CO2 scrubber moisture trap/prefilter?

[Dr. Jim]

How is this working for you ? I currently have skimmer plumbed to pvc that goes outside and want to now get a co2 scrubber but not sure if it is better to recirculate the air for scrubber or run inlet of scrubber to outside air line? Please let me know how yours is working and what you think

I really don't like the idea of recirculating the air through the skimmer. I'm sure you would get more O2 introduced/dissolved into the water by bringing in fresh air. (O2 saturation in saltwater isn't as "easy" as in freshwater).
The air coming in from outside raises the pH well enough that I don't really need a scrubber....but since I have one, and a motorized ball valve, I set the scrubber to turn on in the evening and off in the morning to keep the pH up even higher (than without a scrubber) during the night. My pH fluctuates between 8.20- 8.38 roughly.
I have plans to connect the scrubber to my GHL Controller (but have other issues to deal with at the moment.....high tin on ICP!)

 

[((FORDTECH))]

I really don't like the idea of recirculating the air through the skimmer. I'm sure you would get more O2 introduced/dissolved into the water by bringing in fresh air. (O2 saturation in saltwater isn't as "easy" as in freshwater).
The air coming in from outside raises the pH well enough that I don't really need a scrubber....but since I have one, and a motorized ball valve, I set the scrubber to turn on in the evening and off in the morning to keep the pH up even higher (than without a scrubber) during the night. My pH fluctuates between 8.20- 8.38 roughly.
I have plans to connect the scrubber to my GHL Controller (but have other issues to deal with at the moment.....high tin on ICP!)

So you th ink running inlet to scrubber from outside air is a good idea ? Better then recirc or inside air ?

 

[Dr. Jim]

So you th ink running inlet to scrubber from outside air is a good idea ? Better then recirc or inside air ?

Yes I do. But you might want to try just outside air first, without the scrubber. You might find that you don't need the scrubber. Outside air made a huge difference for me compared to "inside air." Adding the scrubber only helped a little more. As I mentioned, I only use the scrubber at night when the pH normally drops; using it during the day with "outside air" makes the pH go higher than I want.

 

[jmichaelh7]

Yes I do. But you might want to try just outside air first, without the scrubber. You might find that you don't need the scrubber. Outside air made a huge difference for me compared to "inside air." Adding the scrubber only helped a little more. As I mentioned, I only use the scrubber at night when the pH normally drops; using it during the day with "outside air" makes the pH go higher than I want.

how is that working for you still?

 

[Dr. Jim]

Outside air

how is that working for you still?

Still working fine. On one system I use a solenoid to bypass the CO2 canisters when the pH gets high enough.

 

[Gtinnel]

Outside air for my skimmer gave me about a .2 pH increase. Mine still wasn’t as high as I wanted so I recently added a CO2 scrubber and its giving me another .2 increase.

 

[Rwade]

I’m running outside air through a CO2 scrubber and still have a hard time getting above 8.0 PH. I have too much CO2 in my house and the air exchange in the tank is greater than what the skimmer provides. I currently have 2 windows open about 4” just to maintain the 8.0 PH. My plans are to increase the hole in my wall to accommodate a 2” pvc and run an in-line fan to blow fresh air in my sump area, I also just received my recirculating adapter to start recirculating my skimmer air. Anyone else pumping fresh air into the tank area?

 

[Gtinnel]

I’m running outside air through a CO2 scrubber and still have a hard time getting above 8.0 PH. I have too much CO2 in my house and the air exchange in the tank is greater than what the skimmer provides. I currently have 2 windows open about 4” just to maintain the 8.0 PH. My plans are to increase the hole in my wall to accommodate a 2” pvc and run an in-line fan to blow fresh air in my sump area, I also just received my recirculating adapter to start recirculating my skimmer air. Anyone else pumping fresh air into the tank area?

Do you dose anything to maintain alkalinity?

The thing that gave me the final boost to where I want my pH to be was changing my 2 part. I went from dosing just sodium carbonate solution to mixing in sodium hydroxide solution with it. That has taken me to a range of 8.2-8.5 and if I ever want it higher I just increase my percent of sodium hydroxide that I dose.

 

[RBarth]

I'm gonna suggest this only because I fought the pH battle for a year with scrubbers and air lines etc...quit worrying about pH. I drove myself nuts over it and when I just let it be what it's gonna be with everything else stable I noticed zero decline/growth versus struggling to maintain 8.whatever.

 

[Rwade]

Do you dose anything to maintain alkalinity?

The thing that gave me the final boost to where I want my pH to be was changing my 2 part. I went from dosing just sodium carbonate solution to mixing in sodium hydroxide solution with it. That has taken me to a range of 8.2-8.5 and if I ever want it higher I just increase my percent of sodium hydroxide that I dose. I have a CO2 monitor, levels get up to 850 with windows closed, 400-450 with windows open.

I dose Kalkwasser at night when my PH is the lowest. I’m not quite at my evaporation rate but close. If I didn’t dose Kalk, my PH would drop to 7.7.

 

[bakbay]

I’ve implemented recirculating CO2 three days ago and it’s doing well; that is, it hasn't turned purple yet. I was only be able to get 7 days before. I believe adding moisture to the media will extend its longevity.

My CaRx is not tuned so likely injecting too much CO2 into the tank.

Sump setup with recirculating CO2 + latest parameters below.