Misting and co2 levels

That has been my experience. On the other hand, if you use enough CO2 mist to still get a drop checker in the green range you're definitely good to go. At the point the only issue you might have is poor flow in the tank.

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S

 

If your flow is adequate with misting then bubbles will enter the DC air gap just as dissolved will.

I would go as far to say that bubbles will pass through much easier than dissolved because they hit the air gap and 'burst' rather than having to come out of solution.

At least that is what happens with mine. Bubbles hit the opening just as they do the water surface where they stay for a while before 'bursting'.

I don't think there would be much difference in loss really from reactor or misting if the flow is right. People seem to think that misting does because they can see the CO2 in the form of bubbles rising to the surface at some stage of their route around the tank. They forget that the CO2 in solution from a reactor also hits the surface at some point but because it is in solution they don't see it just as the CO2 that goes into solution while the bubble is getting smaller will.

No idea how much difference )if any) there would be but it is always going to try to return to 'equilibrium' wether the CO2 is in bubble form or not.

It is a similar argument to pearling. Some people panic because they don't get pearling but that just means that O saturation has not been reached. The plants are still releasing O but it is going into solution until a point is reached where the water can take no more and therefore the O forms in bubbles instead.

Judging by the bps (I know bps is only indicitive of the quantity of CO2 being injected by the particular setup a user has) that some people with similar sized tanks and light as me use with reactors I would go as far as to say that I use less than them. this may be due to me having superior circulation or just a better balance but a 600g bottle lasts me almost double the time it would on theirs whilst still reaching green/lime on the DC and seeing pearling too.

AC

 

I have to agree with this.

If I place my drop checker anywhere in the tank I get a very slow response time, greater than 2 hours. If I place my drop checker in my overflow chamber, the boundry layer is actively moving, I get much faster response time, within an hour. I found moving my drop checker to a higher flow area registers less CO2 in the drop checker, since then I've increased CO2 significantly, and the results in growth are significant.

The drop checker will register yellow in the tank in lower flow areas, in the overflow chamber more of a lime green. Quite a variation. Late in the evening the drop checker in the tank will never get past green, but in the overflow will get green/blue.

As Tom has stated don't put to much faith in the drop checker. The plants should be your first indicator. If your having signs of CO2 deficiencies in your plants, but your drop checker is showing good coloration, which should you trust?

 

Boundary layer: When a fluid flows past a surface, the fluid that is in contact with the surface will be barely moving, while the fluid farther from the surface will be moving at full speed. The layer of fluid that is moving slower than the full speed is the boundary layer. High velocity flows have thinner boundary layers than low velocity flows.

Now you are a fluid dynamics expert!

 

I agree that is where it is usefull, along with once your system is dialed in and plants are happy, it can be a quick glance indicator that things are what they were yesterday. Where it fails is when a person relys on it as an absolute truth. I've seen more than once, and in my own experiences as well, the thought process of; My drop checker is yellow so it can't be CO2. Even though the plants deficiency and/or algae issues clearly point to lack of CO2.