PH problem

[TwelveL16]

My tank is in my basement next to my furnace. I’ve noticed on hot days when I close up the house and run the AC my PH is getting low low, last night It dropped to 7.5. I note I dose kalk in my ATO and run a CO2 scrubber on my skimmer constantly. I also have a light on my Refugium opposite of my light schedule on my display. I have also open up windows in the basement where I can, different room but directly next to the fish tank room. 7.5 is just too low my corals were noticeably not happy this morning. I’m worried about what it might get to tonight as I only made it 7.99 today. Normally I’m 8.2ish with the windows open upstairs. Measuring via apex probe. Any ideas? I’ve read where running ac should have no effect on CO2 levels but something is clearly raising them.

 

[Catawba_Valley_Reef]

I’m in a similar situation in terms of where my tank is located.

Co2 is heavier than air so the higher concentration will be in the basement.

Can you get your hands on a co2 meter/monitor? I think that will help in troubleshooting this.

I run sodium hydroxide, algae scrubber on reverse cycle, crack windows open and the ph only maxes out at 8.3 or so.

I am looking forward to other comments as I am in the same situation as you sometimes.

The co2 monitor definitely helps to let me know when to open the door and exchange air to bring it back down under 500 ppm.

 

[rishma]

A very powerful air pump routing outdoor air to a large airstone might do the trick. That is what I do and my pH range is substantially higher now regardless of windows open, closed, house full of people, etc

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I’m in a similar situation in terms of where my tank is located.

Co2 is heavier than air so the higher concentration will be in the basement.

Can you get your hands on a co2 meter/monitor? I think that will help in troubleshooting this.

I run sodium hydroxide, algae scrubber on reverse cycle, crack windows open and the ph only maxes out at 8.3 or so.

I am looking forward to other comments as I am in the same situation as you sometimes.

The co2 monitor definitely helps to let me know when to open the door and exchange air to bring it back down under 500 ppm.

While CO2 is heavier than air, it does not separate out from air and settle in a basement. Gases never separate under normal gravity when there is any mixing going on.

The only way one can get differences by position within a room or house is if there is a point source, such as a piece of dry ice in the basement sitting on the floor that releases CO2. Until it mixes in, which it eventually will on its own, CO2 will temporarily be higher on the floor. :)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

My tank is in my basement next to my furnace. I’ve noticed on hot days when I close up the house and run the AC my PH is getting low low, last night It dropped to 7.5. I note I dose kalk in my ATO and run a CO2 scrubber on my skimmer constantly. I also have a light on my Refugium opposite of my light schedule on my display. I have also open up windows in the basement where I can, different room but directly next to the fish tank room. 7.5 is just too low my corals were noticeably not happy this morning. I’m worried about what it might get to tonight as I only made it 7.99 today. Normally I’m 8.2ish with the windows open upstairs. Measuring via apex probe. Any ideas? I’ve read where running ac should have no effect on CO2 levels but something is clearly raising them.

Fresh air to the fish room area will help.

 

[Catawba_Valley_Reef]

I’m in a similar situation in terms of where my tank is located.

Co2 is heavier than air so the higher concentration will be in the basement.

Can you get your hands on a co2 meter/monitor? I think that will help in troubleshooting this.

I run sodium hydroxide, algae scrubber on reverse cycle, crack windows open and the ph only maxes out at 8.3 or so.

I am looking forward to other comments as I am in the same situation as you sometimes.

The co2 monitor definitely helps to let me know when to open the door and exchange air to bring it back down under 500 ppm.

While CO2 is heavier than air, it does not separate out from air and settle in a basement. Gases never separate under normal gravity.

The only way one can get differences by position within a room or house is if there is a point source, such as a piece of dry ice in the basement sitting on the floor that releases CO2. Until it mixes in, which it eventually will on its own, CO2 will temporarily be higher on the floor. :)

Thanks Randy.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You're welcome.

