pH toooooo low!

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 16, 2018

GoVols said:
@bubbaque
Congrats!!!
That's a great investment

@Randy Holmes-Farley
On another note:
Can cal reactor media grow denitrifying bacteria (especially in the second stage) that could gas off nitrates, or would the ph be too low?

Thanks, Freddie

I do not know if the pH is a factor, but the water in a calcium reactor won't become low in O2 (to allow denitrification) for quite a while of sitting without flow. Adding CO2 does not reduce the O2.

bubbaque · Feb 16, 2018

@d2mini how is the ph looking?

GoVols · Feb 16, 2018

Brew12 said:
I'm curious what the point would be in gassing off nitrates in the 2nd chamber?

Well,
I think the first stage would have too much flow from the recirc pump, but if the second stage could gas off nitrates with the super slow flow, it would be nice to know.

I don't think the media that I run in the second chamber has deep enough pores to create non aerobic conditions, but the large Reborn media might.

And (lol) I just like asking Randy off the wall questions

d2mini · Feb 16, 2018

bubbaque said:
@d2mini how is the ph looking?

My alk was dropping so I ad to readjust the CaRx.
pH dropped back down a little. Still better than before but not as high as I'd like.
It's 7.82 right now and will probably top off at around 7.96.

GoVols · Feb 16, 2018

d2mini said:
My alk was dropping so I ad to readjust the CaRx.
pH dropped back down a little. Still better than before but not as high as I'd like.
It's 7.82 right now and will probably top off at around 7.96.

Figured the ph might drop back down a little, because you'd have to tune to a new (lower) melting point inside the reator, to keep up.

Are you going to try the Co2 scrubber?

d2mini · Feb 16, 2018

GoVols said:
Figured the ph might drop back down a little, because you'd have to tune to a new (lower) melting point inside the reator, to keep up.

Are you going to try the Co2 scrubber?

Yep, just waiting for the carx adjusting to stop and level out so I know what my baseline is.

bubbaque · Feb 16, 2018

Has the new pump for the calcrx been keeping the effluent stable?

d2mini · Feb 17, 2018

bubbaque said:
Has the new pump for the calcrx been keeping the effluent stable?

So far it seems to be doing ok.

Brew12 · Feb 17, 2018

GoVols said:
And (lol) I just like asking Randy off the wall questions

That is fun, up until he pulls out the math and puts on the smack down!

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 17, 2018

Brew12 said:
That is fun, up until he pulls out the math and puts on the smack down!

lol

GoVols · Feb 17, 2018

Brew12 said:
That is fun, up until he pulls out the math and puts on the smack down!

Brew,

(lol)
Randy already knows that I'm Mr Pea...

Always grateful that Randy dumb's down his answers so I can "try"

to understand ;Woot ;Woot

GoVols · Feb 23, 2018

@d2mini
Just checking in to see if you've made some progress with your ph

Thanks, Freddie

d2mini · Feb 23, 2018

GoVols said:
@d2mini
Just checking in to see if you've made some progress with your ph

Thanks, Freddie

Dang it, man!!! I've been the king of instability recently. ;Facepalm
Doing some work under the stand last weekend, I accidentally bumped the needle valve on my regulator, closing it up too much, so not enough c02 could get to the reactor and my Alk dropped.
So now it's on its way back up, which requires EXTRA c02 (i don't currently have anything else to get it higher) so that dropped my ph a bit again.
Currently waiting for things to level out again. I'm stuck in a never ending cycle. lol

GoVols · Feb 23, 2018

d2mini said:
Dang it, man!!! I've been the king of instability recently. ;Facepalm
Doing some work under the stand last weekend, I accidentally bumped the needle valve on my regulator, closing it up too much, so not enough c02 could get to the reactor and my Alk dropped.
So now it's on its way back up, which requires EXTRA c02 (i don't currently have anything else to get it higher) so that dropped my ph a bit again.
Currently waiting for things to level out again. I'm stuck in a never ending cycle. lol

Sorry about that.
You'll get her leveled back out

d2mini · Feb 23, 2018

haha yeah only like a 1dkh drop so nothing harmful but still annoying and hampering my progress.

Want2BS8ed · Feb 27, 2018

Dennis, any update?

Have to admit, the replumb has exceeded expectations. 2-1/2 weeks in; still no color change in the media and pH has stayed rock steady between set points. There has actually been a net gain of liquid, so it's definitely feeding humid air into the CO2 scrubber.

Hope you're meeting with similar success.

M

d2mini · Mar 10, 2018

So come to find out my salinity was sky high... around 40ppt.
I got it down to 1.0256 and now my ph has shot up to 8.3 as a high.
A far cry from a high of around 7.9-8.
So was it the high salt levels that was making it drop so low???

Stupid calibration fluid!

GoVols · Mar 10, 2018

d2mini said:
So come to find out my salinity was sky high... around 40ppt.
I got it down to 1.0256 and now my ph has shot up to 8.3 as a high.
A far cry from a high of around 7.9-8.
So was it the high salt levels that was making it drop so low???

Stupid calibration fluid!

Dennis,
Congrats!!!

This was a really great thread and thanks for starting it

Freddie

2una · Mar 10, 2018

d2mini said:
So come to find out my salinity was sky high... around 40ppt.
I got it down to 1.0256 and now my ph has shot up to 8.3 as a high.
A far cry from a high of around 7.9-8.
So was it the high salt levels that was making it drop so low???

Stupid calibration fluid!

That's pretty interesting ,higher salinity lower photosynthesis maybe? so less co2 uptake,(shrug)