CO2 Scrubber

Breakthecycle2 · Jul 21, 2017

justingraham said:
Be careful the uptake is going to shoot up and then shoot down so u will have to test everyday

I wasnt aware. Why is that?

justingraham · Jul 21, 2017

The higher the ph the better the corals will grow
More corals grow more alk and calcium is needed
When the cdx is expired the ph goes down corals don't consume as much alk rises.

Besides seeing what will happen if ur ph is 8.2 there really is no reason to scrub it's more work then anything making sure ur doseing the proper amount that is being consumed.

Breakthecycle2 · Jul 21, 2017

justingraham said:
The higher the ph the better the corals will grow
More corals grow more alk and calcium is needed
When the cdx is expired the ph goes down corals don't consume as much alk rises.

Besides seeing what will happen if ur ph is 8.2 there really is no reason to scrub it's more work then anything making sure ur doseing the proper amount that is being consumed.

No, I meant when I scrub it's 8.2-8.3 otherwise without its 8.0.

justingraham · Jul 21, 2017

Breakthecycle2 said:
No, I meant when I scrub it's 8.2-8.3 otherwise without its 8.0.

Well u will just have to see for urself I guess
If u aren't lower then 7.8 I wouldn't worry about scrubbing to much or I would run a line outside put a fan on top of the sump do other stuff to raise it.

The only reason I will scrub now is because I can see actual growth from day to day on my corals while scrubbing but it is a true pain in the butt to always be chasing the alk consumption and a bit more expensive.

Like I'm on vacation right now so I stopped the scrubbing and in the past three weeks my alk consumption has been the same it is so much easier then changing it day to day.

But once again it's ur tank and for u to figure out what is best.

What is ur main reason for scrubbing?

Breakthecycle2 · Jul 21, 2017

justingraham said:
Well u will just have to see for urself I guess
If u aren't lower then 7.8 I wouldn't worry about scrubbing to much or I would run a line outside put a fan on top of the sump do other stuff to raise it.

The only reason I will scrub now is because I can see actual growth from day to day on my corals while scrubbing but it is a true pain in the butt to always be chasing the alk consumption and a bit more expensive.

Like I'm on vacation right now so I stopped the scrubbing and in the past three weeks my alk consumption has been the same it is so much easier then changing it day to day.

But once again it's ur tank and for u to figure out what is best.

What is ur main reason for scrubbing?

I was hoping to get better coral growth to be honest. Now, I don't know what to do.

justingraham · Jul 21, 2017

Breakthecycle2 said:
I was hoping to get better coral growth to be honest. Now, I don't know what to do.

I think there is another "problem" going on because I still get good growth without scrubbing.

Do u test alk everyday? If so what is ur daily alk consumption I'm at 1 dkh a day. Are ur other params stable? I don't really care about a number I care that that number is constant day to day. What's ur flow like and ur lighting? I turn my tank over close to 120x an hour and run halides where every one of my corals is in the 200-400 par range

Breakthecycle2 · Jul 21, 2017

justingraham said:
I think there is another "problem" going on because I still get good growth without scrubbing.

Do u test alk everyday? If so what is ur daily alk consumption I'm at 1 dkh a day. Are ur other params stable? I don't really care about a number I care that that number is constant day to day. What's ur flow like and ur lighting? I turn my tank over close to 120x an hour and run halides where every one of my corals is in the 200-400 par range

I have gyre150 and a 1600 GPH return pump in 250. My lighting was an issue before. It was too low. I recenty changed the program and slowly brought the number up. I am using 3 Radion G3's. My numbers are pretty stable day to to day.

justingraham · Jul 21, 2017

I also keep my hands out of the tank as much as possible when I started to do that is when everything really started doing well.

And if ur running a calcium reactor and ur alk consumption is less then a dkh a day I just read that that isn't good and u won't get consistancy out of it

Breakthecycle2 · Jul 28, 2017

Well, Im out of ideas and may just ditch it. In 4 days this time, all the media was exhausted.

vanpire · Jul 28, 2017

justingraham said:
I think there is another "problem" going on because I still get good growth without scrubbing.

Do u test alk everyday? If so what is ur daily alk consumption I'm at 1 dkh a day. Are ur other params stable? I don't really care about a number I care that that number is constant day to day. What's ur flow like and ur lighting? I turn my tank over close to 120x an hour and run halides where every one of my corals is in the 200-400 par range

I wonder if you can get even better growth with a higher pH. Or just maybe, you are lucky and do not have a pH problem to start with.

justingraham · Jul 31, 2017

vanpire said:
I wonder if you can get even better growth with a higher pH. Or just maybe, you are lucky and do not have a pH problem to start with.

My ph is at 8.3 constitantly so I don't have a ph problem
And when I did scrub my tank ph was around 8.5-8.6 and the growth was undeniable

justingraham · Jul 31, 2017

Breakthecycle2 said:
Well, Im out of ideas and may just ditch it. In 4 days this time, all the media was exhausted.

Something isn't right then put a picture up of how u have it set up please

Breakthecycle2 · Jul 31, 2017

justingraham said:
Something isn't right then put a picture up of how u have it set up please

I sold it, BUT I ordered another one now. lol. It seems in talking to the person I sold it too, its possible I was running two much CO2 through my calcium reactor.

justingraham · Jul 31, 2017

Breakthecycle2 said:
I sold it, BUT I ordered another one now. lol. It seems in talking to the person I sold it too, its possible I was running two much CO2 through my calcium reactor.

U hooked it up to ur calcium reactor not ur skimmer?

Breakthecycle2 · Jul 31, 2017

justingraham said:
U hooked it up to ur calcium reactor not ur skimmer?

No, of course not. It was hooked to the skimmer.

bubbaque · Jul 31, 2017

4 days seems like it could happen. I only get 5 out of mine.

Breakthecycle2 · Jul 31, 2017

bubbaque said:
4 days seems like it could happen. I only get 5 out of mine.

Only 4?

bubbaque · Jul 31, 2017

I have to change mine on the 5th day. I was only getting 1 day before I added humidity to the inlet of the hose. Size of the skimmer for sure matters, on my smaller tank after 2 weeks it only used maybe 10% of the media.

1stNoel · Mar 30, 2019

I know this is an old thread, but I just started using this media. Does the media turn a dark purple when it's expended?

I'm noticing a slight purple hue on some of the media, but you can only tell if you shine a light into the reactor. I would think it'd be more of a discernable change, like DI resin.

vanpire · Mar 31, 2019

Mine changes to a light purple and the goes back to white.

I bought five gallons of it, but after it is exhausted, I am not going to use it anymore. It is not that effective for me. It lowers pH only by a few tenths of a point, and gets exhausted quickly.

Kalk is much much better for lowering pH, and a much lower cost and less effort.