An Easy Way to Increase Your Tank's pH with a CO2 Scrubber

[recess62]

I have a Biocube 29 with skimmer. Would this work if I installed it between the air pump and skimmer. I do not see a way to use it in the air intake of the pump

 

[helldiver]

Go to the grocery store and get pickeling lime. Cheaper and is the same thing.

I Do not feel the same way sir please read what is in kalk+ it has basic elements and no need to does mag or Sr

 

[jelly]

I have looked at it. It's the same thing. If the bottle you buy as extra stuff then it was added. Kalk Wasser measures lime water in German. There are alot of people who use pickeling lime and a product labeled as keli. It's far cheaper. But your entitled to your opinion as am i. So we can't fault each other for it.

 

[Jakepen]

Where do I get the tubing to run from my skimmer?

 

[neuwave]

Where do I get the tubing to run from my skimmer?

Got my tubing from lowes.

 

[Jakepen]

Alright I'll check there. Do most skimmers take the same size hose? Don't know how to measure that

 

[seanthecity]

Very helpful. Going to give it a try.

 

[danielh]

Does this still do much if you're running kalkwasser in your ATO?

 

[morpheas]

Just wanted to share my experience here. I made the same thing with a Gatorade bottle exactly as described with one difference. Instead of on the cap putting the tubing in and securing it, I made a whole big enough to thread a 1/4 male NPT to barb converter and then (although it was tight enough) I used hot glue to secure/air-tight it.


The picture is not very clear but I hope you can see it.

This system has been running for the third day now and the results are pretty encouraging. The bottle was filled on the evening of June 5th. Below you will see the pH as measured for that day and a couple of days later.


The pH peak before the scrubber was around 8.12.


The pH min was around 7.89. Here I should note that the lights come on at noon.
After installing the scrubber:

The max was 8.26

The min was 8.03.
I should also note that the small spike caused at the max points is because of the alkalinity buffer dosing.

All in all, it has worked very satisfactory for me. It remains to be seen if the media will hold long enough to make it economically feasible for the long run. Also, I suspect, as the time goes by that range might shift a little higher.

Thanks OP for your suggestion on this diy reactor!

 

[jason2459]

I Do not feel the same way sir please read what is in kalk+ it has basic elements and no need to does mag or Sr

Sorry, but Kalk+ is not a realistic product and is falsely advertised. I do not trust that company one bit because of things like that. It's not their only misleading product.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2003/12/chemistry

and a discussion on kalk+
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/best-kalk-stirrer-brands-types.225280/#post-2606203

 

[jason2459]

FWIW I use fully saturated limewater on a timer that doses for 1 second every 2 minutes which is well under my evap rate during the lowest evaporation rate of the year. I do this to keep a steady stream to keep alk extremely steady and as a side is a prime aid to my pH.

I have to keep my house closed up year round due to lots of allergies so pH is usually pretty low. Dipping to low 7.8's or lower at night. High 7.8 to low 7.9's during the day. That's with out limewater and my CO2 scrubber. My CO2 scrubber could be any kind of container as shown through out this thread but I use a BRS reactor I never used.

With the limewater dosing and CO2 scrubber my ph is around 8.1's at night now for a low and 8.3's for the day highs. I also do have an ATS running mainly through the night and some during the light hours that does help a bit.

I just posted this here in my skimmer review thread how I combine my ozone use and CO2 scrubber with my skimmer.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/mtc-mvx-skimmer-review.252436/page-4#post-3101922

I had a question on my ozone setup and use. I've posted this before so most of this will be a copy paste.


You certainly don't need much ozone to produce results. I've also found very small amounts to help skimmer production while higher amounts hinder a good dense foam production. Some people will only run ozone for a couple hours right after lights on with great results.

I have used a 50mg/l redsea aquazone for years and have it down to running 25% for around 200 gallon system volume. That is a very small amount and poses little risk to fish even if GAC wasn't used. I do have a bag of GAC (ROX 0.8) sitting in front of my skimmer's output as a precaution. I do feel it acts like a flocculant at that small amount along with being an oxidizing agent. As others have said it's only one small part to maintaining my system.

