HOME CO2 levels!

[n2585722]

OK, my skimmer pulls air from my garage, but it doesn't help much. I have a 1200sqf house and when the 5 Grankids stay the night there is a definite drop in pH. So far it has not gone down far enough to be a problem but it can be noticed in the graph below. I set the graph so it was divided into days. The two lowest spikes were when all 5 grandkids were there. So it is definatly not all based on the skimmer.

 

[rock_lobster]

Problem solved just have to feed more and turn down the flow. Worked perfectly. PH now 8.1-8.5...

 

[Reefiness]

thats surprising if thats actually what caused you pH to improve. I dont see how that would work scientifically. Unless with the extra feeding you have higher nutrients which is causing algae to grow thus increasing the respiration of your tank. Lower flow maybe it would prevent equilibrium with the atmosphere of your apartment which allows you to keep more of an average CO2 content versus the in the moment.

 

[rock_lobster]

Yea that's pretty close. The nutrients boost the algae which consumes all of the CO2. The low flow keeps the tank from equilibrating with the higher home CO2.

thats surprising if thats actually what caused you pH to improve. I dont see how that would work scientifically. Unless with the extra feeding you have higher nutrients which is causing algae to grow thus increasing the respiration of your tank. Lower flow maybe it would prevent equilibrium with the atmosphere of your apartment which allows you to keep more of an average CO2 content versus the in the moment.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Yea that's pretty close. The nutrients boost the algae which consumes all of the CO2. The low flow keeps the tank from equilibrating with the higher home CO2.

I'm not sure I buy that explanation.

Yes, more nutrients will boost algae growth, and if you were dosing nitrate and phosphate, I might believe it impacts CO2 and pH.

But feeding more is adding organics. Those organics are metabolized to release nutrients and CO2, lowering pH.

Then when algae grows, that process reverses almost exactly. So the net effect of more feeding should be no effect, or even a reduction in pH (since not all of the nutrients will be taken up by CO2 consuming processes).

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

I was have this very conversation this morning with another member here, I drilled a hole in the wall and ran my skimmer air line to the outside. I live in central Florida, the house is closed up all the time and I was having the same issues. Once I did this my PH now runs between 8.1 to 8.26 .

Same here as I also live in Central FL (Ocala) most of the time it's too hot to keep the house open with a few weeks of our Florida version of Fall/Winter to open the house.

I ran a longer intake hose from the skimmer intake out a nearby window (used rigid in the window so I could shut it and it not pinch the line).

 

[rock_lobster]

Yes I think it's a fairly important topic. Lots of reefers suffer from chronic low pH. I have read several articles that suggest that ammonia is essential for algae spores while nitrate for mature algae. But dosing nitrate and possibly even phosphate may have the same or better. I don't know the ratios of nitrate and CO2 fixation by algae and their effect on pH and I'm not sure if it is equal to the breakdown of organics in production of H+.

I'm not sure I buy that explanation.

Yes, more nutrients will boost algae growth, and if you were dosing nitrate and phosphate, I might believe it impacts CO2 and pH.

But feeding more is adding organics. Those organics are metabolized to release nutrients and CO2, lowering pH.

Then when algae grows, that process reverses almost exactly. So the net effect of more feeding should be no effect, or even a reduction in pH (since not all of the nutrients will be taken up by CO2 consuming processes).

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Yes I think it's a fairly important topic. Lots of reefers suffer from chronic low pH. I have read several articles that suggest that ammonia is essential for algae spores while nitrate for mature algae. But dosing nitrate and possibly even phosphate may have the same or better. I don't know the ratios of nitrate and CO2 fixation by algae and their effect on pH and I'm not sure if it is equal to the breakdown of organics in production of H+.

It's not that complicated. The amount of CO2 consumed when photosynthesis takes place is essentially the same as the amount released when those same organics are metabolized. To suggest otherwise would imply that the photosynthetic organisms in your tank have a very different carbon to nitrogen to phosphate ratio in their organic tissues than do the foods you feed, and there's no reason to think they are greatly different. The biochemicals of life (proteins, DNA, etc). are similar.

 

[jsker]

Same here as I also live in Central FL (Ocala) most of the time it's too hot to keep the house open with a few weeks of our Florida version of Fall/Winter to open the house.

I ran a longer intake hose from the skimmer intake out a nearby window (used rigid in the window so I could shut it and it not pinch the line).

let us know the results. The air is dry and I am at 8.3 right now. I noticed the PH levels ticing up a bit since fall winter is here time to break out the winter coat