Co2 Scrubber and Skimmer Size

[bcarl77]

Hi,

I have a newer home in FLA and struggle with high Co2 with a family of 3 and two dogs. We open the windows when we can and that helps a great deal. Oxygenated clean SW has a pH of ~8.2 and tank water that has been sitting inside is approx 7.75. I currently dose Kalk and have a recirculating skimmer attached to my MaxSpect Jump Sk400. With windows closed I am struggling to get to 8, and its far to low. Tank size is 250g

The skimmer is sized on the lower end, given the system has a reef mat and algae scrubber however N/P run about 15ppm and 0.2pmm respectively. Has anyone upgraded their skimmer to increase their Co2 scrubbing to have more airflow to counteract the absorption from the surface? Considering moving to the Reef Octopus 2000.

 

[mcarroll]

Verify your findings with a cheap CO2 meter. Amazon has them.

If household CO2 is really that high, then the tank is not the correct thing to be worrying about....the people in the house are what you worry about.

"Low pH" has been over-hyped as an issue in the hobby. (Similar to how high pH being desirable has also been over-hyped.) Corals know nothing about the concept, and care very little what the tank's pH is if all other parameters are optimal. Corals control the pH where skeleton formation occurs, not the pH of the tank water. CO2 is a fertilizer for them. So there's really no call for action on that front.

Humans, on the other hand do not fare well under high CO2 conditions....sleep and brain function are among the things affected.

Solving that problem for the house will also solve it for the tank too, of course.

In some cases, it's just an issue in the tank room and leaving the door open or running a fan in the room is all it takes to bring in fresh air from elsewhere in the house.

In one case I know (there's a thread around here on R2R but I can't find it), they called an HVAC company who made a small change to their HVAC system that fixed the issue.

In any case, a co2 scrubber on the tank isn't going to help who really needs the help....save your money on that front. And again, verify your CO2 levels with a CO2 meter – they are cheap and will help with troubleshooting.