Alkalinity and PH w/CO2 Scrubbing

[Mattiejay6]

Alright,

I decided to add a cheap BRS RODI filter with CO2 media to scrub my skimmer air..

I added it last night and my PH has slowly been climbing ever since.

I added it at 18:33 hours at a PH of 8.1
I took the canister today off at 1834 hours and my Ph was at 8.48

my Alk level went from 8.0 at 8am to 8.1 around 3pm and back down to 8.0.

I was dosing in this tank with a max saturation solution and stopped it around noon. I was running 25 doses at 2ml each

my PH is slowly going down, but I was getting worried I wouldn’t see a top and it would just keep climbing, and the information that I have seen on scrubbing people were only seeing marginal improvements from it.

looking for a weigh in on this?

 

[Mattiejay6]

@Randy Holmes-Farley

 

[JvC]

I have 2 tanks in the same room, a 65 gallon cube and a 73 gallon reefer 350. Since I set them both up I struggled with the PH. Levels as low as 7.5 and below. I addded a skimmer to each tank. To the Reefer 350 I added a Red Sea Skimmer 300 and to the 65 I added a generic DC skimmer from amazon. I then added a 37 dollar BRS scrubber to each. The 73 shot up to 8.3 and has been above 8 ever since (depending on how new the media is). The 65 is almost completely unaffected. The Ph is still in the mid 7s. So it seems to be hit or miss.

 

[Mattiejay6]

yaaa seemed like I was on a never ending straight shot up and it had me worried.

 

[JvC]

You can hook the scrubber to some type of relay and contol it through an Apex. Then you can just have it keep the level you want. BRS has a video on it.

 

[JvC]

I didn't need to. I can run mine all the time and it does not ever get to 8.3.

 

[Mattiejay6]

I didn't need to. I can run mine all the time and it does not ever get to 8.3.

I’m on hydros, would have to figure out if that’s possible.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

yaaa seemed like I was on a never ending straight shot up and it had me worried.

If the pH is accurate, I'd be surprised if it got what I consider too high (8.6+), but if it did, you can always alter the scrubber system at that point (such as less media in it).

 

[Mattiejay6]

If the pH is accurate, I'd be surprised if it got what I consider too high (8.6+), but if it did, you can always alter the scrubber system at that point (such as less media in it).

the thought hadn’t occurred to me to use less media and that be beneficial. I was reading last night on maybe doing a solenoid that opens and let’s regular air in at a certain PH.

I took the canister off last night and it rapidly fell back down and I put it back on. Seems like this can really get dialed in for me.

 

[Steve2020]

the thought hadn’t occurred to me to use less media and that be beneficial. I was reading last night on maybe doing a solenoid that opens and let’s regular air in at a certain PH.

I took the canister off last night and it rapidly fell back down and I put it back on. Seems like this can really get dialed in for me.

Based on past experience I would recommend a motorized ball valve over a solenoid. Solenoids basically use a magnetic plunger that must stay energized drawing current when actuated. They get extremely hot and are very restrictive with flow compared to a motorized ball valve which in the case of the one I use it uses internal limit switches and only draws current when opening. It also comes with a power cord which can plug into your power bar.
I control mine with my Profilux 4 to energize and draw regular air when PH hit 8.4 and to de-energize when PH drops to 8.38.


BACOENG 1/2" DN15 110VAC Stainless Steel Motorized Ball Valve,NC Electrical Ball Valve

 

[Mattiejay6]

Based on past experience I would recommend a motorized ball valve over a solenoid. Solenoids basically use a magnetic plunger that must stay energized drawing current when actuated. They get extremely hot and are very restrictive with flow compared to a motorized ball valve which in the case of the one I use it uses internal limit switches and only draws current when opening. It also comes with a power cord which can plug into your power bar.
I control mine with my Profilux 4 to energize and draw regular air when PH hit 8.4 and to de-energize when PH drops to 8.38.


BACOENG 1/2" DN15 110VAC Stainless Steel Motorized Ball Valve,NC Electrical Ball Valve

great info thank you!!

 

[Steve2020]

great info thank you!!

You are very welcome.

 

[Gatorpa]

Based on past experience I would recommend a motorized ball valve over a solenoid. Solenoids basically use a magnetic plunger that must stay energized drawing current when actuated. They get extremely hot and are very restrictive with flow compared to a motorized ball valve which in the case of the one I use it uses internal limit switches and only draws current when opening. It also comes with a power cord which can plug into your power bar.
I control mine with my Profilux 4 to energize and draw regular air when PH hit 8.4 and to de-energize when PH drops to 8.38.


