I finally beat BBA!

[JRagg]

I saw that you had said to get it between 8 and 10 pounds. I'm sure I've got quite a bit left to go on the regulator adjustment. I really haven't turned it that far.

To get it to register on the second gauge, should I shut the needle valve and then open the regulator a bit more? I'm just trying to figure out how to do it without dumping excessive amounts of CO2 into my tank.

 

[rkilling1]

Shut the needle valve all the way and then adjust the regulator. Once the regulator is set, then open the needle valve slowly until you reach your setting.

 

[JRagg]

Thank you. I know dealing with me can be trying at times . I've got it showing about 8 psi right now and the bubble rate is a lot easier to adjust.

I wouldn't have even asked except that the setup instructions for the milwaukee are just so much different from what actually worked (what you told me to do).

Congrats again on ridding yourself of the BBA, I hope to be in the same boat soon.

 

[dapellegrini]

JRagg -- I set mine to ~30 on the left side (big knob) and barely open my needle valve. I have never had to adjust it since day one.

Tom -- If I am understanding you correctly, what you are suggesting (adding an O2 cap to the end of my pH probe) is not currently an Over-the-counter option, right? Sounds like it would be a DIY until one of these manufactures jumps on it.

Also, apologies for being dense, but I want to understand what you are explaining here, and I am still missing something. I have a Milwaukee pH Probe that plugs into a Monitor (SMS122), that displays a pH reading in #.# format. I have 4.0 and 7.0 reference solutions for calibration. If I were to add an O2 cap on the end of the pH probe, filled with a kH reference solution, say of 4dkH, that would mean that my pH meter is measuring the pH of the kH solution, right? So what have I accomplished, and what does the #.# reading on the meter mean? It is one of those days and I really need someone to spell this out for me...

Randy -- apologies for hijacking your thread a little here. I hope this is still relevant to your OP...

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I usually set my 2nd guage to around 12-15, since I'm running a manifold. I might try cutting it back to 10 and see how things go. Before the manifold, I ran it at about 8-10.

 

[dapellegrini]

Tom -- CLICK! Never mind, it came to me in my sleep. Instead of using a regent to measure the pH I am using the probe, otherwise it is the same setup as a Drop Checker. In this case I have effectively measured the pH and kH without tests and regents... You would still have the issue of the calibrating and occasionally replacing the probe.

So, this would be a DIY project at this point, right?

On the Pressure setting -- I fellow I work with had a lot of problems with his Milwaukee, and I have read others on the web, where the needle valve setting slows to nothing and requires constant adjustment. Some one, somewhere suggested that I set mine between 30-35, which I did when I first set it up and I have not had a problem. You should be able to maintain a much lower pressure than that, but if you have problems, increasing the pressure should resolve this issue.

 

[dapellegrini]

--- Ah Double post - could an admin remove this -- thanks.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I use a Milwaukee and have never had that problem. Yes, on initial setup, it may need some fine tuning the first couple days to get it right, but once set, I've never had to touch it. Currently running about 12, might be lowering it this weekend to 10.

 

[dapellegrini]

I might try lowering mine next time I refill the bottle. I haven't had any problems with it either, just put the pressure up as a precautionary measure from what I was hearing. They are supposed to work fine at a much lower pressure, like you are doing.

 

[JRagg]

There's a sheet that comes with the Milwaukee that says to completely disregard the right gauge, don't use the needle valve unless you have to, and completely adjust flow using the regulator.

Those instructions are so far off that it's not even funny. It took me a while to get what I thought was a constant rate, and then I woke up the next morning with it pouring out and a tank full of dead fish. Prior to that the bubble rate had only slowed down over time, never increased.

After doing some hard thinking on what exactly is going on inside the regulator, it shouldn't matter if the second gauge is set on 10 or 20. The regulator holds a constant pressure between itself and your needle valve. If the regulator is working properly and holding that pressure, all you are doing is bleeding off a small amount of CO2 via the needle valve. The regulator SHOULD keep the pressure upstream of the needle valve constant.

The only drawbacks would be that if the regulator is set on too low of a pressure that it could close and completely restrict flow, or if it is set too high it could be difficult to control with the needle valve (small turn on the valve leading to a very large change in flow rate). I'm guessing that the 10-15 pounds has probably proven to be a good range for those reasons.

Just an observation, but if it works where you have it now I wouldn't change anything.

