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

[neuwave]

correct, my initial intent was to control ph but upon further review of Bruce's implementation, that is wrong. I will do it as he has. Unfortunately, the c02 has almost 0 impact on my pH so that is clearly not the problem but a waste of about 100 bucks and a lot of time reading. Live and learn - always in this hobby. I like the idea of Kalk in a stirrer and it's benefits for the tank. I dont know why my results w/the c02 sucked so bad. It's pretty disappointing but I guess I have a spare reactor if I ever need it.

Well, to be clear CO2 has everything to do with pH. There was just something that interfered with allowing the CO2 scrubber you used from removing enough CO2 from your tank for you to notice a difference. Do you have a lot of surface agitation? CO2 in your house could be extremely high. You can do an aerating cup pH test with it in your house for at least 15 minutes. And then take outside for at least 15 minutes.

I'm not very familiar with Ca reactors as I've never needed to use one but couldn't they also potentially drive down pH?

How fast did the Sodalime change colors to purple? You should easily start seeing a change at the bottom in a couple hours. My BRS reactor full of sodalime lasts a few days to a week depending on how much air flow I dial it in to.

Jason is correct that CO2 directly impacts your ph. From the looks of it your not having enough air contact time with the media. Especially with that high of a air flow between 650 to 900 lph. Since we don't know what level of co2 is present in your house we have to estimate. The speed of the air flowing over your media and contact time the air has with the media. I would have suggested with your setup to use two canisters piped in parallel. Allowing for more contact time.

Here is an example setup.

Connection of canisters:

 

[jepuskar]

I am currently running a CO2 scrubber from BRS, single canister, using it inline with my airline ran from the inside. Gives me another .1 - .15 increase in PH so I run 8.2 with a CO2 level of 1000ppm in the house...not to bad.
The OP mention AirGas...I just called my local Airgas store and they had no idea what I was talking about. Where do you guys get yours? The 1 canister lasted a week, even with ~300ppm Co2 running through it. I do run my skimmer 24/7, so I'm looking to source this cheaper.

Thanks,

 

[Aceone]

I get the 3lbs bags at shopmedvet.com at $8.95. I usually get 6 and last about 3-4 months. Anywhere cheaper please let me know LOL

 

[jason2459]

I get the 5 gallon from MedVet which makes it cheaper

http://www.shopmedvet.com/product/soda-lime-5-gallon-JOR553B

 

[jason2459]

MedVet is where I got mine. I use a T and a valve to adjust the amount of air going through the CO2 scrubber and has extended it's usefulness quite a bit.

Also, it is color changing but I don't change it out right when I see the purple to the top. I'll shake it a bit as there's still some in there unreacted fully and watch my pH from there. Once it drifts down more I change it out.

This is the link to the 5 gallon jug (~36lbs). It shows a bag but pictured below is what I got.
http://www.shopmedvet.com/product/soda-lime-5-gallon-JOR553B

I bought this 5g jug of Sodalime from Medvet July 16th 2015 and only about 3/4 through it.

 

[neuwave]

I get the 5 gallon from MedVet which makes it cheaper

http://www.shopmedvet.com/product/soda-lime-5-gallon-JOR553B

That's a pretty good price. Roughly w/shipping that's $2.62 a pound. As long the 5 gallon totals 37lbs of media. Air as has told me a couple years ago they were no longer selling the sodalime and selling off their remaining stock. Wish they didn't because once I get was able to haggle the price down to $60 for a 5 gallon bucket (37lbs). They never had a solid set price. Sometimes you can find eBay sale for 32lbs with free shipping which comes out to $2.50 a lb.

 

[Trizzino]

I will be converting my extra TLF phosban reactor into a co2 reactor after reading through this thread. I'm interested to see how it goes!

 

[Ponraj A]

Hi all,
I was running and CO2 scrubber in my phosban reactor and now the problem is I have changed my skimmer from SRO 3000 to Skimz SN163 only due to the DC motor purpose. Now I dont know how to connect it to the air intake as it has a screw in the top. Anyone having any suggestion on how to connect it with the CO2 scrubber or shall i connect the motor air intake directly to the CO2 scrubber. Please help.

 

[Aceone]

Just take the screw out and attach the hose of the scrubber to it.

 

[Rick Mathew]

I have done this and it works well...1.5-2 point increase in pH..you have to pay attention to the cartridge so when it is about 1/2 used up I take the good stuff from the top and add some new to it and discard the expended material...otherwise I would start getting a drop in pH...BRS has done a nice video on this

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/video...ease-coral-growth-52-weeks-of-reefing-brs160/

 

[randyBRS]

Hi all,
I was running and CO2 scrubber in my phosban reactor and now the problem is I have changed my skimmer from SRO 3000 to Skimz SN163 only due to the DC motor purpose. Now I dont know how to connect it to the air intake as it has a screw in the top. Anyone having any suggestion on how to connect it with the CO2 scrubber or shall i connect the motor air intake directly to the CO2 scrubber. Please help.

Alternatively, you can remove the silencer entirely and run the air line directly to the scrubber. The scrubber is a pretty effective silencer itself. Plus, if you throw a ball valve somewhere on the line it will be just as adjustable as the throttle screw on the silencer

 

[Ponraj A]

Just take the screw out and attach the hose of the scrubber to it.

Hi Thank you for the suggestion, I will install it in this ways as it looks much better.

 

[Ponraj A]

Alternatively, you can remove the silencer entirely and run the air line directly to the scrubber. The scrubber is a pretty effective silencer itself. Plus, if you throw a ball valve somewhere on the line it will be just as adjustable as the throttle screw on the silencer

Thank you for your suggestion and support.

 

[FLSharkvictim]

I just bought an Avast Kalk Stirrer to keep everything in check! I haven't got it yet since I just placed the order a few days ago. Here is a pix of what it looks like.

 

[dangros]

@FLSharkvictim, I have the same one

 

[leptang]

I have been thinking of building a reactor to hook up my skimmer using Snake Plant a.k.a. Mother-In-Law’s Tongue: Of all the different oxygen producing plants, this one is unique since it converts a lot of CO2 (carbon dioxide) to O2 (oxygen) at night, making it ideal to have several in your bedroom. 6-8 waist high plants are needed per person to survive if there is no air flow (meaning you could live in a completely air sealed room if you had these plants and the Areca Palms present). The snake plant also removes formaldehyde from the air.

 

[jason2459]

Interesting plant. I might look into this and if anything its nice looking. I have a perfect spot for one in my basement where my sump is to try it out.

 

[leptang]

I was thinking of throwing it in some kind of clear box or large clear tube with a skimmer line attached

 

[porterreef]

I have been thinking about what I should do to raise my ph in my tank it rarely goes over 8.1 and it makes me nuts because I want that higher pH. I was going to get some CO2 scrubbing pellets but I can't seem to find a good local source. My next thought was what type of plants did well in a low light environment so I wouldn't be slowly killing the plant just to get some more O2 in the tank. I shall look into the snake plant seems like a winner!

 

[Rick Mathew]

I have been thinking about what I should do to raise my ph in my tank it rarely goes over 8.1 and it makes me nuts because I want that higher pH. I was going to get some CO2 scrubbing pellets but I can't seem to find a good local source. My next thought was what type of plants did well in a low light environment so I wouldn't be slowly killing the plant just to get some more O2 in the tank. I shall look into the snake plant seems like a winner!

Here are two sources I use..-.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-color-changing-medical-grade-co2-absorbent.html

http://www.shopmedvet.com/product/soda-lime-3-lb-bag/jorgensen-products-anesthesia-products

Both seem to do the job