I can peg my pH at 8.3 but it costs $2/ day. Is this worth it?

[fryman]

I've tried a variety of CO2 scrubbing setups and had some success, but the cost of media is giving me pause.

Short story is: right now my tank pH is pretty low. Basically 7.8 - 8.0 if I just left it as-is (no CO2 scrubber). It was much better in summer and fall so I think this is because the house is buttoned up for winter and CO2 is relatively high in the room with my display.

Option 1: I hooked up a CO2 scrubber to my skimmer, and pH increased to 8.0 - 8.2. This option costs me about $1 per day in soda lime media. See trend below:

Option #2: I built a super-charged CO2 scrubber using an industrial air pump and two air diffusers. I was able to peg pH at 8.3 all the time, but it costs me about $2 per day in media. See trend below:

Is this worth the extra money? I know higher pH is better but how much better and does it matter so much at night?

Let me know other suggestions, such as maybe dialing back the setpoint to 8.2 at night?

Another consideration is that I have the skimmer pulling air from outside, in order to aid in oxygenation (probably not a problem for me, but just in case).. I could go with a full recirculating setup for either option, which saves a bit of media but at the loss of any (potential) oxygenation benefit.

Thanks for the input and happy reefing!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If it were me. I would do it for a period of time sufficient to gather data on growth, color, etc, and then not do it for a similar period and compare.

 

[GARRIGA]

Wouldn’t it be cheaper to get an exchanger at that point? $700 plus per year over five years might pay for it and all occupants in the home would benefit from it. Although not sure if that still gets PH to 8.3.

 

[DE FISH]

As per the vote so far

$0 per day, pH of 7.8 to 8.0 is just fine​

No need to spend 31 to 62$ a month chasing numbers when your already within acceptable ranges

 

[((FORDTECH))]

I've tried a variety of CO2 scrubbing setups and had some success, but the cost of media is giving me pause.

Short story is: right now my tank pH is pretty low. Basically 7.8 - 8.0 if I just left it as-is (no CO2 scrubber). It was much better in summer and fall so I think this is because the house is buttoned up for winter and CO2 is relatively high in the room with my display.

Option 1: I hooked up a CO2 scrubber to my skimmer, and pH increased to 8.0 - 8.2. This option costs me about $1 per day in soda lime media. See trend below:

Option #2: I built a super-charged CO2 scrubber using an industrial air pump and two air diffusers. I was able to peg pH at 8.3 all the time, but it costs me about $2 per day in media. See trend below:

Is this worth the extra money? I know higher pH is better but how much better and does it matter so much at night?

Let me know other suggestions, such as maybe dialing back the setpoint to 8.2 at night?

Another consideration is that I have the skimmer pulling air from outside, in order to aid in oxygenation (probably not a problem for me, but just in case).. I could go with a full recirculating setup for either option, which saves a bit of media but at the loss of any (potential) oxygenation benefit.

Thanks for the input and happy reefing!

The difference between 8.0 and 8.3 is substantial make sure you are checking and correcting alk thru this whole process because the higher ph will drive the alk usage and it drops fast

 

[ATXreefer]

I'm not an expert in ph control, but wondering if you're dosing kalk or running a refugium? I'm betting those two are cheaper alternatives. If I'm wrong, somebody please correct me and I'll edit my post!

 

[Pistondog]

Get an hrv and keep the air breathing mammals healthier too.

 

[((FORDTECH))]

Get an hrv and keep the air breathing mammals healthier too.

This is what I did

 

[mdb_talon]

Selfishly i say spend the money peg it at 8.3. of course along with that want you to document how your tank does(growth/color/stn events/alk consumptions/etc). Then as Randy suggested go a period of time letting PH go to where it wants and document the same thing.

As i said my vote is selfish, but would love to see some results on that. We hear a lot that "7.8 is fine" and that "growth is faster at higher PH". Both of those may be true, but seeing some real examples that try both would be nice. I mean 7.8 may be fine(and certainly some have successful tanks that way), but more data on what is ideal(and how big a difference "ideal" makes would be great)

 

[mdb_talon]

I'm not an expert in ph control, but wondering if you're dosing kalk or running a refugium? I'm betting those two are cheaper alternatives. If I'm wrong, somebody please correct me and I'll edit my post!

Both can certainly increase ph and could be part of it, but i dont think you could peg a constant 8.3 just using those approaches(assuming you want to keep your alk also in a narrow range).

 

[Sean Clark]

It appears that there is a conscious in the poll... Four votes, let's wrap this up.

 

[brahm]

Depends on what your goals for the tank are and how full the tank currently is.

If you are trying to fill out the tank as quickly as possible and have the means to offload corals as you run out of space sure, if not I wouldn't spend the money on it.

