Does your tank get fresh air and does it need it?

[315wall]

So most new furnaces have an air intake from the outside so if you run a line to the furnace you can run it into the air intake line. This will save you having to get it through the house to the outside.

 

[HuduVudu]

My house is 70 years old. It is a decrepit falling down mess, but it is mine and I can easily pay the mortgatge. The idea that an old house is leaky is a loaded myth. If you mean it leaks energy ... then correct. It does that in spades. If you mean it leaks air ... then you are fooled. Just because the window has gaps does not mean that there is any kind of air flow. There isn't. How do I know I have a air quality monitor that measures CO2. It is funny, watching this thing reveals all sorts of weird and wild things. When our outside temp is between 50F and 70F then the CO2 doesn't really get over 900ppm. Over 70F and I have to open the house and vent it twice a day because the CO2 gets to 1300ppm pretty quick. This of course impacts my tank, but I find the impact on me to be greater. I can't leave the house closed because it will be 2500ppm in a day. Now I know why I was tired all of the time. The worse part for me is that I am allergic to something in the air that isn't pollen, so every time I open the windows I have to wear a mask.

Soooooo ... as was a suggestion on another thread here on R2R I purchased a Panasonic ERV. https://na.panasonic.com/us/home-an...rs/whispercomforttm-erv-balanced-air-solution I just recieved it and am now in process to install it. Hopefully this will solve several problems for me. No open windows, energy recovery in wide temperature ranges, and last but not least stable PH for my aquarium. We will see, but opening the windows constantly is killing me and I am tired of doing that.

 

[Zero1091]

I did find my ph levels remain stable once I added tubing pointed out a window and attached to my skimmer. It definitely made a difference in maintaining a ph of 8.1-8.4 through out the day. I dont feel like the ph stability alone made a huge difference in coral growth but Im sure it plays a role overall with every other parameter kept in check.

 

[DSEKULA]

I voted other because i feel that its important to have decent quality air for your tank but dont feel that every situation calls for outdoor air, co2 scrubbers etc, basically i feel this is done on a case by case basis like many things with reefing and pros and cons should be considered. Some areas have very poor outdoor air and run the risk of pulling in other things like pesticides or exhaust during specific times and would need careful monitoring and placement of an inlet to pull air directly to the tank. Some homes (like older ones here) arnt anywhere near air tight and theres already a gas exchange. For me personally living in the country i do have a line running out door air to my skimmer. My sump is in the basement and the air definitely gets stale down there when were closed up for the winter it was very easy to do this and i didnt see any drawbacks, this is also how my build has been since day one so im honestly not sure if there would be a negative effect if it wasnt run this way but its just a passive line allowing air to be drawn in nothing fancy.

 

[Clownfish_Boy]

Yes fresh air is good. Co2 not so good. Oxygen good. Most things we like need to breath

I just thought of a slight down side :
When it gets very humid my tank temp climbs a lot so Its A/C time.
Im not sure if A/C counts as fresh air. Prob not.

That's right, AC is not fresh air. Residential AC systems recirculate the air in the house.

 

[Reefs and Geeks]

I have noticed that SPS and coralline grow noticeable faster at high pH vs moderate or low pH. For me, there's no arguing against that. As far as fresh air/CO2 scrubber...I think they can be moderately helpful in most instances, very helpful for some, and not helpful at any measurable level to some. I do use a CO2 scrubber right now, which alone seems to bring my pH up about 0.1 point or so. Been wanting to get a fresh airline, but haven't yet. What really makes the most difference for me, is dosing a very high pH 2 part recipe from Randy using sodium hydroxide. Switching to that from soda ash has brought my pH up from 7.9-8.0 up to 8.3-8.5. That pH jump has caused an increased daily alk consumption from 160ml to 250ml, so just over a 50% increase in consumption. The growth rate is visually noticeable as well, not just a number from a test kit or an increase in alk consumption, but a real noticeable increase in growth.

In short, I think a high pH is very helpful. Fresh air or a CO2 scrubber is one available tool which can aid in getting pH higher, but your results will vary based on your tank/house.

 

[sslater0679]

Is there a limit to the length of the tube you can run from your skimmer to the outside. I have been using a CO2 scrubber and seems like I am going thru the media pretty quickly. I would like a more stable and cost effective solution. I can probably get an air line to my garage but it would be 15 to 20 foot of line. :oops:

 

[wolfthefallen]

I use to live in an apartment that was so well isolated my pH hardly ever broke 8.0 .. Opening a window jumped it to the sweet spots. Getting your tank access to fresh air is extremely important to get that pH everyone is wanting for fast growth. A lot of people will run their air line for their skimmer through the wall outside. I don't blame them.

 

[MakerofThings]

So a couple of weeks ago I was having weird issues and found that my PH was around 7.6-7.8, at best...

I quickly realized with windows closed and a small apartment, my CO2 Levels had risen a lot, and my PH had dropped.
I decided to modify one of the media reactors I make to work as a CO2 scrubber and within hours I had my PH at 8.3 ish and its been there for weeks, its a huge difference. Everything looks happier and I am already noticing improved SPS growth.

I think its important to remember what is "fresh air". Where I live, the city often does things like sprays for mosquitoes, and who knows what the lawn crews or management are spraying out around my windows. Unless I knew what was going on outside all the time, I wouldn't feel good about having an airline going directly outside. Perhaps some sort of filtration would be ideal, but for me the CO2 scrubber situation is working fantastically for my small tank!

 

[Steve1500]

This is what it looks like when the outside line is hooked up. I believe the smaller diameter vinyl hose is 7/16" (might be 3/8") and the bigger one that actually goes outside (on the other end of the black reducer), is 1/2". Is this what you were looking to see?

yes, thanks so much!

 

[Dryanimtt]

For those that don't know, C02 is heavier than air. As for our homes, i don't know if it's a factor.

I would be interested in those in colder climates how running a air line outside to a skimmer intake effects the water temperature. I see there's been some talk about it.

I'm contemplating running one soon here in Missouri. The two options are up into the attic (Gets pretty hot here during summer months) or straight out the side of the house (Gets pretty cold here during winter months)

It was below freezing here last night. Had my skimmer line out the window. Heater stayed on then finally erred (ink bird) out while I was sleeping. Tank got down to 76 before I could react. So I won't be leaving it out like that anymore