Happy reefing. :)

 

[TBSB2019]

Try a fan in the window to pull fresh air in or if it's close enough a tube from your CO2 scrubber inlet out the window. I recirculate the skimmer air which helped a bit. We run Reef Octopus skimmers so bought the lid for it.

 

[TwelveL16]

Thanks guys

 

[Reefer1978]

Hi @Randy Holmes-Farley . Although your explanation makes total sense about gases mixing, one part that confuses me is how skimmer impacts Ph for a tank in the basement. Over the last few months we had very decent weather in NJ (I think you too as we are very close by), and windows on the first and second floors are open. Basement does not have any windows, and the tank is suffering from low Ph. One time I was cleaning the tank, and manually turned off the skimmer and forgot to turn it bank on until the next day (so it was off for close to 24 hours). Average Ph jumped up by .2.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It’s always hard to explain things from a description, but windows open upstairs does not necessarily freshen basement air.

Aside from people, are there any sources of CO2 on either floor?

 

[Reefer1978]

It’s always hard to explain things from a description, but windows open upstairs does not necessarily freshen basement air.

Aside from people, are there any sources of CO2 on either floor?

@Randy Holmes-Farley What I am curious about, is more stale, potentially higher Co2 content air settling in the basement, and then getting injected into the water with the skimmer. Although air should be mixed, the rest of the house does have very fresh air, with all windows being open.

There's no other source of Co2, only people and dogs (dogs never go downstairs). Skimmer is supplemented with fresh air from the outside, pumped with an air pump, but doesn't seem to be enough.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If high CO2 air got into the basement (which might even be from the reef tank), then I agree it may stay there.

 

[BeanAnimal]

While CO2 is heavier than air, it does not separate out from air and settle in a basement. Gases never separate under normal gravity when there is any mixing going on.

The only way one can get differences by position within a room or house is if there is a point source, such as a piece of dry ice in the basement sitting on the floor that releases CO2. Until it mixes in, which it eventually will on its own, CO2 will temporarily be higher on the floor. :)

Or a coal mine where black damp (primarily CO2 and N2) are produced by mineral oxidization and can stratify near the floor. Deadly in the sense, that walking through it stirs the gases, but by the time you smell them or feel light headed, it is already too late. Old works can be very dangerous -- even if you are carrying on O2 monitor, flame safety lamp or other gas detection device. Often there is no visual que, or overwhelming stale air smell. Sometimes there is a lot of yellow boy accumulation though, and that can be a dead giveaway if air is slow or stagnant. I certainly miss part of those days, but at the same time don't!

Anyway, back to the regularly scheduled programming :)

 

[BeanAnimal]

It’s always hard to explain things from a description, but windows open upstairs does not necessarily freshen basement air.

Aside from people, are there any sources of CO2 on either floor?

Maybe but the HVAC fan on to recirculate? It helps here, as the tank room does not get good ventilation.

 

[TwelveL16]

Figured I’d share an update with you guys. No matter what I did I could not fix the PH in my tank finally started trying to troubleshoot why I had cO2 in the air. Turns out my hot water heater flue was blocked with 16gallons of debris. My tank literally might have saved my life. Hopefully now that it’s cleared the PH will improve.

 

[rishma]

Figured I’d share an update with you guys. No matter what I did I could not fix the PH in my tank finally started trying to troubleshoot why I had cO2 in the air. Turns out my hot water heater flue was blocked with 16gallons of debris. My tank literally might have saved my life. Hopefully now that it’s cleared the PH will improve.

Holy smokes. That’s scary

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Glad you got that fixed!

 

[BeanAnimal]

Reminder that everyone who has gas furnace, water heat, clothes dryer or oven should have at least one (less than 4 years old) CO alarm near the appliance. Guidelines are 5-7 year lifespan, replace them every 3 or 4. They are cheap and can/will save your life in instances like this.

 

[TwelveL16]

Told my wife, see that’s why I spend all that money on my fish tank. It can save you.