Elevated PH, Elevated consumption. How much?

[Shinister]

Looking for input from those running a CO2 scrubber or with naturally high PH. I installed a CO2 scrubber and Im having a tough time dialing in my alk. At the moment, I have turned off the dosers to reset. BRS did a video about installing a CO2 scrubber on their 160 and how the elevated PH caused a 50% demand increase of alk. I was dosing 320ml of each (calc & alk) and, although my PH shot up to 8.5 since Im using the sodium hydroxide version, I was struggling to keep my alk at 9dkh. I wouldnt say my coraline is "exploding" with growth but it's growing. I have about 18 frags, mostly montiporas and one acro, and they are growing but they are just frags. No colonies. And no precipitation that I can see on my heater and pumps. I havent torn apart my pumps but I figured the precipitation would be mostly on my heater and if theres none on it than my pumps should be good. My total volume is around 120 gallons and my Mg is at 1500, Calcium at 430, NO3 at 5, and PO4 at 0.04.

Does the elevated PH cause that much demand? 320ml is super high..almost 4 dkh a day!

 

[Billldg]

Every tank is different, but like u I installed a Co2 scrubber and saw my ph go from 8.0 to 8.2. I checked my alk and cal this weekend and my alk was at 7.7. I maintain my alk at 9.0 and have been able to keep it steadly their for while now, so my consumption of alk went up and now I am having to reset my DOS. I also have a total water volume of around 120 gals, 120 dt and 20 gal sump. I do know that the reason u raise your ph is so that their is less hydrogen ions in the water, thus allowing sps corals to more easily get rid of hydrogen ions making room for more alk and cal consumption.

 

[Shinister]

Every tank is different, but like u I installed a Co2 scrubber and saw my ph go from 8.0 to 8.2. I checked my alk and cal this weekend and my alk was at 7.7. I maintain my alk at 9.0 and have been able to keep it steadly their for while now, so my consumption of alk went up and now I am having to reset my DOS. I also have a total water volume of around 120 gals, 120 dt and 20 gal sump. I do know that the reason u raise your ph is so that their is less hydrogen ions in the water, thus allowing sps corals to more easily get rid of hydrogen ions making room for more alk and cal consumption.

How much 2 part are you dosing? How much did you dose before the co2 scrubber went online?

 

[Billldg]

How much 2 part are you dosing? How much did you dose before the co2 scrubber went online?

I was at 29 ml soda ash and 27.5 cal daily, now I just raised it to 33.5 soda ash and 30 cal. I also dosed 100 ml sodium bicarbonate and 100 calcium to raise my levels back up, I will more than likely have to raise my alk again, but I will test Wednesday to see how much.

I only have had the Co2 scrubber for a week, so it's a work in progress.

 

[justingraham]

Be carful when the media is exhausted

 

[Shinister]

I was at 29 ml soda ash and 27.5 cal daily, now I just raised it to 33.5 soda ash and 30 cal. I also dosed 100 ml sodium bicarbonate and 100 calcium to raise my levels back up, I will more than likely have to raise my alk again, but I will test Wednesday to see how much.

I only have had the Co2 scrubber for a week, so it's a work in progress.

Wow. Lucky you. If I was dosing that amount I wouldn’t be worried at all. I’m at 4dkh/day consumption for just a few frags. That’s insanely high.

 

[Shinister]

Be carful when the media is exhausted

I always keep an eye out for that. I’m recirculating the air from the skimmer cup. It’s only been a week so we’ll see.

 

[Billldg]

I always keep an eye out for that. I’m recirculating the air from the skimmer cup. It’s only been a week so we’ll see.

That's the problem I am having now, keeping the media moist, I can tell when its dry as my ph drops quickly.

4dkh daily seems extremely high, even on a sps tank loaded up with colonies. I have 4 monti frags and a bunch of lps, I just added 7 acro frags. Sounds like their is some sort of precipitation somewhere.

#reefsquad

 

[Hubtech]

I always keep an eye out for that. I’m recirculating the air from the skimmer cup. It’s only been a week so we’ll see.

what are you guys using to hold your scrubber media?

 

[Billldg]

I bought my Co2 scrubber from BRS, was only like 34 dollars.

 

[Shinister]

That's the problem I am having now, keeping the media moist, I can tell when its dry as my ph drops quickly.

4dkh daily seems extremely high, even on a sps tank loaded up with colonies. I have 4 monti frags and a bunch of lps, I just added 7 acro frags. Sounds like their is some sort of precipitation somewhere.

