CO2 issues so I'll try an air hose!

[Brew12]

I don't remember it being less uniform, though I really wasn't paying attention to that. Are you using the BRS scrubber or is it a different type?

Yup, I am using the BRS scrubber with some water on the bottom. 3/8ths inch tubing, not the 1/4 inch. Curve 7 skimmer.

 

[justingraham]

So I set mine up yesterday as skimmer co2 scrubber then outside air being cleaned by carbon I'm a see how it works

I might t off like u have and have it pulling from outside and from the scrubber

 

[Ty Hamatake]

Yup, I am using the BRS scrubber with some water on the bottom. 3/8ths inch tubing, not the 1/4 inch. Curve 7 skimmer.

Hmmm, seems like we have very similar setups. I did a quick look, but couldn't find how much air yours pulls. How often do you have to refill the water?

So I set mine up yesterday as skimmer co2 scrubber then outside air being cleaned by carbon I'm a see how it works

I might t off like u have and have it pulling from outside and from the scrubber

I think you'll see quite an increase in how long your media lasts. I was willing to take a ~.1 hit to my pH in exchange for another week on one canister.

 

[Ty Hamatake]

Let's see that progress @revhtree! Watching that graph line climb is just oh so sweet!

 

[Brew12]

Hmmm, seems like we have very similar setups. I did a quick look, but couldn't find how much air yours pulls. How often do you have to refill the water?
I think you'll see quite an increase in how long your media lasts. I was willing to take a ~.1 hit to my pH in exchange for another week on one canister.

Sorry, I actually stopped using it. I pull 530L to your 6o0. I replaced the water weekly and replaced the media every 2 weeks. Only used it 2 months before I realized I needed something better.
Dosing Kalk now in my ATO and my pH is between 7.95 and 8.2 so I'm good with that.

 

[justingraham]

Sorry, I actually stopped using it. I pull 530L to your 6o0. I replaced the water weekly and replaced the media every 2 weeks. Only used it 2 months before I realized I needed something better.
Dosing Kalk now in my ATO and my pH is between 7.95 and 8.2 so I'm good with that.

I will say when I hit the 8.4-8.5 range was when I could honestly see growth from a majority of my corals from day to day along with more alk consumption. Now that I'm back in the 8.3-8.1 range my consumption has gone back down and corals look the same every day. I have the cdx from tlf but I'm waiting on a y fitting to control the air flow thru it

 

[Reefnjunkie]

The tank I was referring to is Brad's (aka @Reefnjunkie ). Maybe he can chime in himself, but on our local forum I remember him talking about running his 400 gallon tank towards 7.6-1.8 range. I think we can all agree that his tank is something to strive after. Maybe's he's changed things, but he'll have to say.

It's not that I run my tank at those levels (7.6-7.9) that's just where it ends up. I've not read all 7 of the pages but what I've skimmed is what a lot of us have either heard, read, or done. Years ago I've tried every suggestion posted and the CO2 scrubber was the most effective and the highest cost to maintain.

My tank is consistently in the 7.65 range at night (winter time) and as high as 7.95 in the day. The same is basically true for summer because I have the doors closed for the A/C. There are times when I open the doors and can hit 8.2 even 8.3 wooo hooo LOL

In my experience it's not worth the time or effort or money (unless your board, like to tinker with the tank (like we all do but...) or have copious amounts of money) trying to keep a tank in the 8.3 range. If you have to have that number, ditch the calcium reactor and switch to dosing - that's not a real suggestion, never change to dosing from a calcium reactor

Honestly I have NEVER worried about PH. From what I understand corals grow extremely slow in lower PH. Maybe I am mistaken. I would rather not take action and not worry about PH. Can you link me to some of these lower PH sps dominant tanks?

I evolved into the "never" worry part about PH and quite chasing magical numbers years ago. Not sure about the extreme slow growth of lower PH or how low the low is but my acros grow fast, some faster than I wish.
I'll count my recent set back as a blessing since it allowed me to trim all but one of those large colonies in my display but that's a whole other thread hahaha.

Rev the link to my lower SPS dominant tank can be found...... well, you know where

Good luck OP with whichever direction you go or do

 

[reeferfoxx]

@revhtree Do you by any chance run a calcium reactor?

I had pH issues on my reef when I was running my CO2 injected planted tank(in another room). Came to find out the CO2 regulator had a leak in the pressure gauge that couldn't be fixed without replacement. I ended up ditching the CO2 gas and went to liquid CO2(for the planted tank) and that fixed my pH issue.

