Should the indicator fluid get into direct contact with the aquarium water, the color change will happen immediately in most cases, however, the result is usually falsified since the carbonate hardness of the aquarium water influences the indicator fluid - so please avoid any direct contact of the fluid with water. A plastic pipette is the ideal tool for filling and emptying the sphere.
It is flexible enough to reach the hollow glass ball through the curvy neck of the drop checker. Hold the drop checker with the inlet pointing downwards for filling. The suck some reagent into the pipette and use it to fill the liquid into the sphere.
Apart from the standard drop checkers made of glass we've mentioned above, other variations are available, too.
The so-called hang-on checkers are just hung over the rim of the aquarium glass without using a suction cup. The Carbon is then used to fabricate Carbohydrates.
Sugar is a fundamental Carbohydrate and plants combine Phosphate with Carbon to build a nutritious sugar. It is this Phosphate Sugar that is used for growth and reproduction. The sugar is so important that any reduction in the supply of Carbon is felt immediately by the plant, which reacts negatively to the loss of the precious Carbohydrate. As the light intensity increases, the need for more sugar increases rapidly. The problem associated with maintaining CO2 concentration level is that gasses do not move as easily in water as they do when dissolved in liquids.
The gas diffusion rate across cell boundaries can be as high as 10, times slower in water than in air. Therefore, even minor changes in CO2 injection rates, or minor increases in light intensity have a significant detrimental effect on the plants ability to gather enough CO2 to fabricate Carbohydrate.
The higher the temperature of the water, the less soluble CO2 is. Since most planted tanks are tropical tanks this makes it even more difficult. The drop checker is nothing more than a pH test kit, despite the grand claims on the packaging such as "Long Term CO2 Indicator". These colors are typical when the reagent in the pH test kit is Bromothymol Blue. What we are hoping is for the checker to show us the pH at which we have carbonated the tank water high enough to satisfy the plants' demand, but low enough to be non-toxic to fauna.
Most agree that the nominal concentration level for highly lit tanks is at or around 30 ppm. When CO2 dissolves in water a small portion of it, less than about 0.
As more CO2 dissolves and combines with water, the more the pH will drop. A pH drop from 6 to 5 indicates a tenfold increase in the acid concentration. These are coincidentally the same type of products which occur as the Carbonic acid are formed by CO2 injection. If, however, the water already contains carbonates and bicarbonates, the effect is to neutralize the acid.
Carbonate and bicarbonate therefore act as "buffers", to keep the pH higher even as more CO2 dissolves in the water. The relationship in practical terms therefore is that if Hobbyist "A" has tap water measuring ph 7. Conversely, Hobbyist "B" has tap water also measuring 7.
More acid can form in his water because of less carbonate and bicarbonate levels , so 30 ppm dissolved CO2 in his water will result in a pH drop to 6. If hobbyist "B" suddenly added sodium bicarbonate to his water, his kH would rise. No CO2 would be lost. He would still have 30 ppm CO2 dissolved but the bicarbonate would bond to more acid in the water and he would immediately see a pH rise. Using the suction cup, submerge the drop checker into your aquarium water and stick to the aquarium glass sides.
Based on the concentration of your CO2 in your water, the colour of the solution will change. Check the colour. The colour has a hour delay. Is this really necessary? Can you overload your plants with CO2? Not only does it save CO2 but it stops your fish from being gassed to death. When lights are off, CO2 should be off. Co2 is used when lights are on only, or daylight a little for photosynthesis.
Newbie with aquascapes, years with tropical livebearer fish. My last tank sprung a leak after having it set up and healthy for over 20 years. Even had a few hatchet tetras that lived for 12 years in the tank.
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