# drop checker turns blue overnight



## ltsai (5 Jul 2013)

Hi,

Am I degassing too much co2 overnight? Or am I wasting too much co2? 

It does turn lime yellow later when the co2 kicks in.

I installed a new Jebao 204 1200 l/h canister filter for my 60x30x30cm tank. Spray bar is about 1-2 inch beneath the water level and pointing towards the front glass. There is rippling on the water surface top and most, if not all, plants are swaying.

Too much flow? 

Thanks!


----------



## geoffbark (5 Jul 2013)

Sounds like you have it going in the right direction.


----------



## ltsai (5 Jul 2013)

Hmmm, after 2.5 hours of co2 before lights get turned on, the drop checker is turning green but still has a bluish tint to it. It used to turn green/yellowish green with a small internal filter that I use for flow distribution. 

I have topped up the tank with more water to reduce the ripple on the water surface.


----------



## Anthony89 (8 Jul 2013)

I think I was having a similar problem. Lowered my spray bars, and now rhe d/c stays green the duration of the lighting period.


----------



## ltsai (9 Jul 2013)

My drop checker still turns blue overnight despite "lowering" the spray bars, since I added more water and is lower. 

But I have increased the bps rate from and now it turns green earlier now but still not at lime green when the lights turned on. 

Should I be chasing this at all since a drop checker is just an indicator and it is lagging behind.


----------



## Ady34 (9 Jul 2013)

Hi,
drop checker turning blue just shows that the co2 is out gassing which is good overnight as the plants produce carbon dioxide too so it will be nice for any inhabitants. All you need to do now is carefully increase your injection rate and or injection period before lights on to ensure a lime green drop checker for the start of the photoperiod. This may take a little tinkering to get the balance throughout the photoperiod so as not to effect the fauna 
Cheerio
Ady


----------



## ltsai (9 Jul 2013)

Though I'm not sure why my new canister filter is causing so much out gassing. The diffuser is under the intake thus most bubbles are sucked into the filter. 

I had a HOB before and the drop checker never turned blue overnight.

Might be because the flow rate is high and the rippling seems much stronger than my 600 l/h hob.


----------



## Ady34 (9 Jul 2013)

I would guess so, a hob wouldn't create the surface flow of your spraybar, combine that with what is a 2x more powerful filter with greater turnover and you will be moving more water and at the surface which will increase gaseous exchange.
You may need to use more gas, but your plants will benefit from the greater turnover and improved distribution via the spraybar 

Cheerio,
Ady


----------



## NattyAntlers (9 Jul 2013)

ltsai said:


> The diffuser is under the intake thus most bubbles are sucked into the filter.


 
This last weekend I moved my diffuser from the same position as you to centrally at substrate level under the spray bar that is about 1 inch from the water surface.
I was constantly getting burps from the filter before and information about the co2 mixing with the dirty side of the water flow and about plant co2 uptake when you have lots of micro bubbles made me decide to move the diffuser.

What I have found is the drop checker changes colour sooner and that I had to reduce the bubble rate to get the colour the same as I had when the diffuser was under the intake.
I was surprised with the amount of undissolved co2 trapped in the filter as well.

Time will tell if the plants benefit from the change.


----------



## ltsai (9 Jul 2013)

Well, I havn't heard of any burping yet and there are no micro bubbles coming out of the spray bar.  Hopefully they are not all stuck at the bottom. 

I did consider buying the UP inline atomizer but it was out of my budget. 

Shall try your suggestion by putting the diffuser under the spray bar.


----------



## NattyAntlers (9 Jul 2013)

I thought about getting an UP inline but at the moment they appear to be a mixed bag of reliability.
To get the right colour on my DC I had to increase the bubble count to a setting that also resulted in filter burp, no harm in trying repositioning the diffuser, leave the co2 setting as it is and see if you get a better DC colour. Shouldn't take long to find out so dont worry too much about getting the tubing etc hidden.


----------



## ltsai (9 Jul 2013)

Yeah, I should probably try that tomorrow or so when I have the time to monitor. Luckily, it is still just a planted tank with no fauna.


----------



## Ady34 (9 Jul 2013)

ltsai said:


> Yeah, I should probably try that tomorrow or so when I have the time to monitor. Luckily, it is still just a planted tank with no fauna.


 
Hi,
if this is a new set up with new plants and no fauna id just crank the c02 right up to help the plants adapt to underwater life, you can dial it back later for fauna and the plants will be better able to cope as they are adapted to their submersed life.
no real need to monitor (within reason) when only plants are involved...the more c02 they get the better 
Cheerio,


----------



## zanguli-ya-zamba (9 Jul 2013)

Hi Itsai,
in my 20G tank I had a lot of CO2 distribution problem.
First I had a lily pipe with internal ceramic diffuser, than I change to spray bar (still the actual set up but with an up in line now). CO2 bubble rate was very high, but signs of CO2 shortage was clear to see on plants.
The only way I could get a good CO2 distribution without putting the diffuser under intake, was to put the diffuser on the front glass at 2 cm from the substrate. in this set up CO2 bubbles were instantly and continually push downward buy water flow. you see the "picture" ?
I know this is not aesthetic at all, but it was efficient for me ! maybe you should give a try if you don't want to buy a up aqua.
Be patient you will see a good or a bad reaction only 2 weeks after.
Hope that this can help. it has work for me for 2 month before I get my up aqua delivered.

CO2 is a B***H you have to fight and understand it, and it take long time to get this right all the time.

Cheers
Zanguli


----------

