Most effective pH increase - algae scrubber, refugium, or CO2 scrubber?

[Gretchacha]

A newish tank (2 months old) with low nutrients and no algae, has low pH 7.8-8.0. It is a 30G tank running a canister filter (crazy, I know) with SeaChem Matrix and ROX activated carbon. I dose live phyto twice per day.
There is no sump
There is no skimmer
There is no space under the tank for equipment.
Alk 9.5
Calcium 480
Magnesium 1490
Nitrates 1-3 ppm
Phosphate 0.01
Salinity 1.025 sg refractometer
12 hr light cycle
I have tried aeration to increase the pH, and the room has very good air flow (sunroom) and the house has a gas exchanger. I’m not sure the CO2 scrubber would be sufficient, given my environmental CO2 is likely on the lower end and I don’t run a skimmer, so the gas exchange would be less efficient in my tank. HOB refugium? Or Algae Scrubber? Or CO scrubber to airline?

DROP1.2 drop-in upflow algae scrubber with Green Grabber surfaces - 1.2 cubes feeding per day

www.santa-monica.cc

 

[Pistondog]

A newish tank (2 months old) with low nutrients and no algae, has low pH 7.8-8.0. It is a 30G tank running a canister filter (crazy, I know) with SeaChem Matrix and ROX activated carbon. I dose live phyto twice per day.
There is no sump
There is no skimmer
There is no space under the tank for equipment.
Alk 9.5
Calcium 480
Magnesium 1490
Nitrates 1-3 ppm
Phosphate 0.01
Salinity 1.025 sg refractometer
12 hr light cycle
I have tried aeration to increase the pH, and the room has very good air flow (sunroom) and the house has a gas exchanger. I’m not sure the CO2 scrubber would be sufficient, given my environmental CO2 is likely on the lower end and I don’t run a skimmer, so the gas exchange would be less efficient in my tank. HOB refugium? Or Algae Scrubber? Or CO scrubber to airline?

DROP1.2 drop-in upflow algae scrubber with Green Grabber surfaces - 1.2 cubes feeding per day

www.santa-monica.cc

Pull outside air into an airstone, unless windows are open already.
Wait for coralline algae, it will photosynthesize and consume co2.

 

[Gretchacha]

Pull outside air into an airstone, unless windows are open already.
Wait for coralline algae, it will photosynthesize and consume co2.

I forgot to mention, I also have pom pom gracillerous macro algae in the DT.

 

[Pistondog]

I forgot to mention, I also have pom pom gracillerous macro algae in the DT.

That will help if it is growing.

 

[Reef.]

You say sunroom, that doesn’t sound too airy to me but if it is then the airline to outside is probably your best bet, but aiming for a balance between night and day will probably be a good idea too, that’s where a rufuium comes in but I’m guessing no room for a job rug?

 

[vetteguy53081]

A newish tank (2 months old) with low nutrients and no algae, has low pH 7.8-8.0. It is a 30G tank running a canister filter (crazy, I know) with SeaChem Matrix and ROX activated carbon. I dose live phyto twice per day.
There is no sump
There is no skimmer
There is no space under the tank for equipment.
Alk 9.5
Calcium 480
Magnesium 1490
Nitrates 1-3 ppm
Phosphate 0.01
Salinity 1.025 sg refractometer
12 hr light cycle
I have tried aeration to increase the pH, and the room has very good air flow (sunroom) and the house has a gas exchanger. I’m not sure the CO2 scrubber would be sufficient, given my environmental CO2 is likely on the lower end and I don’t run a skimmer, so the gas exchange would be less efficient in my tank. HOB refugium? Or Algae Scrubber? Or CO scrubber to airline?

DROP1.2 drop-in upflow algae scrubber with Green Grabber surfaces - 1.2 cubes feeding per day

www.santa-monica.cc

That is my Ph level and I have coral growing like crazy. Its often more effective to have a stable PH reading than to try to achieve a certain Value. A hang on skimmer such as ice cap K1-50 would help quite a bit. A canister unit is not helpful and there is little exchange and you are running mechanical filtration only and you want to have mechancical , biological and chemical to mange proper water quality. The canister will polish water and trap particles via the cartridge.
Chemical is what traps and breaks down chemical compounds such as feces and uneaten food often accomplished carbon and GFO
Biological is what utilizes the natural process of biological filtration such as use of ceramic nuggets, bio blocks, and microscopic bacteria surfaces.

 

[Keko21]

In my case the CO2 scrubber worked great! That said i used it from the time I set up to about the 5month mark and then my tank’s ph stabalized.

I still have it hooked up to the skimmer but i havnt changed the media in months!

 

[GarrettT]

Refugium/algae scrubber will not notably raise your pH.

 

[MarineandReef Jaron]

A better question is, "where do you get the most bang for your buck?".

If you need nutrient control a turf scrubber will provide the side benefit of boosting pH. If you need to replace calcium and alkalinity then using kalk will have the side benefit of boosting pH. If you get a CO2 scrubber then the only thing it does is boost pH and the media can be quite expensive. I would always try kalk and algae filtration before adding a CO2 scrubber.

Klak will also be cheaper than 2 part in the long run and the turff scrubber could be cheaper than doing more water changes or carbon dosing.