drop checker issues

[ccLansman]

So as far as im concerned the drop checker is a non working piece of junk. Here is my situation:

I replaced the solution and placed it back into my tank over the weekend. After a few hours presto change jo it goes yellow..... From that point on it never turns back to blue or green. I even added an air stone last night right in front of the thing to try and drive the co2 concentration down... guess what happened..... Nothing! ...soo what is going wrong and or why is this thing not working? ...yes im using lab grade 4dkh, yes i have bromie blue.

BTW this has been going on since i purchased the thing,

 

[abcemorse]

Try testing CO2 by degassing, take a water sample, check the pH, then let the sample sit for 24 hrs then check pH again. An increase of 1.0 after 24 hrs corresponds to about 30 ppm. If that check jives with the drop checker then it's working fine, and it's just a matter of dialing in your bubble rate to get the color you want. Mine doesn't really go down a whole bunch overnite either, but no adverse affects have been visible. BTW, does your CO2 turn off at night? I know it's kind of an obvious question, but thought I'd throw it out there....

 

[ccLansman]

, yes, its on 2 hrs before lights and off an hour before lights are off.

for my 60gal the bubbles coming out of the bubble counter are fast, almost a solid stream. Should i tone this down? I asked a question regarding some of my plants health and most people thought it was due to low co2, so i have since cranked it up from 4bps to the stream i have now.

 

[Tom Barr]

I look at it this way, provide non limiting nutrients/light etc, then you can focus on one thing really well as long as you keep up on the nutrients.

Then progressively slowly add more CO2.
Drop checkers have issues/trade offs.
They are not responsive, takes awhile for them to respond to cO2 change, they only measure one place in the tank, a larger issues as the tank become larger, color differentiation can be tough and not that accurate.

Yellow, Green Blue

Regards,
Tom Barr