pH toooooo low!

[Drauka99]

Most of the newer construction garages around here are remarkably well sealed for garages. I doubt it would help much better, but definitely could.

I was speaking more to the idea of a simple air pump introducing air from the same room of the house helping.

 

[bubbaque]

I didn't reply to his response to not hijack the thread but will address it really quickly. With his frag tank in the garage it should get fresher air. If the water flow went display, sump, frag tank, display tank then I felt it should have helped pH since the fresher garage air would have stripped out the extra CO2 from the skimmer.

Most of the newer construction garages around here are remarkably well sealed for garages. I doubt it would help much better, but definitely could.

I was speaking more to the idea of a simple air pump introducing air from the same room of the house helping.

My flow goes display tank, garage frag tank, garage refugium and then returns to sump inside the house to start all over.

I am home all day so I leave the garage open to get fresh air.

Dennis, I'm curious what results you get. I already use a second chamber for my calcrx and have the hose to skimmer.

I don't really see a negative so far with low ph but just reading about the effects of ph on a reef tank is what got me worried.

 

[2una]

Do you have a spare skimmer about & room to put it in the sump - if so give that a try,

To combat my low ph i do all this crazy:
2 x skimmers BM D9 + Ati powercone 200 + a 3rd small one(cupless) the carx effluent drops into.
Both larger skimmers on co2 scrubbers - 2 x larger RO cannisters
600L tank dose 2L/day kalk via a stirrer 24/7 thru Dos
2nd chamber on carx doesn't give me much increase 0.1 is all.

 

[rushbattle]

Do you have a spare skimmer about & room to put it in the sump - if so give that a try,

To combat my low ph i do all this crazy:
2 x skimmers BM D9 + Ati powercone 200 + a 3rd small one(cupless) the carx effluent drops into.
Both larger skimmers on co2 scrubbers - 2 x larger RO cannisters
600L tank dose 2L/day kalk via a stirrer 24/7 thru Dos
2nd chamber on carx doesn't give me much increase 0.1 is all.

I was just about to post about injecting the CaRx effluent into a skimmer for offgassing! Do you have fresh outside air run to that skimmer?

 

[hart24601]

I love kalk. I have always run kalk on my tanks for the pH benefit even though I use 2 part. I am a huge fan of kalk and run it independently of the ATO. I just have a doser run and add an amount I know is under the daily evaporation amount.

 

[2una]

I was just about to post about injecting the CaRx effluent into a skimmer for offgassing! Do you have fresh outside air run to that skimmer?

Its just outside cabinet air it draws ,
All the skimmers do is just force out the carbonic acid because i think with a carx the outside air co2 is lower than what the carx is creating in the water therefore it helps...aerating & the resultant is less carbonic acid ....that's what i THINKS happening.
I did see someone post on here they added another skimmer & it made no difference so its not a solution for every tank but it definitely works for me, if i see my ph is lower than norm it's the 1st place i go look that a skimmer hasn't stopped.
I run dastaco carx which is fixed ph & dumps in 6.1 ph effluent

 

[bubbaque]

I just ordered that ERV. I hope it makes a difference, fingers crossed!

 

[GoVols]

I just ordered that ERV. I hope it makes a difference, fingers crossed!

Holy - ;Cow

Fingers crossed for you!!!

 

[bubbaque]

Holy - ;Cow

Fingers crossed for you!!!

It's not too much money, it's worth a try.

 

[GoVols]

It's not to much money, it's worth a try.

Heck,
I love ya!!!

 

[Scorpius]

I run consistently around 7.8-8.0 ph in the winter which I never used to be able to do. In the past I'd see 7.6-7.7 this time of year. With the windows open I can get above 8.0 ph all day every day. The only difference now is that I have every available area of my tank packed with coral.

My house has new windows and it is sealed up nice and tight. I tried a refugium on a reverse light cycle and C02 scrubber media. Nether worked very well and one was way too expensive so I ran an airline outside to feed my skimmer. The fresh airline to the skimmer is not a perfect solution either, but I think it keeps my ph from falling below 7.7 and helps it get to around 7.9 during the day.

It is what it is. I try not to fret about it anymore. If your coral are alive and well with any amount of growth I'd leave it be.

 

[Scorpius]

I know it can get super cold out, but opening a window for 15-20 mins a day might help. An HRV is an expensive, but permanent solution.

http://nationalpost.com/life/homes/...in-winter-for-the-good-of-your-familys-health

 

[GoVols]

I run consistently around 7.8-8.0 ph in the winter which I never used to be able to do. In the past I'd see 7.6-7.7 this time of year. With the windows open I can get above 8.0 ph all day every day. The only difference now is that I have every available area of my tank packed with coral.

My house has new windows and it is sealed up nice and tight. I tried a refugium on a reverse light cycle and C02 scrubber media. Nether worked very well and one was way too expensive so I ran an airline outside to feed my skimmer. The fresh airline to the skimmer is not a perfect solution either, but I think it keeps my ph from falling below 7.7 and helps it get to around 7.9 during the day.

It is what it is. I try not to fret about it anymore. If your coral are alive and well with any amount of growth I'd leave it be.

I piped my skimmers air intake into the garage a few years back and got better results too.

Got a .2 increase in ph.

Guess we all know that getting the trapped in Co2 out of a home is a no-brainer.

 

[d2mini]

So last night I recalibrated just to be sure, and then I modified a spare refillable DI cartridge I had laying around to hold extra media and the output line from my CaRx and put that in the sump. So created my own DIY second chamber. So far, this morning's reading is the exact same as yesterday morning. 7.57

 

[Want2BS8ed]

I just ordered that ERV. I hope it makes a difference, fingers crossed!

Tagging to see how that works for you. Please keep us posted!

M

 

[d2mini]

Question about c02 scrubbers... I would hook it up to the venturi of my skimmer, correct? So the venturi is pulling the air through the scrubber?
But it would be pulling room air, right? What is the point of that? Don't I want to remove the co2 from the water instead of my room air?
Currently my venturi is pulling air from my skimmer cup.

 

[bubbaque]

Tagging to see how that works for you. Please keep us posted!

M

I definitely will. The total cost for all the parts has been $440. I figured it was worth trying as a kalk stirrer isn't to far from that price and at least the ERV gives fresh air to the whole house.

 

[bubbaque]

Question about c02 scrubbers... I would hook it up to the venturi of my skimmer, correct? So the venturi is pulling the air through the scrubber?
But it would be pulling room air, right? What is the point of that? Don't I want to remove the co2 from the water instead of my room air?
Currently my venturi is pulling air from my skimmer cup.

The co2 media scrubs the co2 from the room air to mix with the skimmer. If your room air has high co2 currently it just adds co2 to the tank. If you take all the co2 out to add to the skimmer to be mixed your adding less co2.

 

[Brew12]

Question about c02 scrubbers... I would hook it up to the venturi of my skimmer, correct? So the venturi is pulling the air through the scrubber?
But it would be pulling room air, right? What is the point of that? Don't I want to remove the co2 from the water instead of my room air?
Currently my venturi is pulling air from my skimmer cup.

Correct.

The skimmer saturates the water with the air mix from its source. If you remove the CO2 from the skimmer supply it reduces the total CO2 content of your tank, which raises pH.

 

[bubbaque]

Dennis if you have high co2 in your home you will go through a cartridge of the media every 2-3 days. I extended the media life (4 days) by having it pull outside air through it since the co2 is lower but still not zero.