesnt seem to react fast , maybe my mixing not good

you tried put what you mixed alone in test tube and see if it turned blue?

you can exhale into the test tube and shake the test tube abit. should have some reaction...

[Shadow]

The all probably use the same Bromothymol blue as reagent. It is basically just a pH tester. I do not think kH solution will effect reaction time. It will affect the color but not the reaction time. By the way drop checker is not real time, it take 2-3 hours before you can see color change.

[AQMS]

i made 4dkh solution before , but formula doesnt seem to react fast , maybe my mixing not good

What is your formula like?
This is mine
Add 1 teaspoon (level, ~6 grams) of baking soda to one liter of distilled
water. This gives you 1 liter of water with a KH of 200 dKH. Now take 10 ml of that water and
mix with 500 ml of distilled water (a dilution of 1 in 50) and you get 500 ml of 4 dKH water.
Then test it with Kh tester.

[Urban Aquaria]

Hmmm... i think it could be possible for reaction times to be abit different depending on whether the user mixed the 4dKH solution properly.

I was checking the the pH/KH/Co2 charts and it looks like if the mixed solution was off by just 1dKH (ie. 3dKH), then the color would change to a similar green only at lower pH (ie. 6.4 instead of 6.6), which would seem to the user that it takes longer to change to the ideal green color or tint.



Chart from shrimpnow.com

But of more concern is that with 3dKH solution, the green color at 6.4pH is actually 47ppm if 4dKH solution was used, so in reality its actually supposed to be yellow (too much Co2), but it shows green.

If the solution is mixed carefully then there wouldn't be this issue, but for those "less skilled" with measuring and mixing stuff, i guess it'll be easier (and less confusing) to use pre-mix solution.

[limz_777]

you tried put what you mixed alone in test tube and see if it turned blue?

you can exhale into the test tube and shake the test tube abit. should have some reaction...

diy quite some time ago , no chance to test , the blue colour is actually from the ph tester

What is your formula like?
This is mine
Add 1 teaspoon (level, ~6 grams) of baking soda to one liter of distilled
water. This gives you 1 liter of water with a KH of 200 dKH. Now take 10 ml of that water and
mix with 500 ml of distilled water (a dilution of 1 in 50) and you get 500 ml of 4 dKH water.
Then test it with Kh tester.

if i remember correctly i mix until 40 then dilute it to 4

[qngwn]

Perhaps we could document a list of premixed solutions?

Anyone seen cal aqua labs ones around? GC dont carry them anymore..

[felix_fx2]

diy quite some time ago , no chance to test , the blue colour is actually from the ph tester




if i remember correctly i mix until 40 then dilute it to 4

i am using KH4 instead of 4Dkh, too lazy to dilute. It still works actually

I left my glass checker out in the open for 2 weeks notice the level dropped.. and it became super not accurate.
example, i got another drop checker inside the tank. Even when it shows yellow-green the ones in glass still green. (outside of the tank it's blue)

maybe after i decom, likely will buy premixed ones. (i still got a 750ml bottle of kh4 distilled water, it's taking up too much space)

[Urban Aquaria]

Yeah, seems that the indicator solutions have a limited working time... the pre-mixed ones from OF and ISTA recommend them to be changed every 2-4 weeks, so i guess that's the approx. usable lifespan of the solutions during usage. Probably as time goes by the bromothymol blue chemical component becomes gradually less effective in detecting pH.

[felix_fx2]

Yeah, seems that the indicator solutions have a limited working time... the pre-mixed ones from OF and ISTA recommend them to be changed every 2-4 weeks, so i guess that's the approx. usable lifespan of the solutions during usage. Probably as time goes by the bromothymol blue chemical component becomes gradually less effective in detecting pH.

there are some, who change once every 6 months hehe. (think my last bit of 4dKH from a bro living nearby lasted me erm like 1.5 years. Got it slightly after i joined AQ.)
but evaporation does affect the KH level in all, so cannot leave exposed too long...

[milk_vanilla]

Over the past i'm using cal indicator, could last till a month, Probably could be dragged even more. It's been used off, i have no more. Noone sell the indicator bottle either.

I will not buy another call labs dropchecker just to hijack the indicator

[Shadow]

there are some, who change once every 6 months hehe. (think my last bit of 4dKH from a bro living nearby lasted me erm like 1.5 years. Got it slightly after i joined AQ.).

There are some, who never change until rescape, me, . I just use drop checker for initial CO2 setup. I don't need it anymore once I got my so call optimum setting although I still leave it inside the tank.

[qngwn]

I usually dont change my drop checker solution until i spill them in the aquarium ><

[felix_fx2]

There are some, who never change until rescape, me, . I just use drop checker for initial CO2 setup. I don't need it anymore once I got my so call optimum setting although I still leave it inside the tank.

my 2 plastic drop checker since day 1 till now never change.. only the glass one i take out...

[li_gangyi]

Under very strong light the dye can bleach out, mine has a few times. It turns lighter and lighter until you can't make out the color properly, that's when I change it... LOL, I'm lazy.

[bennyc]

Yeah, they are the same... i tried the OF solution in another drop checker to do a comparison and it also changes color at around the same rate, looks like they are both the same solution.

I guess the OF version is just a re-brand of the ISTA one, even the bottle look the same, just different label sticker.

Thanks for doing the testing, Missed the thread. I am currently using the OF one you recommend. More confident of its results now.

[stream]

I just setup this OF CO2 checker this morning and following the instructions to the letter. 2.5 hrs later, the indicator liquid turned green but the liquid lever is halved. I'm very sure that I have snapped close the conical funnel securely in place with the base. It is place in an inverted V position as in the video above. Fortunately, my tank got no fish as I've just flooded my tank and it is undergoing cycling. Is the liquid harmful to plants or fish?