#reefsquad

Pulling the intake air from your skimmer cup should keep it plenty moist. My canister always have condensation so i know it's moist.
That's why Im concerned. I see no precipitation. My heater is clean expect for some detritus and blows off with a quick stir.

what are you guys using to hold your scrubber media?

I use the BRS GFO reactor.

 

[Billldg]

Pulling the intake air from your skimmer cup should keep it plenty moist. My canister always have condensation so i know it's moist.
That's why Im concerned. I see no precipitation. My heater is clean expect for some detritus and blows off with a quick stir.


I use the BRS GFO reactor.

Is your sand turning to stone or sticking together, reason why I ask is it was happening to me while putting kalk in my ato which is why I switched to 2 part and a DOS.

Also, is your dosing unit actually dosing that much, or do you just have it programmed to dos that much. Could be getting air in the lines of the doser.

#reefsquad

 

[Brew12]

Looking for input from those running a CO2 scrubber or with naturally high PH. I installed a CO2 scrubber and Im having a tough time dialing in my alk. At the moment, I have turned off the dosers to reset. BRS did a video about installing a CO2 scrubber on their 160 and how the elevated PH caused a 50% demand increase of alk. I was dosing 320ml of each (calc & alk) and, although my PH shot up to 8.5 since Im using the sodium hydroxide version, I was struggling to keep my alk at 9dkh. I wouldnt say my coraline is "exploding" with growth but it's growing. I have about 18 frags, mostly montiporas and one acro, and they are growing but they are just frags. No colonies. And no precipitation that I can see on my heater and pumps. I havent torn apart my pumps but I figured the precipitation would be mostly on my heater and if theres none on it than my pumps should be good. My total volume is around 120 gallons and my Mg is at 1500, Calcium at 430, NO3 at 5, and PO4 at 0.04.

Does the elevated PH cause that much demand? 320ml is super high..almost 4 dkh a day!

I agree that your demand seems abnormally high. Rate of growth has a bigger impact on consumption than the size of the coral but you would need some crazy growth to see that much demand with 18 frags imo.

 

[Shinister]

Is your sand turning to stone or sticking together, reason why I ask is it was happening to me while putting kalk in my ato which is why I switched to 2 part and a DOS.

I had that happen to one part of my tank. Not solid but stick together. But according to many, and Mr. Farley, it could be precipitation or bacteria, especially on new sand. This sand is Aragalive thats 4 months old.

 

[Billldg]

I had that happen to one part of my tank. Not solid but stick together. But according to many, and Mr. Farley, it could be precipitation or bacteria, especially on new sand. This sand is Aragalive thats 4 months old.

Is your dosing unit actually dosing that much, or do you just have it programmed to dos that much. Could be getting air in the lines of the doser.

 

[Shinister]

I agree that your demand seems abnormally high. Rate of growth has a bigger impact on consumption than the size of the coral but you would need some crazy growth to see that much demand with 18 frags imo.

It sure is. My corals are growing though. I take pics of the corals every weekend to compare them throughout the week and they are visibly growing. but 4dkh is too high. I was going off the video that BRS did where they said their consumption went up 50% and had to double the dosage. But they did have some colonies in there.

 

[Shinister]

Is your dosing unit actually dosing that much, or do you just have it programmed to dos that much. Could be getting air in the lines of the doser.

Its a Neptune DOS. I keep the lines visible so I can see the drops and it doses the exact same drops everytime. No air in the lines.
I've gone over every possible thing that could be human error.

 

[hart24601]

I would be surprised if you had that much consumption. I also use the hydroxide version and had precipitation although it wasn't very visible at first I unplugged my doser to see if it was really that high of consumption and it wasn't. I let my alk drop to around 7 before I started dosing again. I would stop dosing for a few hours and see what happens to alk, at 4dkh per day if the tank is really consuming that much alk you should see alk drop every hour.

 

[Brew12]

Its a Neptune DOS. I keep the lines visible so I can see the drops and it doses the exact same drops everytime. No air in the lines.
I've gone over every possible thing that could be human error.

What is your dosing schedule?

 

[Billldg]

Something I neglected to ask, how r u testing. Also, I agree with above, maybe we need to go back to basics. Stop the Dos and manually add 2 part to get parameters at a steady state, and then test parameters. Then test again the next day and see if you do in fact have a 4dkh drop. Trying to come up with something that might help.

Either way, we will help you figure this out.