Fresh air to skimmer.

[BornHandy]

I know a fresh air li e to the skimmer is said to be the way to go. I have ran the line, and it is easy to draw air through, so I am excited to see what kind of result it gives me.

Anyone who has done it willing to share your experience?

 

[Shinte122305]

my PH during the day went up slightly, the biggest difference for me was my night time PH. it was dropping into low 7.6 and now ranges high 7.7 after the air line. =) pretty sweet fix for low ph at night

 

[Katrina71]

@MSOEME2009 did it. BTW, his skills are crazy good

 

[BornHandy]

I looked at his profile, but all I found was where he was getting rid of all of his stuff. Is there a place where he posted about it?

 

[Jay Z]

I installed mine for the skimmer and the air lines for my overflows (diy pvc types). Orp leveled out and remained steady. Cut down on some smell in the sump (fresh air mixed with overflow water) and fixed my ph issues. Couldn’t stay above 8 to save my life before the install. Now it 8.28 during the day and 8.1 at night like clock work.

I live in Michigan so we go from 0 to 90 between winter and summer. I installed in the winter when co2 conditions are the worst on the inside.

 

[sergifed91]

I know a fresh air li e to the skimmer is said to be the way to go. I have ran the line, and it is easy to draw air through, so I am excited to see what kind of result it gives me.

Anyone who has done it willing to share your experience?

how has this worked out. any major rise in PH? and how far did you have to run the skimmers air line to get out side? I currently using a co2 scrubber seeing what I get with that. so far after 48 hours looks to be constant between 7.86 to 7.97 by lights out. morning it is at 7.86 when the light turn on. I am using a ph probe for the ph test. I am thinking about doing an sir line to the out side but have like 30 - 50 feet to run and air line and then connect it to the skimmer. I think a 1 inch tube then into the skimmer or use a 1" diameter pvc pipe then cape it on one end and drill a 1/4 " hole and hook the skimmer up to it and seal it with a sealant. maybe 1" diameter might be a bit over kill but at that distance it might be the right diameter for the job.

 

[Shinte122305]

how has this worked out. any major rise in PH? and how far did you have to run the skimmers air line to get out side? I currently using a co2 scrubber seeing what I get with that. so far after 48 hours looks to be constant between 7.86 to 7.97 by lights out. morning it is at 7.86 when the light turn on. I am using a ph probe for the ph test. I am thinking about doing an sir line to the out side but have like 30 - 50 feet to run and air line and then connect it to the skimmer. I think a 1 inch tube then into the skimmer or use a 1" diameter pvc pipe then cape it on one end and drill a 1/4 " hole and hook the skimmer up to it and seal it with a sealant. maybe 1" diameter might be a bit over kill but at that distance it might be the right diameter for the job.

yes make it as thick as possible specially for that distance. BUT please dont forget to put a fly net at the end of the pvc pipe thats facing the outside.

 

[BornHandy]

It has helped, but not to the extent I was hoping. I'll tell you what I've found so far.

I had a small tank that was just housing corals and a pair of clowns. I couldn't afford to buy more than a few at a time, so the holding tank let me accumulate a decent collection while I got my main tank ready.

The holding tank: No skimmer at all, and the chaeto ball was in the holding tank with the fish and corals, so with that in mind... Daytime pH with the light on (Kessil A360) and chaeto in the tank would climb to 7.95-ish, and at night, fall to 7.75-ish. Lower than I like, and I didn't realize it at the time, but the light + chaeto ball was the majority of the reason I would see a climb during the day.

If I opened a near by window during the day, in an hour or so, I would see pH climb to 8.05-ish, and hold there for several hours after closing the window. So...I was expecting at least a steady 8.0 with a fresh air line to the skimmer in the main tank once it was set up, but I didn't get that.

The main tank: Dual Kessil a360's, plus a pair of 48" t-5's for light. No chaeto in the display tank.

Chaeto in the sump, opposite light cycle to the display tank, and lit with a kessil H380. Skimmer is an Omega 130, and plumbed to fresh air. Daytime pH is steady at 7.95, and night time climbs up to 8.4 until my apex turns off the light! That chaeto coupled with a H380 is a pH machine!

I did an experiment: I disconnected the fresh air line for a day, and didn't turn on my refugium light. The pH that day was 7.9-ish, and that night it dropped to 7.85-ish. That's an improvement over the nighttime holding tank, and probably would have been better in the day too were it not for the chaeto. Still, it's a marginal improvement at best.

The takeaway: Chaeto lit with the corals in the holding tank = higher daytime pH. Chaeto lit with a much more powerful light on an opposite cycle of the corals in the display tank = super high nighttime pH.

On my next build, I will probably skip the fresh air line, and opt to run dual refugiums! The way I see it, the chaeto + H380 can get me to 8.4 easily, so if I run dual refugiums on opposing schedules, I should be able to hold a high pH all the time.

I just don't think the skimmer pulls in enough air to equal the natural gas exchange that happens with an open window, but that's just my theory

Hope that clears the fresh air.

 

[sergifed91]

It has helped, but not to the extent I was hoping. I'll tell you what I've found so far.

I had a small tank that was just housing corals and a pair of clowns. I couldn't afford to buy more than a few at a time, so the holding tank let me accumulate a decent collection while I got my main tank ready.

The holding tank: No skimmer at all, and the chaeto ball was in the holding tank with the fish and corals, so with that in mind... Daytime pH with the light on (Kessil A360) and chaeto in the tank would climb to 7.95-ish, and at night, fall to 7.75-ish. Lower than I like, and I didn't realize it at the time, but the light + chaeto ball was the majority of the reason I would see a climb during the day.

If I opened a near by window during the day, in an hour or so, I would see pH climb to 8.05-ish, and hold there for several hours after closing the window. So...I was expecting at least a steady 8.0 with a fresh air line to the skimmer in the main tank once it was set up, but I didn't get that.

The main tank: Dual Kessil a360's, plus a pair of 48" t-5's for light. No chaeto in the display tank.

Chaeto in the sump, opposite light cycle to the display tank, and lit with a kessil H380. Skimmer is an Omega 130, and plumbed to fresh air. Daytime pH is steady at 7.95, and night time climbs up to 8.4 until my apex turns off the light! That chaeto coupled with a H380 is a pH machine!

I did an experiment: I disconnected the fresh air line for a day, and didn't turn on my refugium light. The pH that day was 7.9-ish, and that night it dropped to 7.85-ish. That's an improvement over the nighttime holding tank, and probably would have been better in the day too were it not for the chaeto. Still, it's a marginal improvement at best.

The takeaway: Chaeto lit with the corals in the holding tank = higher daytime pH. Chaeto lit with a much more powerful light on an opposite cycle of the corals in the display tank = super high nighttime pH.

On my next build, I will probably skip the fresh air line, and opt to run dual refugiums! The way I see it, the chaeto + H380 can get me to 8.4 easily, so if I run dual refugiums on opposing schedules, I should be able to hold a high pH all the time.

I just don't think the skimmer pulls in enough air to equal the natural gas exchange that happens with an open window, but that's just my theory

Hope that clears the fresh air.

The first 48 hours it was hitting a high of 7.97 and low of 7.82. But I had to turn it off and empty the cup. Just over night it went from 7.96 to 7.72 for a low. Might be salt creep?