Are CO2 charts accurate?

[Qwedfg]

Hello,

I am planning on adding shrimp to my tank in the near future but am interested in knowing what my DIY co2 is pumping out before I do so. I have a drop checker but because I run the CO2 through a powerhead it mists around the tank and I believe gives inaccurate readings. Using a pH of 6.6-6.8 and a kH of 7 on the CO2 Chart claims I have not enough CO2 while my Drop checker is always mountain dew green. Which should I believe more? Thank you.

[Wasserpest]

Which CO2 chart are you using? The ones I am familiar with indicate that you are in the high to too high range with the values you have measured.

(There are shortcomings to the chart, so the drop checker might be better indicating, although it can be hard to translate a shade of green into an exact number)

[Qwedfg]

Hello thank you for the reply


Here is the chart I am using. http://www.aquariumslife.com/aquasca...arium_co2_tes/

Also I agree its hard to judge the dropchecker but if alot of bubbles are getting into it would it even be right anyway?

[jgb77]

Something I have found useful when misting and using a drop checker. Place the drop checker as close to the substrate as you can. Mine is an inch or so above and works well that way.
John

[hbosman]

Are you using 4 KDH water in the drop checker? If not, then you can't depend on lime green indicating 30 ppm.

[Wasserpest]

Originally Posted by Qwedfg

Using a pH of 6.6-6.8 and a kH of 7 on the CO2 Chart claims I have not enough CO2

You might be reading that incorrectly. For those values you get a CO2 level of 44 ppm which is a bit above the recommended max of 30 ppm.

But going back to your original question, are CO2 charts accurate -- the answer is, they are only accurate if all the buffering in your tanks water comes from carbonates and bicarbonates. If there are other things involved (phosphates, humic acids etc) it will throw off the accuracy of the chart. Somewhat.

[ThatGuyWithTheFish]

FYI, you can't use tank water to measure CO2. You can only use it for pure solutions, like in your drop checker.

[pejerrey]

I could not "measure" co2 in any other way than observation of flora and fauna. I give it as much as I can.
The chart wasn't very helpful, never tried drop checkers tho but plantbrain told me to not even try them. And I believed.

[Laura]

Not sure if you would be interested or not, but I created a parameter checker that automatically calculates the CO2 PPM according to the water parameters you enter. I have trouble following the charts so I created an excel file with the actual calculation so I know exactly what my co2 is running each time I check my water parameters. The link to the file is in my signature.