Which drop checker would you trust?

[lilirose]

I bought a Blau U-shaped drop checker because I was interested by the shape- it looks really sleek. However, I put 4 dkh solution in it and installed it right next to a more traditional drop checker for comparison's sake, and now (five hours later) they do not agree.

Is the Blau a bust, or is it not a fair test because I didn't put fresh solution in the traditional drop checker today?

(Please excuse the dirty inner glass, am waiting on a delivery of snails and want them to have something to eat when they arrive.)

 

[RudeDogg1]

I would of put fresh in both

 

[lilirose]

I would of put fresh in both

Done. CO2 has just switched off for the day, will update after lights on tomorrow.
If they don't agree tomorrow, I will try the Blau in a high-flow tank (again, next to a traditional one).

Close-up from a minute ago, as I already shared the FTS that would have been demanded had I not posted one above. I'd say the traditional drop checker looks greener than the Blau already but I could be wrong.

and see if it's any different.

 

[Zeus.]

The Blau 'U' Bend one is a poor design as it has limited surface area at the solution level, it will take a long...... time to change colour. Reducing the amount of dk solution in it will reduce the time it takes too turn

 

[lilirose]

The Blau 'U' Bend one is a poor design as it has limited surface area at the solution level, it will take a long...... time to change colour. Reducing the amount of dk solution in it will reduce the time it takes too turn

I had hoped this would not be the case...it certainly looks nice, but it's a bit pointless if it's many hours behind.

However after 20 minutes the traditional one is definitely changing colour already but the Blau remains...blau.

 

[Zeus.]

Reducing the dk solution volume by 50% in it will reduce the time it takes to change by half

 

[lilirose]

This morning's update. Will spare everyone the huge photo, suffice it to say that 2 hours after lights on we still have extreme difference in colour. I'd say the Blau DC is completely useless in this tank. Will repeat the experiment on a high-flow tank because I neither want to bin the Blau checker (it's so pretty!) nor would I sell it to someone else, though if it's as off in the second tank I have no idea what to do with it other than bin it.

 

[Wookii]

This morning's update. Will spare everyone the huge photo, suffice it to say that 2 hours after lights on we still have extreme difference in colour. I'd say the Blau DC is completely useless in this tank. Will repeat the experiment on a high-flow tank because I neither want to bin the Blau checker (it's so pretty!) nor would I sell it to someone else, though if it's as off in the second tank I have no idea what to do with it other than bin it.

Very surprising that! It basically doesn't work at all. I would return it to where ever you bought it as I think you have a fair claim, with evidence, that it's not 'fit for purpose'.

Personally I've tried several of the trendy glass drop checkers, and haven't been impressed with any of them. Though they don't look quite as sleek, I find the JBL ones much easier to read the colour from (white background), and they react fairly quickly as there is a very small trapped gas volume/distance to the solution (I don't bother with the ugly sticker though):

 

[Zeus.]

Very surprising that! It basically doesn't work at all. I would return it to where ever you bought it as I think you have a fair claim, with evidence, that it's not 'fit for purpose'.

Personally I've tried several of the trendy glass drop checkers, and haven't been impressed with any of them. Though they don't look quite as sleek, I find the JBL ones much easier to read the colour from (whist background), and they react fairly quickly as there is a very small trapped gas volume/distance to the solution (I don't bother with the ugly sticker though):

Use the same one on my 500l

 

[lilirose]

Very surprising that! It basically doesn't work at all. I would return it to where ever you bought it as I think you have a fair claim, with evidence, that it's not 'fit for purpose'.

I agree that it's not fit for purpose, but it'd be more than 15 quid's worth of hassle to get the shop I bought it from to agree to that. I already have €100 in credit with them that I have never spent because they won't allow me to spend it in their online shop and I can't make the 2.5 hour journey to their B&M shop because of repeated lockdowns/high infection rates in their area.

Personally I've tried several of the trendy glass drop checkers, and haven't been impressed with any of them. Though they don't look quite as sleek, I find the JBL ones much easier to read the colour from (white background), and they react fairly quickly as there is a very small trapped gas volume/distance to the solution (I don't bother with the ugly sticker though):

I began looking at alternatives to the traditional because I am concerned about a Betta deciding to try to swim up into a traditional one (as one of my Bettas will do with the bell diffuser in his tank). The one you've recommended looks like it will fit the bill, thanks for that! Now to find someone who will ship one to Ireland!

 

[Wookii]

Now to find someone who will ship one to Ireland!

Do Amazon not deliver to your area?:

JBL ProAquaTest CO2-pH Permanent Amazon product

 

[lilirose]

Amazon delivers some products to Ireland, but with the coming of Brexit we're seeing the red notice on the right more and more often- I wonder if after 31 Dec we'll be told to use amazon.de if we want to use Prime?

 

[Siege]

I’d put more solution in your traditional drop checker. Probably same again as you have in their already. It is very low at the moment.

edit. Both types are very low. The Blau one works well but needs a high level of solution.

 

[Wookii]

Amazon delivers some products to Ireland, but with the coming of Brexit we're seeing the red notice on the right more and more often- I wonder if after 31 Dec we'll be told to use amazon.de if we want to use Prime?


