Is this drop checker OK?

[mattcham]

How would you interpret this drop checker? It seems as if it's yellow on top and blue in lower half. Am I reading it wrong? Its been like this during the past 5 hours that the lights and CO2 have been on. Its a new preparation (prepared yesterday). Before CO2 was injected it was very clearly blue like the reference sheet.



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[Sk3lly]

It looks too clear. Almost as If tank water has got in and diluted the solution


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[mattcham]

No, that was the level of the solution from the start (1 ml solution, newly purchased fluval brand from amazon). It was dark blue in the beginning just like the reference sticker. Could it be that it's yellow (bordering on green)? Or should yellow also look like a deep lemon yellow?

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[Sk3lly]

Should look a deep yellow. Yours looks watery


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[Brookster123]

That's the way those read, i was using one of those for a couple weeks and it was line green almost yellow by the end of photoperiod, i was running around 3 bps in my 30l. After switching to a glass dc with 4dkh and regeant the color was much darker yet nothing had changed with co2 injection.

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[mattcham]

So this fluval drop checker is no good? Or just the solution is bad quality?

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[Brookster123]

There's nothing wrong with it no, I just wanted something fancier in the bigger tanks, i still use the fluval in my 5.5

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[Sk3lly]

All my drop checkers have had dark colours. Dark blue, a proper green or a dark yellow.

In my opinion if that fluval one is supposed to be that way then its very poor. Almost impossible to read a true result on it


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[mattcham]

Brookster can you please post a cell phone photo of your fluval drop checker at Green and at Near Yellow? I just want to get an idea of what this should look like. Thanks so much!

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[Brookster123]

Yep, when I get in later!

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[mattcham]

Thanks Brookster. I googled for fluval drop checker images and they are so rare. Most are blue color and the two that are green are very pale lime green. Nowhere near the Kelly Green that fluval claims. I'm going to shut off my CO2 for a couple of days to see if I can get the green to be darker color. It just seems as if I went from blue to pale yellow green.

 

[Brookster123]

That sounds right to me matt, mine is currently in a 5.5gal that runs 1 bps around the clock, i have a air stone come on from 1 hour before lights off until one hour before lights on and in between photoperiod. This cycle leaves the DC lime green during peak and a bit darker greenish blue while gassing off with air stone.. it never huts blue like when you first fill it. When I had it in the 30 gal it never returned to blue eithe, lime green almost yellow at peak and darker green by morning.

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[Fresh2o]

I have a Fluval DC. When you first fill the lid, the fluid is a translucent blue. The white cone background spreads out the fluid and adds to the washed out appearance (compared to a DC with no white background). Mine turns blue overnight and pale green almost yellowish late in the day. Only once did it look very yellow and that is when I adjusted the fine needle the wrong way (and walked away for a few hours).
I have seen the stratification you have depicted. In time the greenish yellow color will extend to the rest of the fluid.
I also have an all glass one piece DC from China (comps from Brookster) and I filled it with the same fluval indicator fluid. It is dark blue but sometimes turns dark green. I know I need to fill it with 4dhk fluid and pH test fluid but I need this part spelled out in terms that a caveman could understand.


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[mattcham]

I filled it with the same fluval indicator fluid. It is dark blue but sometimes turns dark green. I know I need to fill it with 4dhk fluid and pH test fluid but I need this part spelled out in terms that a caveman could understand.

No, the fluval fluid is already premixed with 4dkh fluid. Do not add more 4dkh. You only use 4dkh if you are adding pure bromothymol blue liquid. The fluval solution already contains bromothymol blue and 4dkh together.

I'm trying to figure out whether the pale appearance is due to the fluval device or due to the fluval fluid. I am quite surprised that nobody has ever done such a comparison.


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[Brookster123]

The Pale Appearance is solely due to the limited space between viewing glass and white background.. i mixed 4 drops of the fluval liquid with 4dkh and it's kind of working.. i should just use the high range ph solution huh? I'm still trying to figure this out myself hahah

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