CO2 Scrubber
- Thread starter MtnDewMan
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MtnDewMan
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I personally would start off with just room air, not yukky skimmer recirculated air.
Here is a picture
The reason I did that is to have the media last longer. Which I have been reading a lot and they said it helps. I attached a picture of last few days with co2 scrubber attached. Mind other parts of the graph is when I opened the windows and graphs are higher. I been struggling with PH a lot. I calibrated neptune probes, I also have a Ph pinpoint meter that is showing by 0.2 higher, so not sure what to trust. I mean this tank has been running for a few years I have seen small amount of growth with the new tank. I never had problem with my previous tanks. This tank is in a newer house, when I open the windows my Ph skyrockets. So Def CO2 issue in the house. My next thing I am considering is kalk.
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MtnDewMan
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Yes I understand that the media is supposed to last longer that way. My point of view is that if you are trying to solve the problem directly, don't add in the variable of skimmer recirculated air (by definition skimmate is nasty and I wouldn't want any of that going back into my tank, yukky brown stuff or the bubbles).Here is a picture
The reason I did that is to have the media last longer. Which I have been reading a lot and they said it helps. I attached a picture of last few days with co2 scrubber attached. Mind other parts of the graph is when I opened the windows and graphs are higher. I been struggling with PH a lot. I calibrated neptune probes, I also have a Ph pinpoint meter that is showing by 0.2 higher, so not sure what to trust. I mean this tank has been running for a few years I have seen small amount of growth with the new tank. I never had problem with my previous tanks. This tank is in a newer house, when I open the windows my Ph skyrockets. So Def CO2 issue in the house. My next thing I am considering is kalk.
But if that is the direction you wish to stay with I wish you luck.
Ok I think I figure out what the problem was. I bought this jumbo duo reactor used. So I tried everything and nothing would work. So then I had this thought whether the canister inside the unit were sealing properly. I applied some frog tape and tightened them to see if it would leave a crease in the tape and didnt, so I kept looking and realised whoever had before me overtighten the unit and bent the top of the canister. So what I did I unscrewed the canister bottom cover enough where it would seal and hand tighten the unit and now my Ph is going up. I will monitor a few days and report back. I am going to see if I can thicker gaskets instead.
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MtnDewMan
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Air will take the path of least resistance so if there are gaps then the air will come from the gaps instead of the through the media. Good luck.
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MtnDewMan
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An update. My pH was climbing higher than I thought it would with the CO2 scrubber. I used a valve to open it to room air when it got high but still kept climbing (my assumption is that air was still being drawn through the media more than I thought it would). Therefore I replaced the 2 way valve with a 3 way valve. With the 3 way valve, the media is completely shutoff when drawing air from the room. Hopefully this will give more control with less tweaking.
how high ?An update. My pH was climbing higher than I thought it would with the CO2 scrubber. I used a valve to open it to room air when it got high but still kept climbing (my assumption is that air was still being drawn through the media more than I thought it would). Therefore I replaced the 2 way valve with a 3 way valve. With the 3 way valve, the media is completely shutoff when drawing air from the room. Hopefully this will give more control with less tweaking.
Steve2020
Well-Known Member
It is hard to tell in the photo but it looks like the scrubber is plumbed backwards because your media is changing color top to bottom in the right hand canister which is not correct. Air should be coming in on the left canister and out to your skimmer from the right canister.
Your photo with media changing color top to bottom. Air should be flowing in the direction shown.
Part of my system. I also have an electronic ball valve hooked up to my Profilux to regulate the PH.
Thanks yes I reversed it now, also this unit was used so somebody overtighten them and squished the inside canister top portion so wasnt sealing. Now its good. Where do you collect moisture since you have both filled with media ?It is hard to tell in the photo but it looks like the scrubber is plumbed backwards because your media is changing color top to bottom in the right hand canister which is not correct. Air should be coming in on the left canister and out to your skimmer from the right canister.
Your photo with media changing color top to bottom. Air should be flowing in the direction shown.
Part of my system. I also have an electronic ball valve hooked up to my Profilux to regulate the PH.
Steve2020
Well-Known Member
There is a pretty good gap from where the air enters the media canister to the bottom of the outer housing ( RED ). The BLUE line is approx 2 weeks of moister collection in the first canister but sometimes it will have very little moister. I check the moister level weekly and will drain the water with the drain plug on the bottom of the outer housing when needed. I drain it when I shut down my return pump and skimmer during my feed mode or just turn off the skimmer if drain is needed when not feeding fish. If you try to drain with the skimmer on the water just kind of spirts out and does not drain very well because it is trying to draw air through the drain plug hole. The second canister gets very little moister and have never had to drain it. When used in the recirc setup you DO NOT need to add the recommended TBS of water in the housing. You will have plenty of moister.
Hope this makes sense.
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MtnDewMan
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Close to 8.5, I am trying to keep it below 8.4. Hope this does the trick.
Steve2020
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Some before and after of my recirc setup.There is a pretty good gap from where the air enters the media canister to the bottom of the outer housing ( RED ). The BLUE line is approx 2 weeks of moister collection in the first canister but sometimes it will have very little moister. I check the moister level weekly and will drain the water with the drain plug on the bottom of the outer housing when needed. I drain it when I shut down my return pump and skimmer during my feed mode or just turn off the skimmer if drain is needed when not feeding fish. If you try to drain with the skimmer on the water just kind of spirts out and does not drain very well because it is trying to draw air through the drain plug hole. The second canister gets very little moister and have never had to drain it. When used in the recirc setup you DO NOT need to add the recommended TBS of water in the housing. You will have plenty of moister.
Hope this makes sense.
Before
After. My ball valve opens at 8.44 and closes at 8.42
I seen people that grow massive colonies with Ph 8.7 with no issues. So is going above 8.4 range bad?Some before and after of my recirc setup.
Before
After. My ball valve opens at 8.44 and closes at 8.42
Steve2020
Well-Known Member
Going above 8.4 is not bad from what I have read. Like anything else on this site and others you will get different opinions. When you review the question " Acceptable ph range for a reef tank " the most common answer I found googling it was 7.8-8.5 with ideal being 8.2-8.5. I decided to keep mine at at a high range 8.44-8.45 because when the weather is nice here in Minnesota and I can open some windows, I will pull the recirc tubes out of the skimmer lid and remove the hose going to the skimmer air intake thus bypassing the CO2 scrubber. With windows open my ph high range is approx 8.4-8.5.
I have also read where some people get their ph in the 8.7 range but according to Randy H-F he does not believe it is possible to maintain a ph of 8.7 in a reef tank unless you are overdosing something that increases ph on a regular basis.
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MtnDewMan
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After running the 3 way valve it seems to have much better control with leveling off the pH. In the graph, the blue lines ON means the skimmer is solely getting room air, when OFF, it is getting air through the CO2 scrubber.
Steve2020
Well-Known Member
Glad to see you got it working the way you want it to with the 3-way valve. Myself I am only using a 2-way valve but my valve is very close to my skimmer compared to the CO2 scrubber. I am using the recirc method but also have outside air going to the scrubber mixing with the air from the skimmer. My outside air is drawn from the furnace fresh air intake and runs 65ft to the scrubber thru a 5/8" ID hose. One thing I like about this setup is I only have a 0.08 PH variance in a 24hr period. Like you, if I did not use a electronic ball valve my ph would approach the 8.65-8.7 mark which I did not want it to go that high.After running the 3 way valve it seems to have much better control with leveling off the pH. In the graph, the blue lines ON means the skimmer is solely getting room air, when OFF, it is getting air through the CO2 scrubber.
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