 

[Kfactor]

i have my tank in the basement i istalled a vent fan out side i have running 24 hours a day and it help alot. i also co2 scrub and media last me along time on my 125g system. i stay between 8.3 to 8.4 and when my mh turn on it does a short peak to 8.45

 

[markwayts]

Both can certainly increase ph and could be part of it, but i dont think you could peg a constant 8.3 just using those approaches(assuming you want to keep your alk also in a narrow range).

Depends how stocked your tank is. I dose i dose 1750 mil of saturated kalk every day. That's all my evaporation will allow. From there i add carbocalcium to keep my alk stable between 9 and 10. Pushed my Ph from a low of 7.85 to a new low of 8.15. Been dosing that way for about seven months.

 

[Dennis Cartier]

I am in the HRV/ERV camp. It fixes the issue, high indoor CO2, and makes it easy and cost effective to get to 8.3 (if that is what you desire). Frankly every house should have one.

 

[mdb_talon]

Depends how stocked your tank is. I dose i dose 1750 mil of saturated kalk every day. That's all my evaporation will allow. From there i add carbocalcium to keep my alk stable between 9 and 10. Pushed my Ph from a low of 7.85 to a new low of 8.15. Been dosing that way for about seven months.

Not sure what you are saying. I mean sure in theory if your consumption matches perfectly what you dose in kalk and that happens to peg it at 8.3 then i guess it can work. In the real world consumption varies(hopefully increases over time), evap varies, and tanks dont stay pegged at a single value over a day/night cycle) . 99.99999% of the time if you are trying to peg at 8.3 with just using a refugium and kalk then your alk numbers are going to drift higher or lower than you want)

 

[markwayts]

I've tried a variety of CO2 scrubbing setups and had some success, but the cost of media is giving me pause.

Short story is: right now my tank pH is pretty low. Basically 7.8 - 8.0 if I just left it as-is (no CO2 scrubber). It was much better in summer and fall so I think this is because the house is buttoned up for winter and CO2 is relatively high in the room with my display.

Option 1: I hooked up a CO2 scrubber to my skimmer, and pH increased to 8.0 - 8.2. This option costs me about $1 per day in soda lime media. See trend below:

Option #2: I built a super-charged CO2 scrubber using an industrial air pump and two air diffusers. I was able to peg pH at 8.3 all the time, but it costs me about $2 per day in media. See trend below:

Is this worth the extra money? I know higher pH is better but how much better and does it matter so much at night?

Let me know other suggestions, such as maybe dialing back the setpoint to 8.2 at night?

Another consideration is that I have the skimmer pulling air from outside, in order to aid in oxygenation (probably not a problem for me, but just in case).. I could go with a full recirculating setup for either option, which saves a bit of media but at the loss of any (potential) oxygenation benefit.

Thanks for the input and happy reefing

That is a ton of money!!! There are so many cheaper ways to get there. Are you dosing alk? What's your light schedule? What is the Ph of a bucket of saltwater left in the fishroom with a pi

Not sure what you are saying. I mean sure in theory if your consumption matches perfectly what you dose in kalk and that happens to peg it at 8.3 then i guess it can work. In the real world consumption varies(hopefully increases over time), evap varies, and tanks dont stay pegged at a single value over a day/night cycle) . 99.99999% of the time if you are trying to peg at 8.3 with just using a refugium and kalk then your alk numbers are going to drift higher or lower than you want)

well if your tank is using more alk than kalk can produce you can push your ph way up and still fine tune your alk with 2 part or whatever. My base Ph is still slowly trending upwards after several months.

 

[((FORDTECH))]

I am in the HRV/ERV camp. It fixes the issue, high indoor CO2, and makes it easy and cost effective to get to 8.3 (if that is what you desire). Frankly every house should have one.

Every house I ever own will have one.

 

[fryman]

If it were me. I would do it for a period of time sufficient to gather data on growth, color, etc, and then not do it for a similar period and compare.

Good idea. It occurs to me since I have the media may as well use it for now.

The difference between 8.0 and 8.3 is substantial make sure you are checking and correcting alk thru this whole process because the higher ph will drive the alk usage and it drops fast

I have a trident. Alk seems steady but ime changes usually show up after a couple weeks. I did get alot of macro algae growth this week but not sure it's related.

I'm not an expert in ph control, but wondering if you're dosing kalk or running a refugium? I'm betting those two are cheaper alternatives. If I'm wrong, somebody please correct me and I'll edit my post!

I dose 1.5L saturated kalk per day, and have a reverse cycle refugium. These are good options and I recommend them but they don't have near the impact on pH as the CO2 scrubber.

I'm surprised at all the 7.8pH votes, I thought there was new consensus on shooting for 8.3+pH.

Thanks for the advice everyone!

 

[damsels are not mean]

7.8 - 8 is fine. Elevated pH can improve growth (maybe, and how much? I don't know), but do you care? Unless you are a farmer, you will eventually wish they grew slower anyways.