Oxygen in skimmer intake?

[M3d1C]

This is solely out of curiosity FYI.

I wonder, I see a lot of folks running CO2 scrubbing media or running their skimmer intakes out a window, through a wall, etc. to cut down on CO2 entering the tank and therefor elevating PH (or at least making it more uniform with less swings). What would happen, or has anyone tried, using O2 at the skimmer intake and what would happen?

I guess an example would be maybe using an O2 concentrator at 1/2 L/min mixed with room air?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

O2 would rise in the water. Maybe too much, if it was pure O2.

pH depends only on CO2. To drop CO2 by half in the inlet air to cause a substantial pH change, oxygen would have to triple and displace N2 and CO2. I think that would not be best for organisms to be in that high of O2.

 

[M3d1C]

I can see a lot of similarities here in comparison with a patient on a ventilator. Ultimately, a healthy patient shows an SpO2 of at least 94% on room air and and EtCO2 of 35 to 45 mmHg. When you crank up the O2, it can and (patient dependent) does displace CO2 making them Hypocapnic.

So, you're thinking in regards to dropping CO2 too much is kind of what I'm gathering?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

CO2 and O2 do not necessarily move in opposite directions. Both can be high and both can be low. I’m not worried about CO2 too low, I’m worried about supersaturated O2.