BACOENG 1/2" DN15 110VAC Stainless Steel Motorized Ball Valve,NC Electrical Ball Valve

Just curious are you running dual canisters for your scrubber?
And is the Y also tied back and pulling air out of the top of your Skimmer?

 

[Steve2020]

Just curious are you running dual canisters for your scrubber?
And is the Y also tied back and pulling air out of the top of your Skimmer?

Yes. That is a BRS Duo Jumbo CO2 Scrubber. The Y is tied into the the skimmer and also outside air. The 5 gallon container of media in the photo last me approx 6mo with my setup. Cost of media equates to approx $20 per month in case your curious.

 

[Gatorpa]

Yes. That is a BRS Duo Jumbo CO2 Scrubber. The Y is tied into the the skimmer and also outside air. The 5 gallon container of media in the photo last me approx 6mo with my setup. Cost of media equates to approx $20 per month in case your curious.

ty

did you find the recirculate through the collection cup had that much of an impact?

I read it could in theory lower the Dissolved O2 but could not verify that(no ORP probe)

Ive been using the BrS in the mylar pouch the 7.5 # bag.
where did you source yours?

 

[Steve2020]

ty

did you find the recirculate through the collection cup had that much of an impact?

I read it could in theory lower the Dissolved O2 but could not verify that(no ORP probe)

Ive been using the BrS in the mylar pouch the 7.5 # bag.
where did you source yours?

Prior to running a recirc and no outside air I saw a .2 increase in PH but was going through media faster than I was hoping. Then I changed to a recirc without outside air and saw another .05-.1 increase ( maybe coincidence ) but saw a big increase in time between changing media. When I hooked up outside air along with the recirc I saw an Increase in PH to the point I had to add the electronic ball valve to control the PH because it was going towards the 8.5 PH range and I wanted to be conservative and not go above 8.4.
My ORP has been steady at 280-300. I don't want to get into a ticking match with anyone about recirc causing low O2. All I have to say is there are thousands of tanks that do not even run a skimmer and O2 is fine as long as you have some gas exchange via surface agitation or something similar. So what's the difference is all I'm going to say.
The media I ordered is from eBay due to free shipping. I just looked and it has gone up about $10 recently just like everything else. Still a good deal I think.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Prior to running a recirc and no outside air I saw a .2 increase in PH but was going through media faster than I was hoping. Then I changed to a recirc without outside air and saw another .05-.1 increase ( maybe coincidence ) but saw a big increase in time between changing media. When I hooked up outside air along with the recirc I saw an Increase in PH to the point I had to add the electronic ball valve to control the PH because it was going towards the 8.5 PH range and I wanted to be conservative and not go above 8.4.
My ORP has been steady at 280-300. I don't want to get into a ticking match with anyone about recirc causing low O2. All I have to say is there are thousands of tanks that do not even run a skimmer and O2 is fine as long as you have some gas exchange via surface agitation or something similar. So what's the difference is all I'm going to say.
The media I ordered is from eBay due to free shipping. I just looked and it has gone up about $10 recently just like everything else. Still a good deal I think.

ORP is not any sort of useful indication about O2.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

All I have to say is there are thousands of tanks that do not even run a skimmer and O2 is fine as long as you have some gas exchange via surface agitation or something similar. So what's the difference is all I'm going to say.

Is it? The number of folks who have actually measured tank O2 at night is very, very low as best I can find.

 

[Steve2020]

ORP is not any sort of useful indication about O2.

Never said it was. I just told Gatorpa what my ORP was. You should reply to him instead. He is the one that said he doesn't have a ORP probe to verify O2. Not me.

 

[Steve2020]

Is it? The number of folks who have actually measured tank O2 at night is very, very low as best I can find.

I was giving Gatorpa an example of running no skimmer vs running a recirc skimmer. He said he read in theory that a recirc skimmer can lower O2. CO2 media does not absorb O2. So Lets say a recirc skimmer does lower O2 in a reef tank. If you were running a skimmer and measured O2 and then took the skimmer out of the system wouldn't you see a lower O2 reading in your reef tank eventually? I would guess yes. I was giving him an example of comparing a recirc skimmer that if it did lower O2 compared to running no skimmer at all. I haven't read a lot if any post's where people had dead fish in their tank from O2 depravation caused by skimmer recirc or no skimmer at all but I have read about post reply's on this site and others of possible fish deaths due to minimal or no recirculation/surface agitation.
I have read about possible ( NOT VERIFIED ) CH4 increase if running a recirc skimmer and that is reason I also pull in inside air mixed with the skimmer recirc air just to be safe.