 

[rkilling1]

Thank you. I know dealing with me can be trying at times .

Not at all. We are all here to help someone or get help from someone.

Tom -- If I am understanding you correctly, what you are suggesting (adding an O2 cap to the end of my pH probe) is not currently an Over-the-counter option, right? Sounds like it would be a DIY until one of these manufactures jumps on it.

Also, apologies for being dense, but I want to understand what you are explaining here, and I am still missing something. I have a Milwaukee pH Probe that plugs into a Monitor (SMS122), that displays a pH reading in #.# format. I have 4.0 and 7.0 reference solutions for calibration. If I were to add an O2 cap on the end of the pH probe, filled with a kH reference solution, say of 4dkH, that would mean that my pH meter is measuring the pH of the kH solution, right? So what have I accomplished, and what does the #.# reading on the meter mean? It is one of those days and I really need someone to spell this out for me...

Randy -- apologies for hijacking your thread a little here. I hope this is still relevant to your OP...

It is the same concept at a drop checker, but instead of using the pH kit solution to measure the pH, you are using the pH probe. Just think of it as a drop checker with a pH probe inside of it.

That method is by far the most accurate. The drop checker removed the error associated with KH testing and adding the pH probe removes the error associated with measuring pH. So, now you know for a fact exactly what your CO2 is. Using the pH probe also gives you a quicker response time as Tom has said.

EDIT: I didn't read page 2 before I posted . I see you got it.

Randy -- apologies for hijacking your thread a little here. I hope this is still relevant to your OP...

This subject probably should have been separated, but I started it that way. I started the tread with 3 main goals. One was to show how I over came BBA, another one was the concept of the drop checker for CO2 measurement, and the last was using Excel to kill algae. As you can see, I should not have set it up this way, but they all worked together to get me to where I am. ie you are not hijacking anything, just adding to the OP and I thank you for that.

EDIT: JRagg, you are totally correct on the regulator setting. Having to high of an output pressure will make adjusting the needle valve that much harder.

FWIW, when I was close to the setting I wanted, I didn't move the needle valve, I only adjusted the regulator just like the instructions said. By leaving the needle valve wide open and adjusting using the regulator, you will only end up with problems, because now all you have done is removed the needle valve from the process stream. You have to control the output with the needle valve due to the regulator not being sensitive enough to control the CO2 at the level we need it at.

 

[Plantbrain]

The other issue with the KH ref solution is that there are also no other pH effects, like PO4 or acids that have less to do with KH measure and more to do with pH measurements.

The water used in the KH ref solution is distilled DI etc, so it will not have funky stuff going on there either as well as non bicarbonate alkalinity.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[dapellegrini]

The other issue with the KH ref solution is that there are also no other pH effects, like PO4 or acids that have less to do with KH measure and more to do with pH measurements.

The water used in the KH ref solution is distilled DI etc, so it will not have funky stuff going on there either as well as non bicarbonate alkalinity.

?? - By "issue", do you mean good or bad? I think you are saying that another advantage of using a O2 membrane cap on the pH meter would be that you do not have any other weird water issues that can effect the pH reading (PO4, acids)... But it kinda reads opposite of that thought: if you do use a KH ref solution in an O2 cap, then you will also have a few more potential problems (PO4, acids) where these will no longer effect the pH (and maybe they should???)...

Thanks for the clarification.

Dan

 

[Purrbox]

The thing is that all of that other stuff would affect your pH reading and as a result would skew your CO2 results. By using a water sample that is only buffered by KH you know that your pH reading will only be affected by the CO2 present in the water and therefore the CO2 reading will be much more accurate.

 

[dapellegrini]

Ok, that's what I thought he was saying... Thanks.

 

[Plantbrain]

I though that was what I was saying too...but who knmows sometimes? haha

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[dapellegrini]

Well, to finish out my line of questioning, this O2 cap on a pH meter is, at best a DIY right?

This: http://www.coralreefsupply.com/index.php?aquarium=detail&detail=48 cannot be easily fitted onto the end of my SMS122 pH probe, right? I would buy the setup, or maybe even make it (if I knew how), but I am under the impression that it would not be a simple project yet...

BTW, this is an incredibly good idea! Glad there a people smarter than me thinking this stuff up! Thanks for the original plug for the drop checker Randy, and the pH probe mod Tom!