CO2 scrubber help

[drawman]

I set up a recirculating CO2 scrubber a few months ago which has not been impacting pH and I am not getting any color change with the media so something is awry (you can see how white it is in the photo). Life has been pretty busy so I've just left it in place but now I'm ready to do something about it. Anyone have any ideas on what's going on? Do I need to try to reinforce every fitting with plumbers tape or something else? Is it the way the media is in the cartridge? FYI it's an old RO cartridge that I bought all of the fittings to make into the BRS branded CO2 scrubber. Air is being drawn from the skimmer lid to the CO2 scrubber (there is a Y fitting with an "emergency" tube that goes below the water line in the sump in case the skimmer overflows).

 

[nkyreef]

I have the same BRS scrubber. My connection from the skimmer intake is connected to the "OUT" connection on the reactor. The "IN" should be connected to your wye fitting. So just flop your connection on the scrubber and you should be good. They also recommend to add a tsp of rodi water of the reactor but I've never had to do it.

 

[drawman]

I have the same BRS scrubber. My connection from the skimmer intake is connected to the "OUT" connection on the reactor. The "IN" should be connected to your wye fitting. So just flop your connection on the scrubber and you should be good. They also recommend to add a tsp of rodi water of the reactor but I've never had to do it.

Thanks for the reply. Just looked at my reactor and it looks like it is hooked up that way. I also have a little bit of water in the reactor and I can see moisture in the tubing.

 

[nkyreef]

Thanks for the reply. Just looked at my reactor and it looks like it is hooked up that way. I also have a little bit of water in the reactor and I can see moisture in the tubing.

Weird. I wonder if I have an older model since my "OUT" is on the left hand side. If you unscrew the reactor do you hear or feel air being pulled through it? I usually get about 7-10 days out of my media and it'll start turning light purple.

 

[BAMatter]

Thanks for the reply. Just looked at my reactor and it looks like it is hooked up that way. I also have a little bit of water in the reactor and I can see moisture in the tubing.

I never got a color change with my recirculating setup. Ended up scrapping that way, just didn’t work out for me. Don’t know if maybe it’s just not pulling air hard enough, but as soon as I removed recirculating, it colored changed and had a nice PH bump again. I will note that I had a ton of moisture in the lines even with a collection bottle inline, wonder if that was the issue.

 

[drawman]

Weird. I wonder if I have an older model since my "OUT" is on the left hand side. If you unscrew the reactor do you hear or feel air being pulled through it? I usually get about 7-10 days out of my media and it'll start turning light purple.

Yeah mine has the out on the right side but mine is probably the older canister. I unscrewed the canister and if I stick my finger up the middle of the lid where the air passes through I can feel the pressure of air. It almost makes me wonder if air isn't really being pulled through the canister...

I never got a color change with my recirculating setup. Ended up scrapping that way, just didn’t work out for me. Don’t know if maybe it’s just not pulling air hard enough, but as soon as I removed recirculating, it colored changed and had a nice PH bump again. I will note that I had a ton of moisture in the lines even with a collection bottle inline, wonder if that was the issue.

I could totally try to unplug the recirculating portion and see if that changes things. Still makes me wonder why air isn't contact the media?

 

[BAMatter]

I could totally try to unplug the recirculating portion and see if that changes things. Still makes me wonder why air isn't contact the media?

not too sure… maybe too much friction in lines? Lines too long? I dunno. I never figured it out and I messed with it for a while to try to get it dialed in. Was never able to get my skimmer working as good as it did without the recirc either. Now I have a solenoid that opens/closes the scrubber offline depending on PH. It’s been working well and I don’t burn up as much co2 media.

 

[David3147]

Some media won't change. Some sort of defects I noticed with the aquarium grade (for example ice cap) stuff. I use "jorvet" soda lime.

 

[drawman]

Some media won't change. Some sort of defects I noticed with the aquarium grade (for example ice cap) stuff. I use "jorvet" soda lime.

I'm using the Jorvet stuff as well. Just looked back at the website I bought it from and it's supposed to be color changing. Also never really got any pH bump with it installed.

 

[drawman]

not too sure… maybe too much friction in lines? Lines too long? I dunno. I never figured it out and I messed with it for a while to try to get it dialed in. Was never able to get my skimmer working as good as it did without the recirc either. Now I have a solenoid that opens/closes the scrubber offline depending on PH. It’s been working well and I don’t burn up as much co2 media.

It almost makes me wonder if I should be having another O-ring (there is an O-ring on the rim of the canister but should there be one in the lid)?

 

[BAMatter]

It almost makes me wonder if I should be having another O-ring (there is an O-ring on the rim of the canister but should there be one in the lid)?

Maybe? I dunno…

 

[drawman]

I just unscrewed the main canister and held the media container up to the lid. With it pressed tightly against the lid I can hear air moving through it. I'm starting to think it's just not making a tight connection to the top of the lid. I just screwed the canister back in really tight so we will see if that makes a difference or if I need to do more with the media container...

 

[Stang67]

not too sure… maybe too much friction in lines? Lines too long? I dunno. I never figured it out and I messed with it for a while to try to get it dialed in. Was never able to get my skimmer working as good as it did without the recirc either. Now I have a solenoid that opens/closes the scrubber offline depending on PH. It’s been working well and I don’t burn up as much co2 media.

Which Solenoid do you use and what kind of controller do you have it hooked up to to monitor/control the PH?

 

[jda]

Do you know the co2 number in the room? At some point a scrubber on the skimmer cannot overcome high co2 that interacts with the surface, overflows, etc.

 

[Troylee]

Your media is spent! I’ve had it not change colors multiple times ice cap more than any! I bought some cheap stuff on Amazon and my ph sky rocketed but it also depleted in 3 days so I turned it off line lol..

 

[drawman]

Do you know the co2 number in the room? At some point a scrubber on the skimmer cannot overcome high co2 that interacts with the surface, overflows, etc.

I don't and you may be right. I can only assume it is ridiculously high these Florida apartments are sealed up tight.

I'm starting to think it may be a balance of a skimmer pump that doesn't pull in as much air as I would like and high CO2. I'm going to try another media reactor I have laying around to see if it is a little more responsive and I will report back.

Your media is spent! I’ve had it not change colors multiple times ice cap more than any! I bought some cheap stuff on Amazon and my ph sky rocketed but it also depleted in 3 days so I turned it off line lol..

Oddly enough it wasn't. Recently I disconnected the recirculating component and noticed that the media has started to change color over the last two weeks.

 

[doubleshot00]

Take the silencer off and hook the co2 scrubber directly to the venturi

 

[drawman]

Take the silencer off and hook the co2 scrubber directly to the venturi

I'm going to try that out this weekend it's been on my mind. I think I need to take away any chance of restricted flow.

 

[ocncheffy]

I'm going to try that out this weekend it's been on my mind. I think I need to take away any chance of restricted flow.

I have the exact setup as you, and yes I removed the silencer and used the hookup directly to the venturi. Works extremely well with PH hitting 8.4 before apex turns off my skimmer. Media lasts around 3-4 weeks.

 

[drawman]

I have the exact setup as you, and yes I removed the silencer and used the hookup directly to the venturi. Works extremely well with PH hitting 8.4 before apex turns off my skimmer. Media lasts around 3-4 weeks.

Just removed the silencer so time will tell. Are you running it recirculating or no?