Co2 scrubber

[sergifed91]

Trying a co2 scrubber. Just got it hooked up. Saw a slight increase of .02 before the tank lights shut off. Gonna see where I get with the scrubber. I'd no significant increase i won't keep it going. Try a air pump with an air stone to ser where i get with the ph. Right now its 7.6 to 7.7. Would like it at 8 to 8.1. Steady there. But don't think the eshop skimmer would be strong enough to run an air line to out side. And I could run a line to a 3 in pvc pipe I have going outside. But t
Not sure what there purpose is for already. I got 6 and getting 3 more installed in August per city code with the new central air and furnace. I think it's over kill. But its city code.

 

[P-Dub]

Trying a co2 scrubber. Just got it hooked up. Saw a slight increase of .02 before the tank lights shut off. Gonna see where I get with the scrubber. I'd no significant increase i won't keep it going. Try a air pump with an air stone to ser where i get with the ph. Right now its 7.6 to 7.7. Would like it at 8 to 8.1. Steady there. But don't think the eshop skimmer would be strong enough to run an air line to out side. And I could run a line to a 3 in pvc pipe I have going outside. But t
Not sure what there purpose is for already. I got 6 and getting 3 more installed in August per city code with the new central air and furnace. I think it's over kill. But its city code.

Use outside air if at all possible to scrub and feed to skimmer. The increase in pH will be dramatic and scrubber media will last considerably longer that way as well.

 

[P-Dub]

Use outside air if at all possible to scrub and feed to skimmer. The increase in pH will be dramatic and last considerably longer that way as well.

I was struggling to keep the pH above 8.0 till I installed the scrubber plumbed to my skimmer and drawing fresh, outside air. You can monitor scrubber media efficacy if using Apex. You can see how the pH responds to me replacing media via Apex below. Even without the scrubber my ph was hovering around 8.1-8.2 when plumbing intake air to the skimmer from outside the home.

 

[jsker]

The may sound too simple, I just added a new skimmer and my PH when back to a 8.+. I still have the outside air and the scrubber in line, but adding a lager skimmer really made the difference. My PH was running about a 7.8 to 8 and I felt that I was doing well. In the last year or longer my PH started falling below 7.6 and would barley get above 7.8 on a good day. The skimmer died and I replace the skimmer with a skimmer rated for the water volume of 80+gallons with no PH issue since.

Here is a link to a little article on how to increase PH with outside air and also a Link to building a Co2 scrubber by @120reefkeeper.

 

[road_runner]

The may sound too simple, I just added a new skimmer and my PH when back to a 8.+. I still have the outside air and the scrubber in line, but adding a lager skimmer really made the difference. My PH was running about a 7.8 to 8 and I felt that I was doing well. In the last year or longer my PH started falling below 7.6 and would barley get above 7.8 on a good day. The skimmer died and I replace the skimmer with a skimmer rated for the water volume of 80+gallons with no PH issue since.

Here is a link to a little article on how to increase PH with outside air and also a Link to building a Co2 scrubber by @120reefkeeper.

When I click the link I get a message saying I do not have enough permissions
Any chance you share the link? Intersted in checking it out.

 

[jsker]

They this https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/a-simple-fix-for-low-ph.90/

 

[sergifed91]

The may sound too simple, I just added a new skimmer and my PH when back to a 8.+. I still have the outside air and the scrubber in line, but adding a lager skimmer really made the difference. My PH was running about a 7.8 to 8 and I felt that I was doing well. In the last year or longer my PH started falling below 7.6 and would barley get above 7.8 on a good day. The skimmer died and I replace the skimmer with a skimmer rated for the water volume of 80+gallons with no PH issue since.

Here is a link to a little article on how to increase PH with outside air and also a Link to building a Co2 scrubber by @120reefkeeper.

Has running an air line to a hub skimmer ever been done before and with being a eshop.p skimmer rated for up to 100 gallons. It has a pin wheel motor.

 

[P-Dub]

What is a hub skimmer?

 

[sergifed91]

What is a hub skimmer?

Sorry spell check malfunction. Hob skimmer.

 

[jsker]

Has running an air line to a hub skimmer ever been done before and with being a eshop.p skimmer rated for up to 100 gallons. It has a pin wheel motor.

Time to go were no reefer has bold gone before. If you can hook an airline to the skimmer you are good to go.

 

[sergifed91]

Time to go were no reefer has bold gone before. If you can hook an airline to the skimmer you are good to go.

I think so to. but I don't think that is going to solve the problem. why. I have left my windows open for 3 days now and If that hasn't solve the low ph issue. I'm thinking it's the skimmer itself not doing it's job. I have cleaned it to and made sure everything was put on correctly. so im thinking it's the skimmer itself. Plus I don't think I can since it's a needle wheel pump can I?

 

[Chad3407]

I think so to. but I don't think that is going to solve the problem. why. I have left my windows open for 3 days now and If that hasn't solve the low ph issue. I'm thinking it's the skimmer itself not doing it's job. I have cleaned it to and made sure everything was put on correctly. so im thinking it's the skimmer itself. Plus I don't think I can since it's a needle wheel pump can I?

If you left the windows open for 3 days and pH is still low your test kit isn't correct. Personally if your using a test kit I would t trust it. Only a meter and probe is accurate enough for pH.

 

[jsker]

I think so to. but I don't think that is going to solve the problem. why. I have left my windows open for 3 days now and If that hasn't solve the low ph issue. I'm thinking it's the skimmer itself not doing it's job. I have cleaned it to and made sure everything was put on correctly. so im thinking it's the skimmer itself. Plus I don't think I can since it's a needle wheel pump can I?

Can I have the model number of the skimmer, I can look at the skimmer and see if we can come up with how to add a air line to see.

