Raise ph with an air stone??

MarshallB · Dec 28, 2020

Paul31733 said:
It would just be a furnace duct I would wrap it around a few times. Don't think they get melting hot...

I'd say its worth a shot. If you use an adjustable stone or pump then you could also lower the amount of air moving through the tube thus giving it more contact time with a higher temp before entering the tank.

davidcalgary29 · Dec 28, 2020

Paul31733 said:
Can I use a carbon scrubber without a skimmer?

Do you have a media reactor with a pump? Are you handy and do you have spare parts? You can probably make one with an airpump + aquarium filter and cartridge.

Paul31733 · Dec 28, 2020

davidcalgary29 said:
Do you have a medica reactor with a pump? Are you handy and do you have spare parts? You can probably make one with an airpump + aquarium filter and cartridge.

I am handy... I'm a mechanic... Not many spare parts though

davidcalgary29 · Dec 28, 2020

Aquarium depot is having a sale on the icecap scrubbers right now. Maybe someone else can chime in, but it might be feasible to have a pump>scrubber>airstone build that could achieve the same effect. I'm not sure how you could do a recirculating system with something like that, but at least it's something. I'm going to try that with one of my scrubbers to see if it works, although I do have a protein skimmer.

Uncle99 · Dec 28, 2020

I live in Canada and even at 40 below, tank does not cool, bringing in outside air to the skimmer.

I open a couple of windows near the tank for 5 minutes, even at 40 below, twice per week. This allows the room to exchange CO2 and more oxygen rich outside air. I leave my exhaust fans on regularly. Good for PH, and good for humans too.

I have a small fan blowing across the water surface, as well as two power heads churning the surface.

This gives me a daytime PH of 8.3 and night, 8.1

davidcalgary29 · Dec 28, 2020

Uncle99 said:
I live in Canada and even at 40 below, tank does not cool, bringing in outside air to the skimmer.

I open a couple of windows near the tank for 5 minutes, even at 40 below, twice per week. This allows the room to exchange CO2 and more oxygen rich outside air. I leave my exhaust fans on regularly. Good for PH, and good for humans too.

I have a small fan blowing across the water surface, as well as two power heads churning the surface.

This gives me a daytime PH of 8.3 and night, 8.1

Leaving windows open in winter? Now that's daring!

I have a closed canopy on my Fluval, though, and don't want to lose it immediately because it really does cut down on evaporation loss, and I don't have an ATO...Great numbers, though.

Paul31733 · Dec 28, 2020

I have ordered an air pump to run a line from outside and around my furnace duct. I will update this thread after I see a few days of results.

garbled · Dec 28, 2020

Be aware that a very long airline of thin diameter will be very difficult to draw air through the longer it gets. You might need to open it up and use like 3/8" tubing or something and then narrow it down to 1/8" at the pump. Not sure. Depending on the pump and the length of the tube, you might have to fiddle. Hopefully it works for you!

Paul31733 · Dec 28, 2020

garbled said:
Be aware that a very long airline of thin diameter will be very difficult to draw air through the longer it gets. You might need to open it up and use like 3/8" tubing or something and then narrow it down to 1/8" at the pump. Not sure. Depending on the pump and the length of the tube, you might have to fiddle. Hopefully it works for you!

I am gonna try first just straight outside and monitor tank temp. I will only try extra long/furnace duct if I have to.
Thank you for your advice!

Reef. · Dec 28, 2020

Sounds interesting, hope it works.

would using an air stone introduce micro bubbles into the tank?

Paul31733 · Dec 28, 2020

Reef. said:
Sounds interesting, hope it works.

would using an air stone introduce micro bubbles into the tank?

I don't know I have read of people using them for power outages.. It says for marine use..? Beats me.

Reef. · Dec 28, 2020

Paul31733 said:
I don't know I have read of people using them for power outages.. It says for marine use..? Beats me.

if you can put it in the first Chamber, time the bubble make their way to the display they could be gone?

MarshallB · Dec 28, 2020

Paul31733 said:
I have ordered an air pump to run a line from outside and around my furnace duct. I will update this thread after I see a few days of results.

Reef. said:
Sounds interesting, hope it works.

would using an air stone introduce micro bubbles into the tank?

It will. There are varies diffusers you can order on amazon to reduce/control the bubble spread.

Reef. · Dec 28, 2020

MarshallB said:
It will. There are varies diffusers you can order on amazon to reduce/control the bubble spread.

don’t sumps control micro bubbles with baffles and sponges, is that what you mean by diffusers?

davidcalgary29 · Dec 28, 2020

garbled said:
Be aware that a very long airline of thin diameter will be very difficult to draw air through the longer it gets. You might need to open it up and use like 3/8" tubing or something and then narrow it down to 1/8" at the pump. Not sure. Depending on the pump and the length of the tube, you might have to fiddle. Hopefully it works for you!

I was thinking that perhaps a dual outlet air pump -- connecting a single airtube with a Y--connector -- might provide enough airflow to overcome some resistance from the long tube length.

Rickybobby · Dec 28, 2020

Why don’t you install the Fluval ps2 skimmer? I have one in chamber one. Works great!

davidcalgary29 · Dec 28, 2020

Rickybobby said:
Why don’t you install the Fluval ps2 skimmer? I have one in chamber one. Works great!

This is what I'm getting for my Evo. It's eighty bucks (at its cheapest) in Canada, though, so it's reasonable to consider cheaper DIY options.

Paul31733 · Dec 28, 2020

Rickybobby said:
Why don’t you install the Fluval ps2 skimmer? I have one in chamber one. Works great!

If I purchase that could I run an airline from outside? I don't know anything about skimmers sorry.

josephxsxn · Dec 28, 2020

I run my airline to the skimmer from outside over about 30 feet of line and have yet to see any real impact on tank temperature (seen 20f so far as the low), my heater is more then able to handle it. Wouldn't be surprised if the airline warms some while traveling into the house. Beware that the longer the distance that it has to draw the air down the less that really is getting drawn in so I am told.

If your interested in trying to understand more of the relationship between PH DKH and CO2 I made some tables here. You can find your current PH and DKH to understand the level of CO2 in your tank and compare it to the ocean. While it wont help much depending on how high or low your DKH is you may be able to increase it by 1 DKH to get about a 0.1 PH increase as shown on the tables, this is not always true if you already have a higher DKH. Of course improved gas exchange with a lower source of CO2 will net the largest improvement.

CO2SYS Marine Tank Table for PH/DKH/CO2

Some of you may have seen a planted tank table I have passed around that shows the relationship between CO2, DKH and PH. Personally this table has really helped me understand my system better hence my attempts to share it. By having my DKH supplement on a doser, skimmer set schedule with outdoor...

www.reef2reef.com

Paul31733 · Dec 28, 2020

I was under the impression a skimmer was much more expensive then this. I just ordered the ps2 skimmer from big Al's. I pick it up tomorrow.

I have the air stone in right now I will check to see how it works tonight anyways... In the name of science!!!