CO2 Checker for pH control?

[TomCruise]

Has anyone used these to monitor pH levels?

They supposedly monitor CO2 levels by monitoring the pH.

I was thinking it might be a good way to monitor my buffer at a glance cheaply, any thoughts?

Thanks in advance,

-Tom

[DETAquarium]

Good question. Unfortunately they monitor CO2 levels as our shrimp tanks normally have very little the drop checker would reflect blue. That is one deficiency is the drop checker primarily has three colors to distinguish from: yellow, green, and blue. As there is very little CO2 the drop checker would always be blue, but that doesn't truly tell us what our PH is at, but merely tells us we are no where close to 30ppm CO2.

[Mr. F]

It wouldn't work. The drop checker can actually measure only the pH of the water in the bubble. That water changes pH because co2 is released in specific quantities at certain concentrations in water. So, while the change in pH is relative the the co2 in your tank and the associated pH change, isn't directly related to your waters pH value. I hope that kinda makes sense.

[Pescador]

This is a common misunderstanding...  You use 4dKH fluid in a drop checker then add 3-4 drops of your PH test solution to turn it blue.  When you place the drop checker in the tank air is trapped in the cone which then gathers CO2 as it rises to the surface in your tank.

The 4 dkh provides the baseline to roughly determine the CO2 level and has nothing to do with the PH of the tank other than telling you if the color goes from blue to green to yellow your CO2 is increasing and thus your PH is falling.

 

[Mr. F]

The only thing I know of that claims to do this is:

http://www.amazon.com/Seachem-Ph-Alert-for-Freshwater/dp/B000HHHDDS

But I had one before and it doesn't work very well if at all.

[TomCruise]

Thanks for the clarification everyone!