[Twistyy]

I am still very new to this so I have lots of questions

Is the drop checker the best way to measure C02 or is there a more accurate way ?

 

[OVT]

The short answer: drop checkers are dangerous because they are more wrong then right and give you a false sense of security. They are mostly wrong for a multitude of reasons that have been covered before, with a list of issues that would not fit into a single post.

In practice, a) start very low and very slow b) watch your fish for signs of distress - they are your "canary in the mine" and are the only indicator that matters.

 

[lksdrinker]

The short answer: drop checkers are dangerous because they are more wrong then right and give you a false sense of security. They are mostly wrong for a multitude of reasons that have been covered before, with a list of issues that would not fit into a single post.

In practice, a) start very low and very slow b) watch your fish for signs of distress - they are your "canary in the mine" and are the only indicator that matters.

I wouldnt say drop checkers are "wrong". They do what they're intended to do if setup right. The tough part is you cant compare my drop checker to yours and get any sort of accurate idea of how much co2 either of us might be injecting.

As noted though, the "best" way IMO is to watch your fish. Really doesn't matter how much co2 you introduce. You want enough to benefit the plants; but not so much that it adversely affects the fish. You'll know when you went to far as the livestock will start heading for the water's surface gasping for air. When(if?) you see that start slowly backing off on the co2 and you've pretty much found the sweet spot for this particular tank.

 

[Zorfox]

The best CO2 measuring device.

It been around for millions of years.

The other devices such as drop checkers and PH probes are loose guides. Not bad tools to have around. However, the golden rule should always be your fish and plants.

 

[bsantucci]

haha that is awesome! so much win in that.

One thing I noticed. Not all fish will surface gasp. My rams park themselves on the substrate when they are getting too much co2.

 

[Twistyy]

Thanks for the info

 

[jrill]

I've always used a one full degree drop in pH as a starting point. Then lower slowly until fish look distressed. Then raise a bit.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[Hoppy]

A drop checker is a very good thing to use when first starting to use pressurized CO2. Without it most beginners will let their fear of harming their fish keep them from ever using enough CO2 to be effective. With it you can be sure you are getting some CO2 dissolved in the water, and enough to be of some benefit to the plants. Fine tuning the CO2 - the bubble rate - can be done more than one way, but as the nice chart above shows, the best way is to use a bit more until the plants no longer show any benefit from using more, and the fish don't visibly suffer from it. This fine tuning takes many days of observing both the plants and the fish, between tiny increases in bubble rate.

 

[Zorfox]

A drop checker is a very good thing to use when first starting to use pressurized CO2. Without it most beginners will let their fear of harming their fish keep them from ever using enough CO2 to be effective. With it you can be sure you are getting some CO2 dissolved in the water, and enough to be of some benefit to the plants. Fine tuning the CO2 - the bubble rate - can be done more than one way, but as the nice chart above shows, the best way is to use a bit more until the plants no longer show any benefit from using more, and the fish don't visibly suffer from it. This fine tuning takes many days of observing both the plants and the fish, between tiny increases in bubble rate.

Good advise here.

There's been so many debates about the accuracy of drop checkers and pH charts that most seem to totally dismiss them. Are they perfectly accurate? No. There seems to be little argument there.

The point of both of them in, my opinion, is to get somewhere in the ballpark. They'll both do that quite well.

Once you're in the ballpark is where experience really pays off. That' when those constant little tweaks make a difference. The drop checkers and pH probes then become a "canary in the mine". They'll alert you to an end of tank dump, empty cylinder or any other major change. I just hate to hear that both are useless due to the inaccuracy. They really do have a place in the hobby.