Keeping 8.2PH Plus made super easy.

[X-37B]

That air pump is only $40!

My tank sits in a garage and I am tempted to buy the pump just to see if I can force the pH up by running air? The pump specs indicate that it pumps -1000gph air, and I do wonder if it should be liters per hour of air(?) but either way that’s going to make a lot of bubbles and possibly salt creep in the sump but the volume exchange and displacement of CO2 from the bubbles seems more likely than running a tiny air exchange setup.

Running more in room air won't do anything for ph.

The air needs to come from outside to have any effect.

I run 2 Tunze 9430dc skimmers on my 150g system. Adding a second does nothing for ph.

 

[KrisReef]

Running more in room air won't do anything for ph.

The air needs to come from outside to have any effect.

I run 2 Tunze 9430dc skimmers on my 150g system. Adding a second does nothing for ph.

The garage isn’t sealed that tight but yes, I would run a tube outside if the garage air didn’t work.

I think the volume is as much key as the outside air, for some applications?

 

[dvgyfresh]

I keep about constant 8.3 PH , windows really help.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

amazing how cracking a window can make such a difference in ph. I have about 3 months of fall until i have to seal up house and use the scrubber again.

 

[Bruttall]

amazing how cracking a window can make such a difference in ph. I have about 3 months of fall until i have to seal up house and use the scrubber again.

Porting in air from outside removed the need for me to run a co2 scrubber. It's one of the reasons I did this and I set it up in January, My tank is in my basement so getting fresh air in was challenging.

 

[Joe.D]

Porting in air from outside removed the need for me to run a co2 scrubber. It's one of the reasons I did this and I set it up in January, My tank is in my basement so getting fresh air in was challenging.

How are you running the line to get outside air? My tank is in my basement too - though my basement is exposed, so I have normal sized windows instead of the small ones in a fully dug basement.

 

[zheka757]

That air pump is only $40!

My tank sits in a garage and I am tempted to buy the pump just to see if I can force the pH up by running air? The pump specs indicate that it pumps -1000gph air, and I do wonder if it should be liters per hour of air(?) but either way that’s going to make a lot of bubbles and possibly salt creep in the sump but the volume exchange and displacement of CO2 from the bubbles seems more likely than running a tiny air exchange setup.

You going to make skimmer out of your sump with this pump. Lol

 

[five.five-six]

Are you sure? It’s very unlikely to achieve elevated pH simply by more aeration with indoor ambient air. Unless the home is depleted from CO₂, which is generally very difficult, more aeration will usually keep it suppressed.

What were the pH lows prior? Do you use a protein skimmer?

OP is absolutely correct, especially in the heat or the cold when people say inside and the house is sealed up tight.


I am kicking myself for not running a fresh air line from outside during our remodel. 1” PEX would have been fine!

 

[ReefSymbiotic]

Which section of the sump do you have it in? 3 airstones?

 

[Bruttall]

How are you running the line to get outside air? My tank is in my basement too - though my basement is exposed, so I have normal sized windows instead of the small ones in a fully dug basement.

I repurposed the window in my tank room, I have a Bathroom Exhaust Fan that cycles every 2 hours for 15 minutes removing old air, and I ran a couple of PVC pipes to the outside to allow for Fresh Air intakes. I call it Cobbled together, some label it DIY trying to sound fancy, good old fashioned Honkey Engineering IMO.

 

[Bruttall]

Which section of the sump do you have it in? 3 airstones?

right now the air stones are in the first chamber, where water dumps from the Display. Sump Chambers are Intake, Media, Fuge, Skim, and Return.

I have ran the air stones in the skim chamber with good effect also. I have 6 stones, off 3 air lines.

 

[that guy]

Do you have macros? I have chaeto in my tank and ph stays over 8

 

[ReeferCub]

A word of caution. Make sure the opening of the outside air is not in a place where your pest control company does not spray during their routine visits.

 

[mfollen]

Is there a good way to filter incoming air to help mitigate any impact of contaminants?

 

[OrchidMiss]

@ZoWhat

 

[painter1982]

Are your probes in the sump or the display tank? All those air bubbles can give false reading if the probes are near them.

 

[ReeferCub]

Is there a good way to filter incoming air to help mitigate any impact of contaminants?

I am sure there will be a way to strip contaminants out of the incoming air. The labs and other clean rooms do it at industrial level. But implementing that in residential setting to get rid of poison from air would be prohibitively expensive. I do however pass my incoming air from outside through a CO2 scrubber. The scrubber does not get rid of any contaminants but boosts the tank pH significantly.

 

[backbayreef]

Kalk is king for me! I used to do this years ago but gotten messy so gave up. Therefore, a kalk stirrer is a much cleaner, effective solution.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

Is there a good way to filter incoming air to help mitigate any impact of contaminants?

maybe something in the way of how your air filter works on your furnace/AC blower? The high MERV filters trap a lot of things.

 

[Bruttall]

Are your probes in the sump or the display tank? All those air bubbles can give false reading if the probes are near them.

Probes are in the display tank. There is no Air Bubbles anywhere in my sump except the inlet chamber.