View attachment 156279

Wow, that’s crazy. . . I’ve used Amazon.fr, Amazon.de and Amazon.com to order stuff in the past. I take it Ireland doesn’t have its own dedicated Amazon site then? (I couldn’t find an Amazon.ie when I was looking for a link for you).

 

[Siege]

Wow, that’s crazy. . . I’ve used Amazon.fr, Amazon.de and Amazon.com to order stuff in the past. I take it Ireland doesn’t have its own dedicated Amazon site then? (I couldn’t find an Amazon.ie when I was looking for a link for you).

That’ll be brexit for you.......

 

[Wookii]

That’ll be brexit for you.......

Lol storm in teacup Steve. Where there’s money to be made, solutions will always be found!

 

[lilirose]

I’d put more solution in your traditional drop checker. Probably same again as you have in their already. It is very low at the moment.

edit. Both types are very low. The Blau one works well but needs a high level of solution.

Oddly, this is the exact opposite to the advice given by @Zeus upthread- I had it fuller, and he said to use much less, so when I refilled it this morning I used less (no, I would not normally refill every day, I was doing it for the sake of experiment).

In the main I was wanting to share my comparison between the two, thought it might be useful for someone along the line.

 

[lilirose]

Wow, that’s crazy. . . I’ve used Amazon.fr, Amazon.de and Amazon.com to order stuff in the past. I take it Ireland doesn’t have its own dedicated Amazon site then? (I couldn’t find an Amazon.ie when I was looking for a link for you).

No, we have always used Amazon.co.uk (or at least, since about 2010- before that we could not order things from Amazon, it looks like it might be going that way again).

Lol storm in teacup Steve. Where there’s money to be made, solutions will always be found!

I don't wish for this thread to devolve into politics, but naturally it would be a "storm in a teacup" to anyone not directly affected. But as you can see, I am being directly affected- I would say about 50% of listings on Amazon now display this notice, and more and more retailers refuse to ship here (ProShrimp being one I used to use that immediately comes to mind, AllPondSolutions is another).

There have long been issues with availability of goods of various kinds to Ireland which led me to not keep aquariums at all for 15 years after I first arrived here- I simply could not get the items I was used to, and if I asked for them I was told there was no demand therefore no availability. The Internet only began to change that in the last ten years, but the refusal of many merchants to ship here will turn people away from the hobby, as it did me.

 

[Wookii]

I don't wish for this thread to devolve into politics, but naturally it would be a "storm in a teacup" to anyone not directly affected. But as you can see, I am being directly affected- I would say about 50% of listings on Amazon now display this notice, and more and more retailers refuse to ship here (ProShrimp being one I used to use that immediately comes to mind, AllPondSolutions is another).

There have long been issues with availability of goods of various kinds to Ireland which led me to not keep aquariums at all for 15 years after I first arrived here- I simply could not get the items I was used to, and if I asked for them I was told there was no demand therefore no availability. The Internet only began to change that in the last ten years, but the refusal of many merchants to ship here will turn people away from the hobby, as it did me.

Apologies, I didn’t mean to be flippant. I was only meaning to suggest usually, where there is profit available to be made, commercial entities will find a way to exploit it, and I imagine once the technicalities of Brexit have been resolved retailers will find a way to supply to all the areas they did before hand.

In your case if this has been the situation for some time, perhaps there are other factors at play (costs of delivery and returns, general logistics etc), though it does surprise me that internet focused businesses like ProShrimp and APS aren’t willing to deliver to Ireland.

 

[lilirose]

Apologies, I didn’t mean to be flippant. I was only meaning to suggest usually, where there is profit available to be made, commercial entities will find a way to exploit it, and I imagine once the technicalities of Brexit have been resolved retailers will find a way to supply to all the areas they did before hand.

In your case if this has been the situation for some time, perhaps there are other factors at play (costs of delivery and returns, general logistics etc), though it does surprise me that internet focused businesses like ProShrimp and APS aren’t willing to deliver to Ireland.

Thank you for the clarification, I appreciate it. My experience is that the situation in Ireland with regard to purchasing specialist goods (such as aquascaping and aquarium supplies) has always been extremely variable in a way that people elsewhere (UK, USA, continental Europe) wouldn't appreciate in the slightest. Goods that anyone in the UK would expect to find easily often cannot be obtained at all here. It's better now than it was ten years ago, but there has been drastic movement backwards in the past year.

For Ireland in general, it is actually the case UK retailers don't like to ship here. That was true in 2018, and it's far more true today. I am unaware of the exact reasoning. Plant and livestock suppliers have told me that it's because they can't guarantee live delivery, but I can buy plants from Aquasabi in Germany and get them next day, so this argument seems spurious at best. The very best UK retailers (like Aquarium Gardens) have never shipped here at all. I'm sure each retailer feels very justified in this and I suppose it's their decision. As a matter of fact, I have never taken delivery of dead plants, and the one time I took delivery of dead livestock, the parcel was sent from within Ireland.

Back to the topic at hand- the Blau DC came from an Irish LFS, which stocks that and the traditional. I reckon Aquasabi sells the JBL, but I won't order from Aquasabi unless I can manage €150 for free shipping, and my aquascaping budget for the year is spent. Luckily the year is almost over.