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Re: Plant Nutrition in new tank -- CO2 bubble counting
Jerry Baker offered good advice to improve accuracy when counting CO2
bubble rates as bubbles per second:
> 1) Get out a stopwatch (most wristwatches have one).
>
> 2) Right when a bubble goes start the stopwatch and count the next
> bubble as bubble #1.
>
> 3) Count 10 bubbles stopping the stopwatch on the tenth bubble.
>
> 4) Divide the time on the stopwatch by ten.
>
> Now you have cut your inaccuracies due to reaction time, etc. to
> 1/10th.
> If you really want accuracy (read: you're bored), do the same thing
> but
> count 100 bubbles.
Alternatively, you can count the bubbles in 15 seconds or 30 seconds,
or 60 seconds, until you get a consistent reading. Then multiply by
the appropriate amount for bubbles per minute (4, 2, 1) or divide (15,
30, 60 )to get bubbles per second. (I find the multiplication easier,
but have fun). The longer you count, the more accurate the reading --
up to a point.
Remember that temperature changes over the course of the day can affect
the CO2 regulator causing slightly different bubble rates even if you
haven't adjusted the regulator at all. So don't go nuts adjusting the
CO2 regulator back and forth for miniscule adjustments that just don't
seem to take from morning to night.
Note that not all systems will produce bubbles the same size or pass
off CO2 from the tank water into the atmosphere. As has been said,
What's important is not the number of bubbles compared to someone
elses, or another one of your tanks, but the CO2 level that is acheived
-- counting is just a reference once you find what works for your tank.
Scott H.
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