CO2 Scrubbing: An Unexpected Journey Chasing Numbers

justingraham · Jul 15, 2017

bubbaque said:
What's odd is I have two tanks, I installed another co2 on my second frag tank with a much smaller skimmer and after 3 days it hasn't turn the media purple at all.

Smaller skimmer smaller air intake

bubbaque · Jul 15, 2017

I know but I wouldn't expect it to be such a huge difference. My bigger tank skimmer has less GPH than some of the ones listed on this thread so I am not sure why my media is used so fast.

Ty Hamatake · Jul 15, 2017

bubbaque said:
I know but I wouldn't expect it to be such a huge difference. My bigger tank skimmer has less GPH than some of the ones listed on this thread so I am not sure why my media is used so fast.

Are they in different rooms?

bubbaque · Jul 15, 2017

Yes but both skimmers has their hose pulling air from outside, so both are getting the same air.

SchnitzelReef · Jul 17, 2017

Just ordered 6lbs of the stuff from medvet. I also bought a kessil h350 to see if I can raise my ph via increased growth to my chaeto. I'll keep you updated.

Ty Hamatake · Jul 17, 2017

bubbaque said:
Yes but both skimmers has their hose pulling air from outside, so both are getting the same air.

That's really strange. I wonder if there's a "tipping point" where after a certain l/ph the media becomes exhausted at a higher rate than normal. My only other suggestion would be to create some way to adjust the airflow through the canister that is exhausting so quickly and comprise a little lower pH for what could turn out to be a significantly longer media life.

SchnitzelReef said:
Just ordered 6lbs of the stuff from medvet. I also bought a kessil h350 to see if I can raise my ph via increased growth to my chaeto. I'll keep you updated.

I'm looking forward to that update. Very interested in what both systems will do working in concert. One filtering the air and one filtering the water itself!

Ty Hamatake · Jul 18, 2017

Slightly cleaner setup and a bigger humidifier. Now I can track how much water is left in the reservoir. For anyone trying out the humidifier thing, having a clear container adds a bit of reassurance for some reason

bubbaque · Jul 18, 2017

Your media looks to be a smaller size than the stuff I ordered from shopmedvet.com

Ty Hamatake · Jul 18, 2017

bubbaque said:
Your media looks to be a smaller size than the stuff I ordered from shopmedvet.com

Smaller would equal more surface area. Might be time to try a different media.

Bonfish · Jul 18, 2017

I actually am experiencing very similar results. My media sodasorb ordered from jorvet $95 lasts 24 hours before it is exhausted. I have chaeto in the sump with a led grow light and a line to the outside. Overall I am still experiencing wide swings in Alk absorption through out the day. There are days I am dosing 15ml and others 1ml. It is extremely difficult to maintain consistent numbers. I am using a Hannah checker ppm model, I test twice per day. I find that because my sump is in my basement that I experience much higher CO2 in the air. I am looking to get a sniffer to test the CO2 in the air. I second the KH guardian, I wish it was a little cheaper.

Ty Hamatake · Jul 18, 2017

Bonfish said:
I actually am experiencing very similar results. My media sodasorb ordered from jorvet $95 lasts 24 hours before it is exhausted. I have chaeto in the sump with a led grow light and a line to the outside. Overall I am still experiencing wide swings in Alk absorption through out the day. There are days I am dosing 15ml and others 1ml. It is extremely difficult to maintain consistent numbers. I am using a Hannah checker ppm model, I test twice per day. I find that because my sump is in my basement that I experience much higher CO2 in the air. I am looking to get a sniffer to test the CO2 in the air. I second the KH guardian, I wish it was a little cheaper.

Where is your skimmer pulling air from? In the stand? Outside? I don't know if everyone has benefited from it, but it seems most get an increase in longevity by adding some sort of humidifier to the intake to help prevent the media from drying out. What skimmer do you have?

Bonfish · Jul 19, 2017

Ty Hamatake said:
Where is your skimmer pulling air from? In the stand? Outside? I don't know if everyone has benefited from it, but it seems most get an increase in longevity by adding some sort of humidifier to the intake to help prevent the media from drying out. What skimmer do you have?

I have the line run to outside air from a aquamax coneS Q2 skimmer. I do add about a teaspoon of water the bottom of the reactor prior to placing the media cartridge back in. That was the instructions I had from the media company. I do not have a humidifier in line through. What does that look like?

Ty Hamatake · Jul 19, 2017

Bonfish said:
I have the line run to outside air from a aquamax coneS Q2 skimmer. I do add about a teaspoon of water the bottom of the reactor prior to placing the media cartridge back in. That was the instructions I had from the media company. I do not have a humidifier in line through. What does that look like?

I started with adding water to the canister, but it was always bone dry when I'd go to change my media. My latest "humidifier" is just a 32 oz mason jar. It's the same concept as adding water to the canister, just lasts longer and you can refill it without taking apart the canister.

Scorpius · Jul 19, 2017

Ran Soda lime to scrub C02 and didn't like the swings in Ph. I run an outside airline to my skimmer and I also have an air pump outside pumping fresh air into an air stone I keep in my filter sock. With the house shut up I still get 7.6-7.8 ph. Coral are happy. I'm done chasing ph numbers.

Ty Hamatake · Jul 19, 2017

Scorpius said:
Ran Soda lime to scrub C02 and didn't like the swings in Ph. I run an outside airline to my skimmer and I also have an air pump outside pumping fresh air into an air stone I keep in my filter sock. With the house shut up I still get 7.6-7.8 ph. Coral are happy. I'm done chasing ph numbers.

Lol I'm just about in the middle of the race

Bonfish · Jul 20, 2017

I will try that thank you. I see three times the Alk absorption when the pH is at 8.3. I have much of the same problem, when the house is shut I usually see about 7.7-7.8. The aquarium does not seem to use Alk when my pH gets that low. Does that mean I will see decreased growth as well?

Ty Hamatake · Jul 20, 2017

Bonfish said:
I will try that thank you. I see three times the Alk absorption when the pH is at 8.3. I have much of the same problem, when the house is shut I usually see about 7.7-7.8. The aquarium does not seem to use Alk when my pH gets that low. Does that mean I will see decreased growth as well?

From what I know, alk consumption usually corresponds with growth. So in theory I'd say yes.

larcat · Jul 20, 2017

When our tank was booking along with SPS, we saw growth stagnate, tested everything, scratched heads for a long time, eventually saw PH was low (winter), started scrubbing, and did see growth and alk uptake come back. OTOH, in our experience the media got gobbled quickly. It is pretty obvious on your ph chart though when it happens.

Scorpius · Jul 20, 2017

In a perfect world I'd have an air exchanger on my home HVAC or a dedicated room with fresh air ventilation 24/7.

http://www.broan.com/fresh-air-systems

Ty Hamatake · Jul 20, 2017

Scorpius said:
In a perfect world I'd have an air exchanger on my home HVAC or a dedicated room with fresh air ventilation 24/7.

http://www.broan.com/fresh-air-systems

That would be very nice!