[SUPPO]

I'm trying to do a gender reveal Memorial Day weekend using the Elephant Toothpaste experiment. I have 30% H2O2 and KI. I did an initial test run using the below quantities:

Reaction Bottle (20oz gatorade bottle):
1 Cup H2O2
Generous squirt of liquid dish soap
5 drops red food coloring

Catalyst Bottle:
1/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon KI

PPE:
Gloves
Eye protection

While the reaction worked, it was a bit underwhelming. The reaction had the below issues:

1.  Initially the resulting bubbles were brown in color. I'm assuming it was the KI and water catalyst reacting without the benefit of the food coloring since the color changed after a few seconds (i do need to add a lot more drops of food coloring i think since the foam wasn't as dark as I'd  like). Would it be better to add coloring to the catalyst mixture or to try to quickly shake/mix the reaction bottle after the catalyst is added?

2.  I didn't get the "explosive" fountain of bubbles i was hoping for. I did get a generous amount of foam,  though it just kinda gently flowed up and out of the bottle. Do i just need to add more KI to the Catalyst bottle to speed up the reaction? Use less water in the Catalyst bottle? Or a combination of the two? How much KI should I use?

I only have a limited quantity of raw materials (2 - 500ml bottles of 30% H2O2 and 30 grams of KI) so can't do too many "trial and error" test runs. My first test used ~half a bottle of H2O2 and it took a week to ship so ordering more will be pricey and cut it close to reveal day.

Any insight and advice is appreciated.

R/

SUPPO