Drop checker, is this color okay?

[schpanky]

For the first week my drop checker stayed blueish/green. I figured I'd rather have too little than too much, so I just let the flow stay the same, thinking it would take a while for C02 to saturate the whole tank. Is this color okay, or is it too yellow? Thanks.

I have three in different areas of the tank, the third one is the lowest flow of the tank.

 

[Fresh2o]

I think it's okay; I would keep an eye on it though just to make sure it does not get more yellow.
Watch your fish; some are more sensitive to increased CO2. I lost a school of fork tail Furcata rainbows a year ago when I let the CO2 drift a little on the yellow side.
I can't tell if the third DC looks bluish or the background is darkish.


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[schpanky]

Thanks. The last one is definitely still bluish. Goes to show how how different the flow is in each section of the tank. I have one on the right, the left and one in the middle of the tank. The middle one is the most yellow/green. I turned it off for the day a little early.

Is it common that the tank doesn't saturate for an entire week? I only did one 25% water change in that week. I think I'll do another 25% now.

 

[Caliban07]

Watch your fish and your plants. In my opinion they are far better indicators of where you tank is at in terms of co2 than any drop checker. I believe this so much so that I took my drop checker out.


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[schpanky]

I did a little experiment. I put all three drop checkers in the same place (middle back of the aquarium) for 3 days. The ones on the left and right are from China (they were pretty cheap). I put the recommended amount of fluid in the one on the right, but put more than recommended fluid in the one on the left. Here's the results...

The GLA drop checker in the middle shows too little C02 (there's even a reference solution in the middle of the bulb that shows the proper color).
The fish seem better than ever, the plants also appear better than ever, so I'm going to go with that. This C02 system was the best choice I've ever made with this tank. By choosing easy plants and pressurized c02 I've made life pretty simple. Just wanted to share.