 

[seastar]

I was in the high 7s and am now a consistent 8.2-8.3. The consistent part is key. I'm really happy I went through with it as hard as drilling a hole into a brand new house was. I turn off the skimmer if anyone is ever spraying anything outside.

 

[Reef Remedies]

Howdy Rev,

Adding a CO2 scrubber will help a lot more than outside air will. Your tank is not exchanging much gas at all with the ambient air of the basement; your skimmer is far and away the primary source of air exchange. So connecting a CO2 scrubber to your skimmer intake will help a lot more than outside air will. Or add a CO2 scrubber to the air line going outside. I hope that helps.

I don't understand what you are trying to say here. Why add a scrubber to outside air? It's already much lower than the inside air. And secondly of course he is exchanging the air from the basement the tank is housed in if that is also where the skimmer is located.

 

[bubbaque]

I don't understand what you are trying to say here. Why add a scrubber to outside air? It's already much lower than the inside air. And secondly of course he is exchanging the air from the basement the tank is housed in if that is also where the skimmer is located.

I think some add a scrubber to the outside air is because it still has co2 in it. If the scrubber can get rid of that then it might boost ph even more.

 

[Mindi]

I added outside air to my skimmer and it was not successful at all. Ventilation was much more effective but only took me 7.9 to 8.0

 

[Shaun Sweeney]

I connected to the outside first and then added the CO2 scrubber. The scrubber made the bigger difference but the outside connection stopped some crazy dips that would happen when the furnace was on so I'd say both are important.

 

[bubbaque]

I want to run a scrubber but it seems like the media would get costly pretty fast!

 

[S&SReef]

I'm on a corner lot, and my basement has windows, opening them up and letting air exchange I've found my PH goes up with the windows open by about .20

 

[120reefkeeper]

I want to run a scrubber but it seems like the media would get costly pretty fast!

The key is to get less expensive media.

Read this article [emoji6]

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/low-ph-issues-make-your-own-co2-scrubber.92/

 

[Bruce Burnett]

The amount of air pulled from the outside, the level of co2 in the room and the amount of surface area of the tank all make a difference in the amount of change in PH that can be expected from running the skimmer line to the outside. I would run much larger line from where the skimmer is to the outside to keep flow restriction down and make sure the skimmer can not get air pull air the room. Assuming ph probe is calibrated properly and alkalinity levels are in the correct range then low ph levels in the tank are from co2. Randy's test of taking a water sample with an air stone outside and let it aerate for a while to see if the ph goes up. If it does then it is co2 in the water. Everything I have read on using a co2 scrubber, especially on a large tank with a large skimmer, would require a large scrubber and going through a lot of media. Other ways of removing co2 from the water and raising ph are using kalkwasser, refugium with macro algae, chaeto reactor or an ATS.

 

[Ty Hamatake]

I want to run a scrubber but it seems like the media would get costly pretty fast!

+1 to what @120reefkeeper posted. Around $100 shipped for what will end up, for me, around a year supply of media. I finally got everything tuned in and here is what one full day of use looks like on mine

 

[ReefBeta]

I had a similar issue. I was about to add a co2 scrubber but went with cheato instead. The sump area is only about 12 x 12. It's lit with two led growlight bulbs on an opposite cycle to the main lights.

Pic below.

My PH stays around 8.2 now. It also allowed me to pull my gfo reactor and has helped combat algae in the main tank. I only clean the glass (display tank) once a week now.

What was your PH before went with cheato?

 

[hart24601]

I only have a tiny 60g cube now, but I run kalk, 2 part (sodium carbonate) and a scrubber after I notice how low the pH was with the AC running. I consider the scrubber a needed item on my tank. I have plenty of plants in my house, but one night I saw my pH was in the 7.9 range after it had been running in the low 8's. I happened to have all the parts and media lying around from my old tank so I hooked it up and in just a couple hours I was above 8 again.

Don't chase pH, many nice tank run lower pH but that does not mean they wouldn't see benefit from higher pH. There are a lot of studies with ocean acidification and CO2 on google scholar and yes there are some confilting articles, however with how high CO2 runs in some of our homes there seems to be plenty of evidence to try and get pH at least above 8. There is sure more evidence for it than many other things in the hobby many swear by. For around $100/year for bulk media seems like a low cost win.

Bleaching was increased and calcification decreased at 7.85-7.95 at temps we use in the hobby:
http://www.pnas.org/content/105/45/17442.full

http://www.pnas.org/content/110/27/11044.full

http://www.jstor.org/stable/24853330?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-2486.2000.00315.x/full

http://www.pnas.org/content/110/5/1634/F1.expansion.html

http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/37/12/1131.full