Co2 ppm indoors

[EricR]

Not sure why but I've never seen a significant pH drop even when house has been closed up for 2 weeks straight in summer and testing at different times throughout entire dark period. *pH always stays in the 8.1-8.3 range

3500 sq. ft. house with 6 people but it is a 25 year old house so maybe just not sealed up tight enough,,, not sure.

I don't do anything to control pH beyond opening windows as often as possible but can't do that sometimes in summer heat.
*no idea about indoor CO2 levels so I find this topic interesting,,, gotta get one of those monitors to see what's going on at some point

 

[jda]

We keep our house very open year round. Even if you open the windows for a few minutes and get a room fresh air, when the HVAC comes on, it blends that air to the rest of the home. Even when the temperature is high or low, a minute or two a day does not even drop or raise the temperature and it can do wonders over a few days.

I would keep indoor co2 under 1000 for human health. Over 2000 is when some things like serious fatigue, headaches, increased heart rates, etc. can start for some. Some think that large family gatherings where huge meals are blamed for drowsy people are often because of increased co2 - going to be interesting to see now that I have a meter.

I had a dude send me a PM that he was suffering from headaches and poor sleep and had a lot of medications. Got a meter for his fish tank and he was over 2000 - like beyond the limits of his meter, I think (I forget). Got the levels down and it all went away.

My tank pH starts to drop with co2 at about 700. It gets worse at 800.

The original co2 scrubber:

 

[MBruun]

Late afternoon when I got home 450ish ppm.
5 hours later the alarm was going off and co2 was pushing 2000ppm.

I have the same co2 meter, and it does that once in a while.
Turn it off and on. and the meter is back on track with normal readings

 

[PeterEde]

Not sure why but I've never seen a significant pH drop even when house has been closed up for 2 weeks straight in summer and testing at different times throughout entire dark period. *pH always stays in the 8.1-8.3 range

3500 sq. ft. house with 6 people but it is a 25 year old house so maybe just not sealed up tight enough,,, not sure.

I don't do anything to control pH beyond opening windows as often as possible but can't do that sometimes in summer heat.
*no idea about indoor CO2 levels so I find this topic interesting,,, gotta get one of those monitors to see what's going on at some point

I've been using an electronic tester for a few months. My ph showed 7.6 - 7.8 so I started to use marine buffer to get it up.
Never saw a change in ph but then saw dkh at 10.4 up from previous test 8.2.
Yesterday I tested with Redsea and ph was 8.4.
I'm going to get my tested checked.

 

[PeterEde]

Well I'm out of ideas
I can not get my ph above 8.
Added a co2 scrubber. (DIY Filter canister ½filled with media plumbed into skimmer) still no increase in PH.
I took water sample to lfs and they tested it the same.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Well I'm out of ideas
I can not get my ph above 8.
Added a co2 scrubber. (DIY Filter canister ½filled with media plumbed into skimmer) still no increase in PH.
I took water sample to lfs and they tested it the same.

Marine buffer is among the worst alk additives to boost pH. Hydroxide is the best, as in limewater/kalkwasser, or a DIY two part.

More photosynthesis (e.g., macroalgae in a refugium), more fresh air in the room both help.

 

[shakacuz]

i use a inkbird co2/temp/humidity monitor: https://a.co/d/5M2KaSn

diy recirculating co2 scrubber. my ph went from 7.6-7.8 to 8.0-8.1. i still struggle keeping it up/higher due to a small apartment with myself, GF, and a dog. may need to get some plants…

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

hcho is Formaldehyde tvoc is Total Volatile Organic Compounds. PM2.5 Is Fine Particulate Matter, I.E. Smoke. PM10 is Particulate Matter, I.E. Dust. I'm very impressed with that Monitor, if it is accurate. I had a hand held meter, when I was doing Commercial HVAC, and it was in the Thousands of Dollars. BTW, it also measured Cyanide Gas.

 

[PeterEde]

I've added a diy co2 scrubber.
I dose Randy's 2 part recipe 1
I've recently added a number of sps

 

[PeterEde]

Marine buffer is among the worst alk additives to boost pH. Hydroxide is the best, as in limewater/kalkwasser, or a DIY two part.

More photosynthesis (e.g., macroalgae in a refugium), more fresh air in the room both help.

It seems all on offer at my local store is some form of Carbonate additives.
Maybe I should do your Recipe 2?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It seems all on offer at my local store is some form of Carbonate additives.
Maybe I should do your Recipe 2?

Carbonate is a good general alk additive. Bicarbonate is lower pH, and hydroxide is higher pH.

Seachem marine buffer is mostly bicarbonate and also contains borate (which, IMO, is undesirable in a reef tank alk supplement since borate is not being consumed much but is beign added with each dose).