How long does your CO2 media last on a recirculating scrubber?

hllb · Feb 5, 2022

I have my scrubber set up as recirculating now. Curious how long the media may last. I figured 3 to 4 weeks but at 3 weeks, there’s barely any color change (looks to be a little bit at the bottom - another week or so and I’ll pull the canister out to get a better look).

so, what length of time does yours last?

Steve2020 · Feb 5, 2022

I am going on 6 weeks now. Total water volume is 250gal and tank is in lower level of house and as we all know CO2 is heavier than air so the lower level is higher in CO2 than the rest of the house. I am using a BRS Duo Jumbo filled with JorVet medical grade color changing media. Besides doing recirc I am also bringing in fresh air from the furnace fresh air intake which is 40ft away. I was using a solenoid valve controlled by the Profilux 4 to bring in CO2 enriched air if the PH got to high but it stuck open once ( spring return to close ) so I installed 2 manual ball valves to tune the flow. Not as accurate as the solenoid but good enough. I have an electronic ball valve on order that I will be installing. Need to be careful with a recirc CO2 scrubber. PH can actually get too high. I have programed a safety also if the PH reaches 8.55 the skimmer and Pellet Reactor shut off until it gets down to 8.4. Has not happened yet.
Below are some photos of my current setup and PH levels before and after recirc scrubber.

Fresh Air Intake

No CO2 Scrubber

CO2 Scrubber with NO Recirc. Did not like the .2 PH swing but was consistent. Too much media usage. Every 2-3 weeks.

Full recirc. Have not changed the media yet. Been 7 weeks. .08 to .1 variation. Small dip was probe cleaning & cal.

hllb · Feb 5, 2022

Steve2020 said:
I am going on 6 weeks now. Total water volume is 250gal and tank is in lower level of house and as we all know CO2 is heavier than air so the lower level is higher in CO2 than the rest of the house. I am using a BRS Duo Jumbo filled with JorVet medical grade color changing media. Besides doing recirc I am also bringing in fresh air from the furnace fresh air intake which is 40ft away. I was using a solenoid valve controlled by the Profilux 4 to bring in CO2 enriched air if the PH got to high but it stuck open once ( spring return to close ) so I installed 2 manual ball valves to tune the flow. Not as accurate as the solenoid but good enough. I have an electronic ball valve on order that I will be installing. Need to be careful with a recirc CO2 scrubber. PH can actually get too high. I have programed a safety also if the PH reaches 8.55 the skimmer and Pellet Reactor shut off until it gets down to 8.4. Has not happened yet.
Below are some photos of my current setup and PH levels before and after recirc scrubber.

Fresh Air Intake

No CO2 Scrubber

CO2 Scrubber with NO Recirc. Did not like the .2 PH swing but was consistent. Too much media usage. Every 2-3 weeks.

Full recirc. Have not changed the media yet. Been 7 weeks. .08 to .1 variation. Small dip was probe cleaning & cal.

Good info thanks! I use Jorvet too and don’t see a color change like I can see on yours. Even with the scrubber my ph is 8.05 to 8.15 most days - the highest it’s gotten is 8.22. I must not have as much CO2 as I thought. It definitely helped - it used to run 7.75 to 7.95.