# Drop Checker Becomes Clear Immediately



## Stickleback (22 Mar 2010)

Whenever I refill my drop checker, within an hour the liquid goes from dark blue to clear. No matter what happens to the CO2 levels in the tank it stays clear. It didn't do this when I was using RO water. I have searched the forum and while a couple of people have experienced the same problem it seems no one had a solution.

So I just though I would put the question out there again.

I am using 4 dKH Solution with Bromo Blue. http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/4-dkh-solution-with-bromo-blue-100ml-p-2425.html

I do 50% changes weekly with Londons delicious tap water. I do have good CO2 diffusion generally I think.

Many thanks

Rufus


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## danmil3s (22 Mar 2010)

is it leaking just a thought try putting it in a small glass of tap water with some die in or some thing.


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## hazeljane (23 Mar 2010)

Mine does exactly the same   
 Ive even had a replacment batch from AE for free  (which they very helpful) but give up with it as may plants are growing very well.I would like to see an answer if there is one??


Cheers

Stu.


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## flygja (23 Mar 2010)

I had this problem with my JBL drop checker too. I think its because the solution is "expired", if there's such a thing.


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## Stickleback (23 Mar 2010)

Hi

Thanks for the replies, sorry forgot to mention that the same has happened with three different solutions all different brands. Will test the leak theory, but my gut feeling is it is some kind of chemistry issue.

Thanks

R


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## ceg4048 (23 Mar 2010)

What happens when you put the solution into water placed in a small cup and allow it to sit on the kitchen counter for an hour?

Cheers,


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## CeeJay (23 Mar 2010)

Hi flygja


			
				flygja said:
			
		

> I had this problem with my JBL drop checker too. I think its because the solution is "expired", if there's such a thing.



I had this problem with a JBL drop checker after about 10 months of use. After much investigation and testing it turned out that the seal was leaking   .
What was actually happening was that the water in the drop checker was gradually getting diluted with tank water. Obviously the level in the drop checker could not rise because of the air trapped above the solution, so I concluded that it was slowly exchanging the solution with the tank water.
After binning it and getting a glass drop checker, I am now using my original 4dkH solution and everything is working fine


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## AverageWhiteBloke (24 Mar 2010)

I had the very same problem with a red sea DC and the 4dkh=bromo mix like ceejay I gave up with it and bought a glass DC instead off Ebay. This appears to have solved the colour issue even if not the lack of CO2 (another story altogether)

My conclusion was that the 4KH+Bromo has only a small amount of Bromo in it which I don't believe is AE being cheap skates more that adding too much Bromo can dilute the 4KH solution thus no longer making it 4KH. In my Red Sea DC which is something similar to the JBL one you only use a small amount of fluid about 1ml before it overflows. This small amount of fluid is very difficult to get a good reading from especially in a brightly lit tank. 
The colour is easy to read when first put in tank but as it changes from bright blue to greenish the opaqueness compounded by bright lighting and a lot of green surroundings makes the fluid look clear.

I could be wrong but I have tried just using tank water with the red sea drops and the colour never diminishes regardless of the colour and I have tried having the DC sat on the outside glass to see if the level dropped inside which it never bringing me to the conclusion that the DC was not leaking although it being in the tank with different surrounding pressure may give different results.

For me I would just get a glass DC, for a tenner you can rest assured its not leaking and by using more volume of fluid in there gets you a clearer reading and other than the sucker no parts that will eventually give up on you unless you smash it giving you more time to make sure the co2 levels are right and less time wondering if your equipments working or not.

I could be totally wrong though just a noob sharing my experience of the exact same issue.


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