My Experience Raising pH

[Night Reefer]

Can you send me a direct link to the actual valve. Your link sent me to three different valves

 

[ilyad]

Can you send me a direct link to the actual valve. Your link sent me to three different valves

He probably did try to give you a direct link, but it looks like it just goes to search.

Click the link and select "Flow Control Valves" then on the left hand side you have filter options, choose the following:
- "On/Off" under "Valve Function"
- "Push-to-Connect" under "Tube Connection Type"

Then you can chose one of any of the following:
- 1/4 inch or 3/8 inch: I believe he chose the 3/8 as this is for outside diameter
- 120V AC or 24V DC: this would just depend if you end up getting an AC or DC power adapter for it.

 

[Want2BS8ed]

Can you send me a direct link to the actual valve. Your link sent me to three different valves

He probably did try to give you a direct link, but it looks like it just goes to search.

Click the link and select "Flow Control Valves" then on the left hand side you have filter options, choose the following:
- "On/Off" under "Valve Function"
- "Push-to-Connect" under "Tube Connection Type"

Then you can chose one of any of the following:
- 1/4 inch or 3/8 inch: I believe he chose the 3/8 as this is for outside diameter
- 120V AC or 24V DC: this would just depend if you end up getting an AC or DC power adapter for it.

Thanks ilyad, you are spot on. I wish more websites were as easy to navigate as McMaster-Carr’s!

Night Reefer, there are choices that need to be made depending on your setup as ilyad points out. That being said, here is what I used:

https://www.mcmaster.com/#5489T493

The MRC Orca Pro skimmer just happens to use 3/8” push-to-connect fittings already, but even if you had to pick-up a couple of 3/8” stem x 1/4” push-to-connect female fittings when you buy the valve, I think you would be better off.

 

[Night Reefer]

My system uses 3/8 I converted it to 1/4 because of the Neptune valve. Just order the valve along with a tee and 2 connectors. Now I need to order the connector to the apex.
Can someone share there apex code? Want to make sure I did it correct.

 

[Want2BS8ed]

My system uses 3/8 I converted it to 1/4 because of the Neptune valve. Just order the valve along with a tee and 2 connectors. Now I need to order the connector to the apex.
Can someone share there apex code? Want to make sure I did it correct.

Nothing fancy, built in wizard in APEX Fusion...

 

[Night Reefer]

That works. I used an if statement

Set OFF
If pH < 8.0 Then OFF
If pH > 8.0 Then ON

 

[Want2BS8ed]

That works. I used an if statement

Set OFF
If pH < 8.0 Then OFF
If pH > 8.0 Then ON

Either put a gap in your high and low values or look up the hysteresis function in the APEX Comprehensive Reference Manual, otherwise you will be cycling the solenoid to often and may overheat it or cause premature wear.

The Set function is a bit of a waste here, but if you want the scrubber to default to being off, then add: "Fallback OFF" in its place.

Also from a coding perspective flip your on and off statements so the off statement is last - it reads in order. The APEX wizard will do all of that for you, but here is the code the wizard uses:

Fallback ON
If pH > 8.30 Then ON
If pH < 8.20 Then OFF

Really nothing fancy...

 

[Night Reefer]

Cool thanks

 

[Want2BS8ed]

Cool thanks

No worries. Looking forward to hearing back once everything is up and running.

 

[Clownfishy]

I will definitely need to fit a shut off valve as since changing the Soda Lime granules and taking air from the skimmer (and from outside), I am struggling to keep my pH under 8.40!!! I cannot believe I have gone from seriously low pH to seriously high pH!!!! I am going to temporarily fit a valve which will take some air from the room and bypass the C02 Scrubber.

 

[Clownfishy]

Having made massive improvements raising my pH but now struggling to keep it from rising above 8.40, I have added a bypass value to start to draw some air directly from the room. So to recap -

• My skimmer is pulling a small amount of air from the room and the rest from the C02 Scrubber
• My C02 scrubber is pulling some air from the outside and some air from the skimmer cup

Its been 1 week and I have not see any degradation to the Sode Lime granules but I would not expect to. When pulling air directly from outside through the C02 scrubber, I would start to see the granules degrade in another week and a half. Therefore, I am not expecting the granules to degrade for a number of weeks but will report back. Has anyone let their pH rise to 8.45 -8.50 and if so, has that had any impact on the livestock or other water chemistry?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

My pH ran 8.35 to 8.55 for years and I do not think there’s any problem in that range.

 

[Clownfishy]

My pH ran 8.35 to 8.55 for years and I do not think there’s any problem in that range.

Good to know, I was getting worried I was pushing my pH too high.

 

[Night Reefer]

Still waiting for the connectors to get in I ordered from fleebay and they only sent me the connectors and no black housings. I didn’t want to cut the wire form the Neptune solenoid.

 

[Buddah001]

Any way you can draw up a simple diagram of this set up please

 

[Jwheld]

So, it’s been a couple months. Any noticeable change is coral health or growth?

 

[Clownfishy]

So, it’s been a couple months. Any noticeable change is coral health or growth?

I would so for my tank, I have definitely seen coral growth and my dosing of alk and calcium backs this up. I started dosing 8ml per day and now dose 28ml a day. Since hitting a pH of 8.40, I am going to have to raise it again and for some reason my calcium drops quicker than alk so may have to start dosing more calcium than alk. I would not say my corals look any healthier. The biggest change I can see is the thickness of the Montipora.

 

[Buddah001]

@Clownfishy is it possible to draw a simple diagram on what you have done?

 

[Buddah001]

@Clownfishy any way you can draw up a simple diagram on what you have done here?

 

[kwan8911]

Sorry for the late reply #Clownfishy.

Nothing original, BRS explained it well in their video including the valve part # from McMaster-Carr.

Again, I have been extremely pleased with both the positive impact on pH as well as the longevity of the media since making the change.

M

Can you post a link for this valve ? I couldn’t find the info in the BRS video. Thanks a lot.