Low pH

[ReeferDave01]

Over past few years I've had low pH of approx 7.7-7.8. I don't have ability to run airline outside and aside from additives, what other options are there? Does anyone know if it's possible to use air pump with co2 scrubber? So I'd run line from airpump to co2 scrubber and then into bubbler in the sump? Would that work? I know I could hook it up to my reef octopus protein skimmer but I don't want to have that attachment. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

 

[GoVols]

Open your windows

 

[ReeferDave01]

I can only do that part time of the year. Live in Arizona and 6 months is over a hundred degrees outside lol

 

[GoVols]

I can only do that part time of the year. Live in Arizona and 6 months is over a hundred degrees outside lol

LOL
I open mine while the AC is on. The wife loves it.

 

[Brew12]

Over past few years I've had low pH of approx 7.7-7.8. I don't have ability to run airline outside and aside from additives, what other options are there? Does anyone know if it's possible to use air pump with co2 scrubber? So I'd run line from airpump to co2 scrubber and then into bubbler in the sump? Would that work? I know I could hook it up to my reef octopus protein skimmer but I don't want to have that attachment. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

It will work better, imo, if you ran it to your protein skimmer. I'm not sure what your concern would be since it is just a 1/4" tube that connects to the skimmers air intake muffler.
The only concern I would have is that while the air pump would add some O2, the skimmer would still dominate the system by causing massive air exchange with the higher CO2 content air. You may see some improvement but probably not much.

 

[GoVols]

You may want to call BRS and see if their C02 scrubber will work if you push air.
All I've seen is air being Sucked trough a scubber.

 

[Brew12]

You may want to call BRS and see if their C02 scrubber will work if you push air.
All I've seen is air being Sucked trough a scubber.

I have the BRS scrubber setup and it would work just fine to push air through it.

 

[GoVols]

I have the BRS scrubber setup and it would work just fine to push air through it.

Good to know.
If you pushed air would you need to swap the intake for the output and output for intake, so the pushed air would go trough the media correctly?

 

[Brew12]

Good to know.
If you pushed air would you need to swap the intake for the output and output for intake, so the pushed air would go trough the media correctly?

Yup. Its an incredibly simple design.

 

[nervousmonkey]

Yeah, Brew12 is right. Your skimmer exchanges more air by orders of magnitude than does an air bubbler. Using an air pump to the CO2 scrubber to a bubbler would have about 1/1000th of the air exchange that occurs in your tank.
Really, it isn't hard to connect the CO2 scrubber to the air intake line of your skimmer, which will definitely make a difference; in your case probably 0.3 points or so. Just get an air canister from anywhere, BRS has the exact one you would want to use, linked here, then add the CO2 absorbent, linked here for $8.95, then connect the airline from the out port on the air filter canister to the air intake line of your skimmer which is just pulling from the inside of your home, and that's all. If you don't want to keep the CO2 scrubber attached, just detach the air line from your skimmer. It is really easy, and once you have it connected, you are exchanging CO2 free air in your tank. You'll see the pH rise almost immediately, or basically in the same amount of time it takes your skimmer to turn over your tank volume.
I hope that helps man!!!

 

[morpheas]

If you're dead set on not connecting to the skimmer, you will need to emulate the skimmer to be effective. The easiest solution would be to buy one skimmer pump and put in your sump and connect the inlet over there. I don't know the size of your tank but I would go for something similar to the pump your actual skimmer has.

If you feel this is too expensive, another thing I would try is a wood stone with the air pump, as opposed to the regular air stone, which produces very fine bubbles. The goal being a very fine bubble which increases the surface area and promotes higher rates of exchange.

As everybody mentioned though, hooking to your skimmer might be your easiest solution.

 

[happyhourhero]

Why are you chasing PH? Have you considered dropping Kalk if you choose to chase around PH?

 

[nervousmonkey]

I know I could hook it up to my reef octopus protein skimmer but I don't want to have that attachment

What attachment do you mean? It's just the airline that your skimmer already has that pulls air in. Just connect that line to the CO2 scrubber and your pH will increase. that's just math; pH is a function of alkalinity and CO2, that's it. If you have the correct alk, then lowering CO2 will increase pH. I have a CO2 scrubber connected to my skimmer and it works perfectly...

 

[markster33139]

Would increasing the Alk to around 10 or 11 also raise the pH

 

[BlueCursor]

adjusting Alk to fix pH is generally a bad approach. You have to keep Ca and Alk in a reasonable ration, and you have to keep Alk lower in a low nutrient tank. Scrubbing is probably the best approach. I ran a fresh air line to my skimmer and it only changed pH about 0.1 points. Thank about it, outside air is 400 ppm CO2, if your house is 800 ppm then you have cut the amount of CO2 to the skimmer in half. If you scrub the air, you have cut it by 100%, not 50%.

 

[Brew12]

I'm going to try a wooden air stone on an air pump by my return pump. I will run the air supply through my CO2 scrubber. My Durso drains aerate my water which I feel is reducing the impact of the CO2 scrubber on my skimmer. I'm hoping that since that water then goes through a bubble trap in my sump that if I put the air stone next to my return pump after the trap it will be the dominant player in the game. Not to mention that it should make my filter media last much longer.
And, if I get any benefit from this being "micronano bubbling", that is just a plus.

 

[blkhwkz]

Yeah, Brew12 is right. Your skimmer exchanges more air by orders of magnitude than does an air bubbler. Using an air pump to the CO2 scrubber to a bubbler would have about 1/1000th of the air exchange that occurs in your tank.
Really, it isn't hard to connect the CO2 scrubber to the air intake line of your skimmer, which will definitely make a difference; in your case probably 0.3 points or so. Just get an air canister from anywhere, BRS has the exact one you would want to use, linked here, then add the CO2 absorbent, linked here for $8.95, then connect the airline from the out port on the air filter canister to the air intake line of your skimmer which is just pulling from the inside of your home, and that's all. If you don't want to keep the CO2 scrubber attached, just detach the air line from your skimmer. It is really easy, and once you have it connected, you are exchanging CO2 free air in your tank. You'll see the pH rise almost immediately, or basically in the same amount of time it takes your skimmer to turn over your tank volume.
I hope that helps man!!!

+1 but instead of that CO2 scrubber from BRS I would use the new one that has 3/8" elbows and tubing instead of the 3/16. http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-universal-co2-scrubber.html

 

[markster33139]

I agree with all that it's just that I was trying to estimate the total cost of running a scrubber on a yearly basis. I have only been running mine for 4 days with great results I might add, but it is turning pink very quickly

 

[Brew12]

I agree with all that it's just that I was trying to estimate the total cost of running a scrubber on a yearly basis. I have only been running mine for 4 days with great results I might add, but it is turning pink very quickly

For me? A lot. I got a 0.2 bump in pH using my skimmer for less than 2 weeks. That is why I am going to see if I can get more bang for my buck using the wooden air stone after my bubble trap. Not hopeful since we are talking about dissolved gasses but I figure it is worth a try.

 

[nervousmonkey]

yes, of course. pH is a direct function of alkalinity, meaning, increase alk, increase pH. Why raise alk just to get pH up? Keep alk where your tank wants it and corals are healthy, and forget about pH. As long as your pH isn't 7.2 or something

I agree with all that it's just that I was trying to estimate the total cost of running a scrubber on a yearly basis. I have only been running mine for 4 days with great results I might add, but it is turning pink very quickly

Try adding a little water to the bottom of your CO2 canister. It helps prolong the life of the absorbent. Don't ask me how, i don't know, just learned the trick from another reefer and it works.