My story was I had a RSL i5 skimmer rated for 80 gallons water volume with a needle wheel. The skimmer work well in the beginning, my guess is as my system matured the skimmer just could not handle the bio load. Again this is my guess. The pump for the skimmer died and getting parts was looking difficult and I needed a skimmer. I went with a Red Sea skimmer and the rest is history.

One other thought, I use a Apex to track my PH. The probes are in the skimmer section of my sump. I changed the skimmer opening/intake back to where I had it before I made some changes to how the skimmer was sitting in the sump. The inlet is now back were the flow is from the return and is not away from the flow. This could also have something to do with my PH being higher.

My real question and I am sorry if you covered this before, what are you testing your PH or getting your reading?

 

[bigcheese]

Trying a co2 scrubber. Just got it hooked up. Saw a slight increase of .02 before the tank lights shut off. Gonna see where I get with the scrubber. I'd no significant increase i won't keep it going. Try a air pump with an air stone to ser where i get with the ph. Right now its 7.6 to 7.7. Would like it at 8 to 8.1. Steady there. But don't think the eshop skimmer would be strong enough to run an air line to out side. And I could run a line to a 3 in pvc pipe I have going outside. But t
Not sure what there purpose is for already. I got 6 and getting 3 more installed in August per city code with the new central air and furnace. I think it's over kill. But its city code.

Great discussion thread on CO2 scrubbing here, especially around recirculating skimmer air: https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/482361/

Personally, I'm doing well just by putting my intake at the sump, near the skimmer area. I built my own scrubber based on the same principles as a scuba rebreather, and couldn't be happier. Been running the new design for 9 days now, and seeing a solid 0.4 gain in pH across the board for the last 24 hours, compared to when I started (daily avg 7.80 to 8.21).
I think the key here is to keep the air flowing into the media at around 70% relative humidity... any less than that, the soda lime doesn't work as well. More than that, you get condensation which breaks down the soda lime and clogs up the scrubber.
Quite a few people are doing the outside air intake, but I live in upstate NY.. from hour to hour there can be wide swings in outside temp and humidity, which added in a bit of uncertainty. The air around my sump is always 75°, between 65 and 75% humidity. Plus, it's already got a lower CO2 content since it's recycling the scrubbed air coming out of the skimmer.

 

[sergifed91]

Can I have the model number of the skimmer, I can look at the skimmer and see if we can come up with how to add a air line to see.

My story was I had a RSL i5 skimmer rated for 80 gallons water volume with a needle wheel. The skimmer work well in the beginning, my guess is as my system matured the skimmer just could not handle the bio load. Again this is my guess. The pump for the skimmer died and getting parts was looking difficult and I needed a skimmer. I went with a Red Sea skimmer and the rest is history.

One other thought, I use a Apex to track my PH. The probes are in the skimmer section of my sump. I changed the skimmer opening/intake back to where I had it before I made some changes to how the skimmer was sitting in the sump. The inlet is now back were the flow is from the return and is not away from the flow. This could also have something to do with my PH being higher.

My real question and I am sorry if you covered this before, what are you testing your PH or getting your reading?

not a problem. I have a ph probe from apex. I also recalibrated the probe also and no difference. So I tested it with the API test kit. and the results are the same. I tested with the api test kit when the apex was aying it was in the 7.7 range. I currently have the Eshopps PSK-100H Hang-On Protein Skimmer. I thought about the red sea skimmer also and putting in a sump. but not really ideal since I don't have the space. I am however looking at the red sea aquariums and might pull the trigger in January. just got some bills I have been paying on for over a year now. but hoping to get one in January. if I do I will rearrange my basement and put it near a window or by the front door step(there is an empty room below the front door steps) and drill a hole and run the air intake outside. the front door would be more ideal since the other option is where the drive way meets the house. so my cars exhaust wouldn't interfer with the tank.

 

[sergifed91]

here is a pic of the apex readings, July 1 to the 2nd is where I took it offline to clean the skimmer then the majot drop on june 4th is where I did a WC.

 

[jsker]

Good move on getting thing paid up. I would suggest if you do decide to run the line outside, is to tie the new outside airline to the line going down to the pump for your fresh air.

One other thought, I have a ceiling fan above my tank and also I have two gyres turning the water at the top of the tank. If you have tried to move your flow pumps closer to the water line, try that and possible setup a fan to blow across the top of the tank. I do not have a lid for better gas exchange.

 

[sergifed91]

Good move on getting thing paid up. I would suggest if you do decide to run the line outside, is to tie the new outside airline to the line going down to the pump for your fresh air.

One other thought, I have a ceiling fan above my tank and also I have two gyres turning the water at the top of the tank. If you have tried to move your flow pumps closer to the water line, try that and possible setup a fan to blow across the top of the tank. I do not have a lid for better gas exchange.

I also have 2 gyras breaking the surface but no fan above it. I do have a canopy that is holding my lights but I have a open front and back on the canopy. but no fan at this point. I do have egg crate as a lid but that shouldn't keep anything in. mainly just to keep the fish from jumping out... my puffers are jumpers. ill try the fan thing and see what that gets me.

 

[jsker]

my puffers are jumpers

puffer are carpet surfers.

Back in the day when I had a canopy, I used to have two computer fans mounted on the right and left side of the canopy to move air across the top of the tank and keep the temperature down from the light. Here is an example of the fans I used link. I had them wired to when the lights came on the fans would kick in

 

[sergifed91]

puffer are carpet surfers.

Back in the day when I had a canopy, I used to have two computer fans mounted on the right and left side of the canopy to move air across the top of the tank and keep the temperature down from the light. Here is an example of the fans I used link. I had them wired to when the lights came on the fans would kick in

another issue the only thing I have changed in my tank or to the tank is I switched brands of salt due to inconsistency. I went from rc to fritz.