More importantly though is that ozone isn't released into the atmosphere for you or anyone else in the house to breath in. (another reason I like very small amounts.) If using a skimmer as a reactor put bags of carbon over the collection cup if there's holes. I used to tape the holes up with duct tape except one of them and shoved my skimmer's airline in it to draw in any excess ozone air back into the skimmer. Lifereef skimmer do this already. My current skimmer is sealed on top with no holes so I don't have to worry about that part (MTC MVX).

Waterkeeper pointed me to these articles a few moons ago and should be read by anyone looking to use ozone.

Ozone and the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley Parts 1, 2, and 3
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-03/rhf/index.php

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-04/rhf/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-05/rhf/index.php



Posted this just recently but shows how I used to duct tape the holes on top except one to suck back into the skimmer any unused ozone.

The MTC MVX is sealed with a rubber gasket and screwed down. No holes on top.

Now for how I have it all setup airline wise.

I use a T to split off and control freshair flow and airflow from the ozone generator. And you'll see I also use a CO2 scrubber pre ozone generator.

The sodalime CO2 scrubber actually does two things for me. It acts to reduce CO2 going into the skimmer which helps elevate my tanks pH slightly but it also drys the air some as well which makes the ozone generator more efficient.

I T off the air flow going through both the CO2 scrubber and ozone generator as the generator doesn't need that much flow and would actually restrict airflow if I didn't T off and restricting the air flow through the scrubber increases its life as the sodalime would be exhausted much faster if pulling 100% of the air draw through it and I found it doesn't help increase pH that much more doing so.

So
Air in > scrubber > generator > T > skimmer
Air in > T > skimmer.

If that wasn't confusing here's a picture of the airlines which may or may not help clear that up. And you'll love my way of connecting some of these hoses...shoving one into another. Im not concerned with airtight as the air flow through the generator is less then the total airflow.

Air in

Sceubber to generator

Generator to T

Air in to T and T to skimmer

And my ozone generator is controlled by my apex. Monitoring orp should be done when using ozone.

Fallback OFF
If DT_ORP < 400 Then ON
If DT_ORP > 425 Then OFF
If Outlet skimmer_7_5 = OFF Then OFF

 

[Ponraj A]

Thanks for this nice DIY to increase the pH. I did in my tank and its about a week now and my pH has gone from 7.9 to 8.1. Thanks for this good suggestion.

 

[Raddock]

Parts/tools needed-

• pelletized soda lime
• a clean, clear plastic container with cap
• drill
• drill bits
• super glue
• silicon
• airline tubing that fits your skimmer's air intake
• beer
• screws (optional)
• C-clamp (optional)
• hacksaw (optional)

I didn't see where to drink the beer? I"m guessing while the silicone dries.

 

[nex64]

Yeah this thread is great, can't live without my scrubber

 

[Steve Tobias]

This is great stuff! As I am diving deeper and deeper into this passion one of the best elements of the hobby is the tinkering! From the chemistry, to the mechanics, to the technology, to building the environment for happy and healthy inhabitants has been everything I love about all of this. Your post is exactly the type of thing I look forward to seeing and determining how and if it will help me out. Really appreciate the time put into the post.

 

[renato120]

Sodalime didnt work for me! Did not raise my PH. What it did, was.... I use to dose once a day. I changed to every 3 hours less dosing. Not just my parameters was more stable but everytime I dose my PH would go higher. PH Now is around 8.1/8.3
Before it was 7.7/7.8

 

[moink]

I didn't see where to drink the beer? I"m guessing while the silicone dries.

Yea I was wondering that my self also. I guess you are right you drink the beer while the silicone dries

 

[Aceone]

Following

 

[justingraham]

Sodalime didnt work for me! Did not raise my PH. What it did, was.... I use to dose once a day. I changed to every 3 hours less dosing. Not just my parameters was more stable but everytime I dose my PH would go higher. PH Now is around 8.1/8.3
Before it was 7.7/7.8

Can u explain this I'm trying to figure it out but I'm lost thanks

 

[renato120]

Can u explain this I'm trying to figure it out but I'm lost thanks

ALK raises PH. If you have a doser, instead of dose once a day, you dose every three hours small amounts. Make sure you do the same with CA.
My doser starts at 12am/3am/6am....... And it goes...... It doses for 8min. Not sure how many ml. Dose CA 30min after. 12:30/3:30...... Make sure you dont dose the same amount as you dose once a day. Brake that in a 24hrs period. Let me know if you understood.