Co2 Scrubber

[Davileet]

I just recently picked up a large Icecap Co2 scrubber that I have recirculating with my LifeReef skimmer. However, I am still getting 7.85-8.1 pH swings. Recently setup a calcium reactor which I think has brought my pH down so I am now chasing pH.

I have a 250 gallon tank, and I think that possibly the skimmer is being outcompeted by the amount of water in the system? It does seem that the skimmer body only has a couple of inches of bubbles on the top, sits in about 6" of water, and doesn't produce much of any skimmate. Just recently added a catch can for excess humidity and replaced the Co2 material and still saw no change.

I have considered adding an air pump via T fitting to push additional air through, but now I am starting to wonder if anything is going to be viable. I am very jealous of the folks who have had great success. Any ideas what could help me at this point?

 

[Reefahholic]

I just recently picked up a large Icecap Co2 scrubber that I have recirculating with my LifeReef skimmer. However, I am still getting 7.85-8.1 pH swings. Recently setup a calcium reactor which I think has brought my pH down so I am now chasing pH.

I have a 250 gallon tank, and I think that possibly the skimmer is being outcompeted by the amount of water in the system? It does seem that the skimmer body only has a couple of inches of bubbles on the top, sits in about 6" of water, and doesn't produce much of any skimmate. Just recently added a catch can for excess humidity and replaced the Co2 material and still saw no change.

I have considered adding an air pump via T fitting to push additional air through, but now I am starting to wonder if anything is going to be viable. I am very jealous of the folks who have had great success. Any ideas what could help me at this point?

A 0.25 pH unit swing is very minimal. It is normal for pH to have a swing due to the photo period in a reef tank.

Sounds like the skimmer is sitting too shallow. You need to raise the water level by 1-2 inches in that chamber.

 

[mdb_talon]

The size of the system could be an issue depending on skimmer size and airflow in relation, but I would guess the big factor working against you is high co2 in the house and gas exchange elsewhere in the system(ie through open top or sump) partially offsetting any gains your scrubber may give.

 

[Davileet]

The swing I believe is in normal range as well, but I was hoping that I could keep pH above 8.0 during the nighttime hours. The skimmer is currently on a stand that raises it at the minimum of 2.5" - 3", and the output of the gate valve is above the sump water line. @Reefahholic May I ask your thought process for raising the water line in the sump vs closing the gate valve to raise the water inside skimmer? I fully admit that I have never been good at getting skimmers to work as well as others.

I have also tried plugging the breather hole on top of the skimmer lid, and pH is unaffected whether its blocked or not.

I too was leaning towards the surface area for the rest of the tank out competing the Co2 scrubber. But its also weird that the scrubbing material has yet to change color at all in the last few days as it should be overburdened by Co2. So it still begs the question of if there is even enough air going through the Co2 scrubber.

 

[Gtinnel]

What brand media are you using? Several months back I installed a scrubber and saw no pH difference and the media never changed colors, but I eventually replaced the media because I had another bag of it and it started working and raised my pH about .2. I’m convinced I got a “bad” batch of media.

 

[piranhaman00]

The BRS media is bad. Use the medvet bulk ice pellets.

Can you pull outside air?

 

[Gtinnel]

The BRS media is bad. Use the medvet bulk ice pellets.

Can you pull outside air?

Yep that was the brand that I used. My second bag was good though, but my first bag didn’t work at all.

 

[Davileet]

I picked up some Icecap media with the reactor. I have replaced it once already since I didn't see anything happen, and one of the bags I put in the second time at least was still vacuum sealed. I did consider getting the medvet stuff, I was just thinking how I would hate to purchase it and it be the same story. I could probably make drawing outside air in, but it would be at least a 20' tubing run.

 

[doubleshot00]

The BRS media is bad. Use the medvet bulk ice pellets.

Can you pull outside air?

All i use and it works great.

Your skimmer may not be big enough in correlation to how much water you have. I really don't know just a theory. In my 90 gal system with a recirculating brs scrubber i get 8.2 at night and 8.4 during the day. In y IM 15 gal my PH stays at 8.1-7.9 no skimmer.

 

[doubleshot00]

Also in a test i just did i took all the media out and just let the skimmer recirculate the air and my ph was at 8.2 during the day and 7.95 at night. With skimmer operating with just the silencer it would never touch 7.9 during the day.

 

[piranhaman00]

You can buy a small bag on Amazon to test it out, pricey though.

I ran my line outside after futsing with CO2 scrubber for ages, now at 8.05-8.20 happy with that without having to scrub

 

[Davileet]

You can buy a small bag on Amazon to test it out, pricey though.

I ran my line outside after futsing with CO2 scrubber for ages, now at 8.05-8.20 happy with that without having to scrub

Yea, I think I may try that before considering a kalk stirrer.
Will be interesting to see if that helps, my initial thoughts are the skimmer may still have problems competing.

 

[ryshark]

The BRS media is bad. Use the medvet bulk ice pellets.

Can you pull outside air?

What do you mean it’s bad? Doesn’t work? Exhausts too quickly? This is what I’ve been using but I have the APEX with no PH probe port so I don’t know what’s happening.

 

[Gtinnel]

What do you mean it’s bad? Doesn’t work? Exhausts too quickly? This is what I’ve been using but I have the APEX with no PH probe port so I don’t know what’s happening.

In my case I had a bag of it that didn’t cause my pH to increase and after leaving it in there for a few months it never changed color. The next bag I tried worked as expected, my pH increased and the media changed colors as it was being depleted.

 

[ryshark]

In my case I had a bag of it that didn’t cause my pH to increase and after leaving it in there for a few months it never changed color. The next bag I tried worked as expected, my pH increased and the media changed colors as it was being depleted.

What are you using now?

 

[Gtinnel]

Ironically I’m still using BRS and have one more bag of it, but other than my first bag it has worked well for me. I also bought a bag of icecap to replace it with once I finally run out of BRS.

I will probably eventually just start using the Jorvet soda lime.

 

[piranhaman00]

What do you mean it’s bad? Doesn’t work? Exhausts too quickly? This is what I’ve been using but I have the APEX with no PH probe port so I don’t know what’s happening.

look at the brs reviews

 

[HighlandReef]

I was having issues with low PH, would dip down into 7.8 and ran low 7.9’s during the day.
Tried a few different things and nothing was working. Ran the air line through the wall to draw in fresh air, my PH shot up to 8.2 within about 24 hours or so. Didn’t take long.
Excess co2 in the house was the issue.
As long as your skimmer is properly sized and working properly, and if it’s a co2 from within the house, your PH will likely shoot up like mine did. I dose vinegar and also run a Ca reactor, both known to bring down PH.
Even with dosing vinegar and the Ca reactor, I am still hitting 8.2 during the day and my PH is much more stable now. Typically running 8.15-8.2 range. Hope this helps!