Battling low pH

[Rolo1990]

I’ve been battling low pH with my aquarium. I bought a BRS air scrubber and it didn’t help so I took the hose and ran it outside and it worked now since I have the BRS air scrubber in the canister should I put in carbon in the chamber?
Cause I heard if there is one fertilizer in the air that could kill my tank is that true?

and is that a good idea to put carbon in the chamber ???

 

[Sdot]

I’ve been battling low pH with my aquarium. I bought a BRS air scrubber and it didn’t help so I took the hose and ran it outside and it worked now since I have the BRS air scrubber in the canister should I put in carbon in the chamber?
Cause I heard if there is one fertilizer in the air that could kill my tank is that true?

and is that a good idea to put carbon in the chamber ???

Depending on whats around or near you...I would not put the hose outside for the reasons you've indicated. Remember we are dealing with small closed systems and measure some elements in the parts per billion... not worth the risk.... just my opinion though.

I dont think carbon will be good enough, as we dont know what it will be exposed to, therefore you wont know if its effective against it.

 

[AKL1950]

When you bought the BRS air scrubber, what did you put in it? Not sure I understand what you did with it. To work, it needs media in it that removes CO2 from the air. It should be connected to your skimmer air intake. My PH kept bottoming out and when I hooked up the “CO2” scrubber with media to my skimmer, my PH went up to 8.4. Now I only fill it half full of media. It will last about 2-3 weeks and then need new media in it. it all depends on how much CO2 is in your house. The more your house is closed up, the higher the CO2 level resulting in lower PH in your tank.

 

[Rolo1990]

I’m using the stuff from BRS https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/colo...D=8195&indexName=brs_prod_m2_default_products

maybe I’m using it wrong

 

[AKL1950]

I’m using the stuff from BRS https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/colo...D=8195&indexName=brs_prod_m2_default_products

maybe I’m using it wrong

Yes, that’s the correct stuff. Once you fill the canister, how is it attached to your system? Do you use a protein skimmer and do you connect the air line from you CO2 canister to the air intake line of the skimmer. My setup is quite simple. Here are two pictures.

canister just sits on the floor behind the tank and the air line is connected to the air intake line for the skimmer. You can see that I only have the canister filled about 1/3 full because it works so well.

 

[Rolo1990]

Mine is hooked up in the same way when I get home I will take some pictures. I’m not home at the moment.

 

[Gtinnel]

For what it might be worth when I first bought a scrubber and the BRS media it did nothing for my pH. Then when I switched the media out for new media (just because I initially bought two bags) it made a difference. I am convinced I got a bad batch of media from BRS. Before giving up on the scrubber you may want to try another brand/bag of media.
If running the airline outside increased your pH the the scrubber should have also.

I run my airline outside and into a scrubber and I have never had an issue with contaminants in the outside air, but my house is far enough away from neighbors that them spraying anything probably wouldn’t reach my house.

 

[AKL1950]

Good. I’ll watch for them.

Make sure the air line is connected to the “out” connector on your canister. I also run my skimmer 24/7. That’s my main piece of equipment for air exchange in the tank.

if it’s set up right, it should work. If CO2 is not the problem, the CO2 scrubber may not help. it may be some other issue. review how you are measuring PH and your testing is accurate. You should see a rise during lighted hours and a fall during dark hours.

 

[AKL1950]

For what it might be worth when I first bought a scrubber and the BRS media it did nothing for my pH. Then when I switched the media out for new media (just because I initially bought two bags) it made a difference. I am convinced I got a bad batch of media from BRS. Before giving up on the scrubber you may want to try another brand/bag of media.
If running the airline outside increased your pH the the scrubber should have also.

I run my airline outside and into a scrubber and I have never had an issue with contaminants in the outside air, but my house is far enough away from neighbors that them spraying anything probably wouldn’t reach my house.

Definitely a possibility. My first bag was super charged And immediately started setting off alarms on Apex because my PH shot up to 8.6. That’s when I stared just filling the canister 1/3 full.

 

[Rolo1990]

Here is pictures of my set up the out of the air scrubber is going to the protein skimmer

 

[matt_work27]

Have you considered dripping kalk for ph boost?

 

[AKL1950]

Here is pictures of my set up the out of the air scrubber is going to the protein skimmer

on the scrubber canister, there is an “in” line and an “out” line. They say in and out right above the connectors. From the picture, it appears the in line goes up and the out line goes down. Confirm the out line is the one connected to the skimmer air line.

What is the second line connected to the skimmer air line? Is the scrubber the one with the shutoff valve or the other one?

Also, I apologize for asking, but I’m trying to cover all bases. Confirm the CO2 scrubber has only media in it and No water.

 

[sergifed91]

i have my airline outside on the side of the driveway. yes im risking the air being contaminated. but since i don't let the car sit and ideal near the airline. i don't think it will make a difference. the air line i roughly 40 to 50 feet away from where i park and warm up my car in the morning in fall and winter.

 

[Rolo1990]

Yes, the In-N-Out on the canister I see that the ( out )goes to the skimmer and the( in ) is the line coming from the outside for now so I will send you pictures of where I have. The line I ran outside. It goes up and underneath my awning so it’s at least 10 feet high in the air.

 

[Rolo1990]

Have you considered dripping kalk for ph boost?

No, I haven’t considered dripping kalk

 

[Steve2020]

Here is pictures of my set up the out of the air scrubber is going to the protein skimmer

Is that a BRS scrubber? If so you may have your ins and outs backwards. Hard to tell from the photo which air line is going to the skimmer. Not sure if it makes a difference with your setup but it will for sure make a difference if you ever do a recirc setup. I attached your photo with arrows showing the direction of flow for the BRS scrubber according to their instructions.

 

[Steve2020]

Is that a BRS scrubber? If so you may have your ins and outs backwards. Hard to tell from the photo which air line is going to the skimmer. Not sure if it makes a difference with your setup but it will for sure make a difference if you ever do a recirc setup. I attached your photo with arrows showing the direction of flow for the BRS scrubber according to their instructions.

Sorry my post was late. I see you already checked that.

 

[Rolo1990]

Yes

Sorry my post was late. I see you already checked that.

yes

 

[matt_work27]

No, I haven’t considered dripping kalk

well if your PH is still low after dialing in the air scrubber you could consider dripping kalk throughout the day using a versa or something similar

 

[AKL1950]

Yes

yes

You’ve checked everything I can see. If the scrubber is still not helping, I would consider other ideas mentioned by others above. I’ve never received a bad batch of CO2 media from BRS, but it’s possible you did. I change my media when my PH starts to drop below 8.0. When I change out the media in my scrubber, my PH jumps from 8.0 to 8.3 within 2 hours, so I know the scrubber is working. I would also look at the PH of your water change water and also consider options for a good (better) PH tester to make sure your readings are correct. Good luck.