DIY fresh air for skimmer ideas?

[jgvergo]

I have a DIY skimmer. The way I create foam is to pump air into the skimmer pump. As it goes through, it cavitates and produces bubbles. It works very well.

My PH is lower than I'd like (8.0 - 8.2) so I want to draw air in from the outside of my house. Has anyone done this and can you share your approach? My air pump is not really conducive to running an air line outside the house b/c it pull in air through a flat opening on the bottom of the pump.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Put the pump outside. Or put the pump in a box and run the tube to the box. Id say you have very good PH. I pers would test in the AM PM after lights go out and in the middle of the night to make sure its someting you really need to address.

 

[jgvergo]

Put the pump outside. Or put the pump in a box and run the tube to the box. Id say you have very good PH. I pers would test in the AM PM after lights go out and in the middle of the night to make sure its someting you really need to address.

Putting the pump outside won't work for me given my layout. I thought about the box idea, but it would have to be sealed pretty tight. I may go this route.

I see lots of posts that indicate an average PH of 8.3 is optimal. I run my sump light at night (opposite my DT lights). Alk is dosed from midnight to noon. Ca is dosed from noon to midnight. Here is what my Apex says

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

All that looks great IMO. the last is greater-er
you could shift the alk dose earlier perhaps depending on the time that the valley appears.

 

[jgvergo]

All that looks great IMO. the last is greater-er
you could shift the alk dose earlier perhaps depending on the time that the valley appears.

The last two days are greater because I had just recalibrated by PH probe (you can see the negative spike in the picture at the time I recalibrated).

The valleys are around noon(when my DT lights come on) and the peaks are around 11:30PM (when my DT lights go off). The sump light is no where near as powerful as my DT lights so it's can't counteract the photosynthesis in the DT. As for Alk dosing, I assumed it should be dosing whenever the DT lights are off, which is what I have now.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I assumed it should be dosing whenever the DT lights are off, which is what I have now.

yup. correct.

But Id say many would kill for your PH.

 

[jgvergo]

yup. correct.

But Id say many would kill for your PH.

In that case, I may cease and desist as far as external air is concerned!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

In that case, I may cease and desist as far as external air is concerned!

Unless it's a totally fun but nonsense thing you want to do cuz its neat and you just want to see what happens!

 

[SchnitzelReef]

My tanks oh runs at 7.6-7.9 fyi. Corals seem to be doing fine

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Corals seem to be doing fine

Understatement of the day!

 

[jgvergo]

Unless it's a totally fun but nonsense thing you want to do cuz its neat and you just want to see what happens!

It would be a cool experiment to run.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

It would be a cool experiment to run.

agreed. A simple prototype box would be a tupperware and electrical tape.

 

[cmcoker]

As for Alk dosing, I assumed it should be dosing whenever the DT lights are off, which is what I have now.

I'd just like to mention that @Rick.45cal has noticed more alk swings by dosing at night only. I believe he found dosing 24hrs a day to be better at keeping alkalinity constant. He discussed that in his thread about the KH guardian

 

[pickupman66]

i personally see no issue with your PH. in my experience it is the Rapid swinging of PH that kills things. keep a steady range between 7.7 and 8.2 and IMPO, you are good to go.

Now, on my system, I ran a 1/2" poly tubing piece thru my floor into the crawlspace to get air from outside my home into my skimmer. this tube ran up and in to the silencer of my skimmer.

 

[jgvergo]

agreed. A simple prototype box would be a tupperware and electrical tape.

...and a hole in the side of my house,albeit a small hole.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

...and a hole in the side of my house,albeit a small hole.

hahah. No windows in your house? or are you looking to incorporate power tools. I know I would.

 

[Rick.45cal]

I'd just like to mention that @Rick.45cal has noticed more alk swings by dosing at night only. I believe he found dosing 24hrs a day to be better at keeping alkalinity constant. He discussed that in his thread about the KH guardian

Yep, if you dose only during a certain period of time you are amplifying the daily swing even more. It's better to just dose 24/7. Alkalinity uptake isn't exactly cut and dry, it doesn't turn on and off with the lights. The peak period of consumption seems to be the last few hours of light and then for several more hours after the lights go out. By dosing only half of the day you are actually creating more instability.

Think of it this way, in a system of multiple variables, most of which are constantly changing, then adjusting one variable as a reaction to a series of others doesn't actually induce stability, it actully just adds one more constantly changing variable to the equation. So if you take a completely different strategy (to help induce stability into a system of many constantly changing variables) an effective plan of attack would be to change some of those always changing variables and try to make as many of them constants as possible. So by dosing consistently you are taking what would be a changing variable in the equation and you are turning that into a constant (which is a source of stability in fluctuating environments).

 

[jgvergo]

Yep, if you dose only during a certain period of time you are amplifying the daily swing even more. It's better to just dose 24/7. Alkalinity uptake isn't exactly cut and dry, it doesn't turn on and off with the lights. The peak period of consumption seems to be the last few hours of light and then for several more hours after the lights go out. By dosing only half of the day you are actually creating more instability.

Think of it this way, in a system of multiple variables, most of which are constantly changing, then adjusting one variable as a reaction to a series of others doesn't actually induce stability, it actully just adds one more constantly changing variable to the equation. So if you take a completely different strategy (to help induce stability into a system of many constantly changing variables) an effective plan of attack would be to change some of those always changing variables and try to make as many of them constants as possible. So by dosing consistently you are taking what would be a changing variable in the equation and you are turning that into a constant (which is a source of stability in fluctuating environments).

Well, this is trivial for me to test. I have an Apex that controls my dosing and measures PH. I'm going to change the dosing schedule to be all day and see what happens. I'll post results in 3-4 days.

 

[jgvergo]

Yep, if you dose only during a certain period of time you are amplifying the daily swing even more. It's better to just dose 24/7. Alkalinity uptake isn't exactly cut and dry, it doesn't turn on and off with the lights. The peak period of consumption seems to be the last few hours of light and then for several more hours after the lights go out. By dosing only half of the day you are actually creating more instability.

Think of it this way, in a system of multiple variables, most of which are constantly changing, then adjusting one variable as a reaction to a series of others doesn't actually induce stability, it actully just adds one more constantly changing variable to the equation. So if you take a completely different strategy (to help induce stability into a system of many constantly changing variables) an effective plan of attack would be to change some of those always changing variables and try to make as many of them constants as possible. So by dosing consistently you are taking what would be a changing variable in the equation and you are turning that into a constant (which is a source of stability in fluctuating environments).

I always looked at the PH as being primarily impacted by CO2 levels. When the DT lights are on, the zooxanthellae are photosynthesizing. That pulls CO2 out of the water, lowering the level of carbonic acid and raising the PH. When the lights are off, PH goes down, so that's when it makes sense to add the Alk, which raises PH.

 

[Rick.45cal]

I always looked at the PH as being primarily impacted by CO2 levels. When the DT lights are on, the zooxanthellae are photosynthesizing. That pulls CO2 out of the water, lowering the level of carbonic acid and raising the PH. When the lights are off, PH goes down, so that's when it makes sense to add the Alk, which raises PH.

But you are stabilizing your pH by creating instability in your alkalinity. There's daily swings in pH due to CO2 Photosynthesis etc. pH swings don't mean much IMO, however alkalinity swings are a big deal to SPS. The more constant you can keep you alkalinity the happier things are going to be.