# RO water for CO2 dropchecker



## morefirejules08 (29 Nov 2011)

Hi my neighbor has given me a little bottle of RO water which i thought i could use in my drop checker. the only thing is i dont have any way of checking the dKH which i know should be 4, i do have a PH reading of 6.6 and a TDS of 25. does anyone know if this will e suitable for use in my drop checker?

cheers


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## spyder (29 Nov 2011)

I presume if it's not 4dkh then it would give a totally different reading. Only guessing though.


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## GHNelson (29 Nov 2011)

Hi
RO water is not suitable for the reference solution......although Ive read that its okay if its been through a 4 stage RO unit.
You need Deionised water to make the 4dk solution.
Cheers
hoggie


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## morefirejules08 (29 Nov 2011)

whys that?


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## PeteA (30 Nov 2011)

RO water should be 0dKH as the process (3 or 4 stage) removes everything from the water.  The pH level isn't stable and will vary massively depending on the amount of CO2 within it.  My 4-stage RO system gives me a TDS of 2 at the very most.


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## benide (17 Dec 2011)

If you add bicarbonate of soda to RO you will be able to produce a perfect 4 degrees without anything else interfering with the drop checkers reaction to CO2. I couldn't tell you what concentrations to use because Iv never bothered to make it myself. I'm lazy and buy pre made 4dkh off ebay.


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## clonitza (17 Dec 2011)

I used remineralizing salts to rise it to 4dKH, fairly easy to do, dose a bit, shake, test.
You can make a larger quantity and share with friends.


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## Themuleous (21 Dec 2011)

For the hassle of it, I just buy my 4dKH water, a bottle lasts ages anyway  you're also going to struiggle to get it accurate enough using home KH test kits.

Sam


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## ghostsword (21 Dec 2011)

I got a small bottle from AE about a year ago, still got half of it. I think that it is easier to buy the stuff ready made.


___________________________

I don't know what is the secret of success, but the secret of failure is trying to please the world!


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## GHNelson (21 Dec 2011)

Hi
I made up my own previously...then I used the Deionised water for the Macro and Micro fertilizer solution.
hoggie


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## biffster (6 Jan 2012)

To make 4dkH water dissolve 1.2 grams of baking soda  in one liter of distilled water. Then take 100 milliliter and dilute it to 1 liter with distilled water. This solution is now 4 kH.


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## sussex_cichlids (6 Jan 2012)

Why use RO water when tank water is fine i'm using redsea solution in glass drop checker the instructions for this says take 1ml of tank water and add two drops of checker solution alway worked ok given perfect readings 

Why over complicate the situation


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## Alastair (6 Jan 2012)

Tank water would give in accurate readings. Far more accurate with 4dkh. 



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## GHNelson (6 Jan 2012)

Alastair said:
			
		

> Tank water would give in accurate readings. Far more accurate with 4dkh.
> 
> True
> All your doing is contaminating the drop checker fluid which makes it not as accurate.
> hoggie


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## Arana (6 Jan 2012)

sussex_cichlids said:
			
		

> Why use RO water when tank water is fine i'm using redsea solution in glass drop checker the instructions for this says take 1ml of tank water and add two drops of checker solution alway worked ok given perfect readings
> 
> Why over complicate the situation



JBL instructions use to say this too but it's very misleading, tank water will never give you a true reading of your CO2 levels unless you happen to have 4dkh tank water of course, not the first case of manafacturers giving false or misleading instructions when it comes to planted tanks i'm afraid and most LFS are just as bad if not worse  I have heard some seriously bad advice being given out in LFS's and it drives me mad but whenever i have tried to put them on the right track they just look at you like you have just been released from the mental asylam


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## biffster (6 Jan 2012)

Arana said:
			
		

> sussex_cichlids said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



i know just what you mean i have been asked to leave the odd place 
for telling them they are giving out bad advice


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## Arana (6 Jan 2012)

biffster said:
			
		

> i know just what you mean i have been asked to leave the odd place
> for telling them they are giving out bad advice



I suppose all we can do is point them to resources like UKAPS and hope they get educated


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## sussex_cichlids (6 Jan 2012)

well thank for clearing that up im now moving over to using 4 dKH Solution just order  100ml from Aqua Essentials
cost me £7.99 with deliver 
Buy Yours Here


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## morefirejules08 (7 Jan 2012)

Well I didnt realise this post was still going, I pick some up from eBay in the end rather than use the RO water I had


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## gmartins (13 Jan 2012)

I make my own. Just add 30 mg of baking soda to 250 ml of either distilled or mili-Q water (both are fine). I have access to a precision scale in the lab so it's quite straitforward. I would probably buy some otherwise.

cheers,

GM


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