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you are correct. I also run a hose from outside to my skimmer and raises ph slightly. Using O2 would cost a lot if you were thinking bout using a tank.. cheaper to pull air from outside.So I'm a little confused. people sometimes run their skimmer intake to the outside in order to reduce the amount of CO2. Supposedly this helps raise the PH somewhat. Wouldn't injecting O2 into your skimmer accomplish the same thing. I will say that when I aerated fresh saltwater with oxygen vs. an air pump the PH was higher. I actually had to switch over to room air for couple hours before using it.
So I'm a little confused. people sometimes run their skimmer intake to the outside in order to reduce the amount of CO2. Supposedly this helps raise the PH somewhat. Wouldn't injecting O2 into your skimmer accomplish the same thing. I will say that when I aerated fresh saltwater with oxygen vs. an air pump the PH was higher. I actually had to switch over to room air for couple hours before using it.
So I guess what's happening is your not trying to raise ph with oxygen rather you are preventing CO2 from lowering ph by displacing it. I have a used O2 concentrator from a yard sale. It pulls 3 amps. You can adjust it from 1 to 5 liter/min. I wonder if you Could program the controller to operate it?you are correct. I also run a hose from outside to my skimmer and raises ph slightly. Using O2 would cost a lot if you were thinking bout using a tank.. cheaper to pull air from outside.
I don't think oxygen concentraters remove co2 from the air that they use. I think they only remove nitrogen.So I guess what's happening is your not trying to raise ph with oxygen rather you are preventing CO2 from lowering ph by displacing it. I have a used O2 concentrator from a yard sale. It pulls 3 amps. You can adjust it from 1 to 5 liter/min. I wonder if you Could program the controller to operate it?
No actually I use oxygen at night because of sleep apnea. It bleeds into my cpap at 2 lpm. The machine produces about 96% pure oxygen. I bought the one from a yard sale as a backup it was $100. The one I use for sleep has been running every night for 3 years. its about halfway through it's lifetime.I don't think oxygen concentraters remove co2 from the air that they use. I think they only remove nitrogen.
Yea I would think 100% definately be bad. But what if you only raised O2 by a fraction? Say 25% vs 21% ? So let's say you have a large skimmer How much air does it pull? What would be the effect of injecting 1/2 lpm O2?Oxygen has absolutely no effect on pH in reef aquaria. The reason that drawing outside air into your skimmer raises your pH has nothing to do with oxygen. It is because the air from outside has less CO2 in it than the air in your home. If you see an increase in pH by forcing 100% oxygen into the tank, it is because there is no CO2 in the pure oxygen and all of the oxygen you are dissolving in your tank is displacing some of the CO2 in the water. The oxygen is not raising the pH directly. Note that air is made up of much more than just oxygen: replacing all the other natural atomspheric gasses in your tank with only oxygen may cause harm to the animals in your tank.
Please read Randy's article on low pH to get a better idea of how pH works in reef aquaria. pH in reef aquaria is controlled in part by carbonate alkalinity and in part by dissolved CO2. It is not controlled by dissolved oxygen.
Yea I would think 100% definately be bad. But what if you only raised O2 by a fraction? Say 25% vs 21% ?
Well I appreciate the discussion anyway. Thanks for the info. here is my tank build if you're interested. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/art2249s-160g-build.383321/This is a very difficult question to answer, but the answer is likely not relevant in the context of increasing pH in seawater. Randy might be better able to answer this one.
I can say that oxygen and carbon dioxide are not foils in seawater with regards to pH. In other words, if CO2 is bad for pH, oxygen is not necessarily good. pH in seawater is controlled by a very specific balancing of carbonate, bicarbonate and carbonic acid. Assuming constant carbonate alkalinity, CO2 decreases pH, while absence of CO2 increases it. It is only by adding or removing CO2 from seawater that we can push the equilibrium one direction or another, and thereby affect pH.
Doesn’t keeping the water surface moving affect dissolved oxygen? Does this affect pH?Oxygen does not affect pH.
ThanksDoesn’t keeping the water surface moving affect dissolved oxygen? Does this affect pH?
Keeping surface water moving impacts the CO2 content in the water, which impacts pH.Doesn’t keeping the water surface moving affect dissolved oxygen? Does this affect pH?
Boredom.If you are locked in a room with no means of ventilation, from what will you die?