CO2 Scrubber and PH advice

[Jdzzl03]

Hey guys,

My PH is currently bouncing around 8.1 and bottoming out at night around 7.8. The sump is in a drafty basement but I haven't been able to keep it above 8 trying the normal approaches which is why I want to implement a recirculating CO2 scrubber from BRS (the jumbo duo) for my reef octo skimmer. My question is, do you tape over or silicon the existing vent holes in the lid? I know that the holes help with the agitation and covering everything completely can result in skimmers "belching" and causing issues with the microbubbles. Curious what everyone's feedback is and how the approached this. TIA!

J

 

[Ultra Aquatics]

I ran mine recirculating for a while and left the holes uncovered. Like you my sump is in a drafty unfinished basement.

I had to stop using it recirculating due to a lot of moisture accumulating in the scrubber.

 

[DopamineKata]

I had to stop using it recirculating due to a lot of moisture accumulating in the scrubber.

You need a moisture trap. Just a mason jar with a couple holes in it so that the moisture from the skimmer air goes into the jar instead of traveling down the line.

 

[Ultra Aquatics]

You need a moisture trap. Just a mason jar with a couple holes in it so that the moisture from the skimmer air goes into the jar instead of traveling down the line.

Yep I’ve seen people do that but honestly much difference between running recirculating and just pulling regular air from my experience. Not worth the time.

 

[Jdzzl03]

Ok so if I am understanding this correctly I cover all vent holes save for two, one going back into the scrubber and one going to a mason jar to trap moisture? I thought the accumulation was good for the media?

 

[DopamineKata]

Ok so if I am understanding this correctly I cover all vent holes save for two, one going back into the scrubber and one going to a mason jar to trap moisture? I thought the accumulation was good for the media?

Basically you have one air line from the skimmer to the mason jar, so that it's low in the far. Another line runs from the mason jar to the input on the CO2 scrubber. You're creating an air gap so that any liquid pulled through the air line falls to the bottom of the jar instead of traveling up the line and getting your media wet. You need some water in the bottom of the scrubber, but not in the media itself.

 

[Joe31415]

I thought the accumulation was good for the media?

It is, and if that's all it was, you wouldn't need the jar (unless you had too much). The big reason for the jar is that when your skimmer overflows or even just the cup filling with bubbles faster than they can pop, the scrubber is going to start inhaling skimmate. The jar will catch whatever gets sucked up the tube. Granted, it won't prevent it, but it will buy you some extra time since both the skimmer and the jar need to fill up.

 

[Jdzzl03]

Ok that makes sense. I have the drainage line plumbed to a 5gal bucket with Avast’s Davy Jones locker lid and shutoff valve for skimmate waste. Thanks so much for the feedback. If you have a Neptune Apex, do you also add a line of code to shutoff the skimmer if PH gets too high as insurance?

 

[Mbritt]

Ok that makes sense. I have the drainage line plumbed to a 5gal bucket with Avast’s Davy Jones locker lid and shutoff valve for skimmate waste. Thanks so much for the feedback. If you have a Neptune Apex, do you also add a line of code to shutoff the skimmer if PH gets too high as insurance?

Picture? I have the issue where the recirculating setup is getting my chamber way too wet