How long does it take for a CO2 scrubber to boost ph?

[salomon_gil]

Hello friends. Am dealing with the common "low" or not desired ph level that most reefers deal with when living in a small house/apartment. I live in a studio in the beautiful city of Miami with central A/C on 24/7 and never open the window do to the high temperature outside. Therefore I'm guessing my low ph problem is due to the high CO2 concentration inside my apartment. I installed a DIY CO2 scrubber to my protein skimmer 2 days ago but haven't seen any change in my ph yet. How long does it usually take to see a change?

 

[RobertP]

Mine starts going up almost immediately after changing media. Within a couple hours I can see it going up clearly.

 

[bubbaque]

You should have seen a change by now. Did you buy the color changing media? Is it changing color?

 

[salomon_gil]

You should have seen a change by now. Did you buy the color changing media? Is it changing color?

Hello. Thanks for your answer. Yes I bought the color changing one.

 

[salomon_gil]

Mine starts going up almost immediately after changing media. Within a couple hours I can see it going up clearly.

Thank you Robert. I haven't seen any change. I don't know if it's worth considering but my protein skimmer is also new. However it's working perfectly.

 

[salomon_gil]

You should have seen a change by now. Did you buy the color changing media? Is it changing color?

I haven't seen any color change yet.

 

[bubbaque]

Are you sure you have it connected correctly? Usually after running a couple days you would have seen it change some color.

 

[salomon_gil]

Are you sure you have it connected correctly? Usually after running a couple days you would have seen it change some color.

I'm gonna make sure it's well connected. I would keep guys posted.

 

[salomon_gil]

Checked the connection, everything seems fine. Now... I just tested the ph of my top of fresh water and it's 7.4 do you guys think that my be the issue? I'm using purified water by reverse osmosis and/or distillation filtered and ozonated that get from the near by pharmacy.

 

[RobertP]

How big is your skimmer? If it is too small it might not be pulling that much air?!?
Can you hear or feel it sucking air in? With my lifereef skimmer if I pull off the air line it is rather loud. With my co2 reactor plugged in it is quiet. I can also feel and hear the inlet in the reactor pulling air. If I cover it there is a little suction as well.
How closer is the reactor to the skimmer? If it is too far it might be leaking air from somewhere else.
I used RODI water as well but never have tested the ph of it. I also add a little kalkwasser to mine but I add so little (1 tsp per 5 gall) that it is doing little to the ph.
If I let me CO2 media run out mine drops to 7.7 to 7.9. Since I have media on hand I keep it loaded but not convinced I am going to buy more since this is not dangerously low.
Hope this helps.

 

[moiy24]

Maybe hook up the inlet of the reactor to breathe outside air