text: The light and dark bottle method uses the same concept as the free-water method to estimate rates of metabolism - GPP only occurs during the day with solar energy while ER occurs in both the presence and absence of light. This method incubates lake water in two separate bottles, one that is clear and exposed to natural or artificial light regime and another that is sealed off from the light by wrapping the bottle in foil, paint, or another method. Changes in carbon fixation or dissolved gases are then measured over a certain time period (e.g. several hours to a day) to estimate the rate of metabolism for specific lake depths or an integrated lake water column. Carbon fixation is measured by injecting radioactive carbon isotope C into light and dark bottles and sampling the bottles over the time - the samples are filtered onto filter paper and the amount of C incorporated into algal (and bacterial) cells is estimated by measuring samples on a scintillation counter. The difference between the light and dark bottle C can be considered the rate of primary productivity; however, due to non-photosynthetic uptake of CO there is debate as to whether dark bottles should be used with the C method or if only a light bottle and a bottle treated with the algicide DCMU should be used. Rates of change in dissolved gases, either carbon dioxide or oxygen, need both the light and dark bottles to estimate rates of productivity and respiration.