Cerges reactor question

[5BodyBlade]

Well with the diffuser cranking out bubbles from 11 am until 3 the drop checker has not past the bluish green mark. I'm guessing my kh solution is bad. Can anyone point me to someone in the s&s that has reliable 4dkh solution for sale?

[jstehman]

You could try this one:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...highlight=4dKH

I made mine a similar way, but I can't find the instructions right now.. might be worth a shot - it's pretty cheap to try and see if you can get your DC to change color.

[hbosman]

Originally Posted by 5BodyBlade

I'll have to check my ph. Haven't done it in a while. It used to be that in the morning it would be at 6.8-6.9 and during the course of the day drop to about 6.4-6.5. I have quite a bit of flow but its not breaking the surface. A rolling boil is how I'd describe it.

My reg is still set to 30 psi. I never reduced it from when I had the diffuser on. Bad on my part. I'll have to lower it later.

The filter is the canister version of the aquatop. CF500 I think it is.

You should get closer to a whole point drop in PH, closer to 5.8. You want to keep some surface movement, with more O2, the animals can tolerate more CO2.

[5BodyBlade]

I've made progress. I made new 4dkh solution from the link jstehman gave and it tested at 4° so I replaced my fluid with that, but still got no change. Now my tank looks like a Jacuzzi at this point so something is wrong. I was moving around the powerhead and I hit the drop checker and a bubble came up from the it like when you tilt it to get more water into the bell part. Well within seconds of the bell going from totally filled with air to half full the fluid changed from blue green to yellowish green. Now I realize this should be impossible. I'm just reporting what occurred to try and figure this out. Shouldn't it take a while to change color? Ever since it seems to be acting as it's meant to.

[jstehman]

If you got a co2 bubble in your drop checker then you're not getting the right reading . For me, the drop checker is another thing to dink around with and has not *really* helped me determine how much CO2 I have in my tank. Plus my DC gets wonky readings cause I think my Gouramis are breathing the bubble out of it..

Have you determined your PH drop from lights off to mid-photoperiod?
I get at least 1 point drop (from 7.6 to 6.6) by mid-day.

If your fish are acting fine, then you need to bump up the CO2 or decrease surface agitation. My opinion.

[nokturnalkid]

Are you sure you hooked up the cerges the correct way? In a previous tank, I had the cerges with around the same amount, if not more, of co2 going in and never had issues with the reactor spitting out bubbles.

[inkslinger]

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...hlight=ext5000

I had for the longest time trying to get my DC to pass Blue , from changing filter system and co2 diffusers I finely got it to green/yellow on both ends of my tank.

[jstehman]

The OP has a 40 gallon tank. With the CO2 going at an uncountable rate and 30PSI, there should be an *AMPLE* amount of dissolved CO2. The resulting saturation can be achieved with a 20 oz Gatorade DIY CO2 and a powerhead...

I still believe that surface agitation is the culprit here.

[Quesenek]

Is the drop checker in a dead-zone?
I had mine in the flow of my spraybar across the tank and I always had accurate readings and everything started working like clockwork.