CO2 Scrubber Question

[BestMomEver]

Got the media. Got the container. Got all hoses and fittings. Question... I’ve seen some use an air pump for “injecting” fresh air into the reactor. I thought the action of she skimmer drew air through the reactor. Do I need a pump?

 

[EmdeReef]

I don’t use a pump, just connected to my skimmer’s air intake. Not sure what would be the benefit of an air pump tbh, your skimmer can only draw so much air...an air pump would just deplete the media faster, unless you mean running the line outside? In that case can skip the reactor altogether.

You should make sure there’s moist air coming through the media though.

 

[ndrwater]

You shouldn't.

 

[hatfielj]

No you don't need a pump. Your skimmer may have to work a little harder to pull the air through all that media and tubing, etc. But, you should be able to adjust the skimmer to continue skimming normally once it's all hooked up. I'm guessing people are adding air pumps because they have especially long air lines running outside of their house, etc.

 

[BestMomEver]

Ok. Thanks. I hooked it up and it seems fine. Oddly, my skimmer is working better. Now let’s see if the pH comes up!

 

[mitch91175]

Ok. Thanks. I hooked it up and it seems fine. Oddly, my skimmer is working better. Now let’s see if the pH comes up!

pH should definitely increase. If you run a dual chamber CO2 scrubber, it works even better.

 

[Wrasse-cal]

I’ve seen some use an air pump for “injecting” fresh air into the reactor.

I don't have one on my scrubber. I'm curious though what you've seen regarding an air pump being used in this manner. Do you mean with a scrubber?

 

[3mm3]

pH should definitely increase. If you run a dual chamber CO2 scrubber, it works even better.

Getting ready to add second chamber to my system.

 

[Wrasse-cal]

Getting ready to add second chamber to my system.

Did that. It helped.

 

[BestMomEver]

I might eventually too. I can’t seem to get my pH above 7.6 or so. I’m hoping this will fix it!

 

[mitch91175]

I might eventually too. I can’t seem to get my pH above 7.6 or so. I’m hoping this will fix it!

That’s crazy that you cannot get it above 7.6 even with a single scrubber. What was it prior to adding the scrubber, like 7.4?

 

[hatfielj]

Got the media. Got the container. Got all hoses and fittings. Question... I’ve seen some use an air pump for “injecting” fresh air into the reactor. I thought the action of she skimmer drew air through the reactor. Do I need a pump?

I got mine hooked up tonight too! Hoping to see some improvement with the higher pH. Black line leads outside currently. I might change this, havent decided yet. I guess we’ll see what the numbers look like.

 

[ca1ore]

Although I don't use one anymore, having the scrubber pull in fresh rather than room air may extend the life of the media. Cannot see why an air pump,would be needed; just oversize the hose runs.

 

[roberthu526]

I might eventually too. I can’t seem to get my pH above 7.6 or so. I’m hoping this will fix it!

You may want to check your probe. It sounds off to me that your PH is that low.

 

[BestMomEver]

Don’t use a probe. Use Salifert. Hanna probe was so difficult I just quit using it. I might get a pinpoint at some point.

We live just outside Mobile, Alabama and we never open our doors in the summer. AC costs too much and the bugs here are too big! The tank is in the interior of the house so running a hose somewhere isn’t possible without going through the ceiling. It would take miles of tubing to get to the outside. There’s four adults, one toddler, and three dogs here in the house and we typically congregate in the room where the tank is. I think the scrubber is the only realistic way to fix this right now.

I’ve thought about an Apex with the pH probe and all the bells and whistles but I just can’t bring myself to spend $1000. There’s too many ther things that need that money. I’ll see how this works... how long will it take before I see a change in pH?

 

[Dude60415]

This is interesting. I have family in Mobile Alabama.

I keep my ph up with a wooden air stone on a aqua lifter pulling outside air in. And the skimmer intake is also outside. Ive avg 8.4 ph even in the winter doing this. I was going to run about 30ft of of but I just drilled a hole to the outside. The air lines sit in a PVC pipe and there's a bit of filter floss and some carbon in the end cap.

 

[JRAD]

Don’t use a probe. Use Salifert. Hanna probe was so difficult I just quit using it. I might get a pinpoint at some point.

We live just outside Mobile, Alabama and we never open our doors in the summer. AC costs too much and the bugs here are too big! The tank is in the interior of the house so running a hose somewhere isn’t possible without going through the ceiling. It would take miles of tubing to get to the outside. There’s four adults, one toddler, and three dogs here in the house and we typically congregate in the room where the tank is. I think the scrubber is the only realistic way to fix this right now.

I’ve thought about an Apex with the pH probe and all the bells and whistles but I just can’t bring myself to spend $1000. There’s too many ther things that need that money. I’ll see how this works... how long will it take before I see a change in pH?

I just hooked my scrubber yesterday. My ph has gone from 7.5 to 7.9 overnight. Monitoring with apex ph probe.

 

[marlinmon]

Although I don't use one anymore, having the scrubber pull in fresh rather than room air may extend the life of the media. Cannot see why an air pump,would be needed; just oversize the hose runs.

Depending on your skimmer you may need an air pump. I have a Tunze 9410 and have to use an air pump to make it work. Most skimmers don’t need one...

 

[Mrx7899]

I run my scrubber intake line back into my skimmer cup the moist air helps the media last longer.

 

[Chad3407]

I run my scrubber intake line back into my skimmer cup the moist air helps the media last longer.

Same thing I did and my media last 4 times longer .