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It all depends on your budget, ADA drop checker is the most expensive but the nicest, other brands like JBL, Sera, Dennerle has one as well and most likely some china made ones. You can pop by C328, estimate price is 20+ & above
Hi all,
I read that the drop checker is to check pH of water from co2 injection. Thinking of putting one in my fish tank. How accurate is the drop checker and how does it really work? Also, where can i find one in Singapore and how much does each drop checker cost?
Thank you in advance for advise
It all depends on your budget, ADA drop checker is the most expensive but the nicest, other brands like JBL, Sera, Dennerle has one as well and most likely some china made ones. You can pop by C328, estimate price is 20+ & above
I thought when you use soil that alters PH, drop checker might be accurate?
Thanks Simon, will drop by C328 to take a look. I browse through the web and i thought that the ADA one might cost alot, something like 80++ bucks? but indeed it looks seductive.Originally Posted by Simon
eh sorry larlee, i don't really get what you mean... so what happens when i don't use soil that alter pH? Drop checker becomes less accurate?
Normaly people use pH and kH table to determine CO2 level. However if you are using pH or kH altering stuff, this measurement become invalid. This is wheredrop checker coming handy. The measurment agent is isolated from tank water by air, thus it is not affected by pH or kH altering stuff. There is problem with drop checker though, it takes a while to response, about 4 to 5 hours.
Pricewise if you are not looking for ADA, is below or around $20 (I'm talking about ADA knock off
Yap, shadow has explained it all. Drop checker is most accurate even if you use soil that lowers ph or kh. However, just a note to place it away from co2 diffuser.
sorry im a little confuse. then what is the thing use for measuring CO2 that requires kh4 solution?
That one is for drop checker. The instruction mostlikely telling you to use tank water. However if you are using ADA soil, you tank water kH will be 0. Thus using tank water will cause the color indication green all the time.
ah, thank you Shadow for taking time to explain.Much appreciatedNormaly people use pH and kH table to determine CO2 level. However if you are using pH or kH altering stuff, this measurement become invalid. This is wheredrop checker coming handy. The measurment agent is isolated from tank water by air, thus it is not affected by pH or kH altering stuff. There is problem with drop checker though, it takes a while to response, about 4 to 5 hours.
Pricewise if you are not looking for ADA, is below or around $20 (I'm talking about ADA knock off
However, i have a question. If i didn't get you wrong, in the presence of pH,kH altering stuff, measurement of pH direct from the tank water using table method would be different from the one in the drop checker. In that case, wouldn't the drop checker not reflect the 'actual' condition of the water since it is isolated from the water itself?
Yes, it would not reflect the actual tank pH. The purpose for drop checker is only for CO2 concentration measurement.
what if you added sodium carbonate into the tank? wouldn't the KH be more than 0 already?That one is for drop checker. The instruction mostlikely telling you to use tank water. However if you are using ADA soil, you tank water kH will be 0. Thus using tank water will cause the color indication green all the time.
yes it will cause the kH more than 0 for a while. If you hapen to read the ADA aquasoil features, one of them is kH and pH lowering capability.
Actually, I am using ADA amazonia soil and my kh has been constant at 3 even though I did not add anything to raise KH for more than 2 months now. (Used to add Calcium carbonate). I use my tank water with the ADA drop checker as per it's instruction and is very accurate. I think it is best to use the tank water if your KH is not 0. You can easily measure it with a KH test kit first.
interesting, that can happen if the soild exaust its ability to drop kH.
By the way, does it measure by the amount or carbon or CO2 in the tank? As in will it work for an excel dosing tank?
I don't think it will work wth excel, it measure the amount of CO2 not carbon, never test it though.
Last edited by Shadow; 6th Jan 2008 at 17:29.
According to what I read, the liquid inside the checker should be the same as the tank water and there should be enough space (half the ball) inside for the air in the tank to react with the liquid + PH test reagent so that the color will change and indicate the amount of CO2 and related PH level. So, it should be accurate so long as the liquid is the same as the tank water.
Back to ADA case, your water pH is already ~6.0 to ~6.2 before even inject CO2. If you use this water to dilute the reagent, you will most likely get green color close to yellow to begin with.
Bro Shadow, my ph is 6.4 at KH 3.0 with 2.5 bps co2 and I'm on ADA amazonia + powersand. I'm not sure if it is confirmed that ADA soil will lower the PH to 6.0 but I'm sure my ph pen is accurate as I have just calibrated it and the color in my drop checker is consistent with the ph reading.
I think if ADA is selling the drop checker, it must be useable with ADA products including it's own soil..
By the way, the color of my drop checker is light green (6.4) and will turn slightly yellowish green (6.2) during lights+Co2 on.
Last edited by Wackytpt; 20th Jan 2008 at 21:50. Reason: Spelling
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