pH toooooo low!

Abhishek · Feb 6, 2018

Velcro said:
Dennis, iirc you use a lifereef. If so, please see this thread I made. It works REALLY well.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-best-way-to-implement-a-co2-scrubber.330806/

Love the writeup @Velcro . Will try the trick with my bubbleking

Regards,
Abhishek

Velcro · Feb 6, 2018

d2mini said:
I saw that earlier today!
My only problem is when my skimmer overflows, it will fill the scrubber.
Would have to try to pull from higher than that venturi tube.

I had an old model. He must have started lowering the Venturi port?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 6, 2018

Scorpius said:
You're not going to see an immediate improvement, at least I didn't when I ran fresh outside air to my skimmer. Took a couple of weeks to see a difference.

Weeks to raise pH with outside air? The effect should happen in a day or two max.

Velcro · Feb 6, 2018

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Weeks to raise pH with outside air? The effect should happen in a day or two max.

Yea I’ve always seen improvement with 12 hours and full effect with 48 hours.

Velcro · Feb 6, 2018

Another consideration is that often the air right outside the home is still high in CO2. I saw a huge difference between drawing air just outside the window and then drawing air about 12 feet up from the window.

d2mini · Feb 6, 2018

Velcro said:
I had an old model. He must have started lowering the Venturi port?

I think it's still the same. I'm talking extreme circumstances.
Like right now I'm having an issue with my Vectra fluctuating flow, which causes the sump level to change. If it gets high, the skimmer start filling the cup real quick.

Velcro · Feb 6, 2018

d2mini said:
I think it's still the same. I'm talking extreme circumstances.
Like right now I'm having an issue with my Vectra fluctuating flow, which causes the sump level to change. If it gets high, the skimmer start filling the cup real quick.

Ah gotcha. Throw a float switch in the cup and call it a day

bubbaque · Feb 6, 2018

The float switch to your controller might really be worth it to you. The moisture for the media really makes that big of a difference. I initially have it pulling humidity from a 5 gallon bucket half full of water and it helped make it last slightly longer. Once I put the input into the skimmer cup it made a world of difference on the life of it.

I did end up turning off my return pump one day and not my skimmer and it did flood the media but luckily I noticed right away when it was happening and stopped it. I removed the hose to skimmer ever since. I don't have a controller to control any of this so it wasn't really an option for me to add the float switch or it would have been worth while to install it and keep the hose in it.

Want2BS8ed · Feb 7, 2018

Velcro said:
Dennis, iirc you use a lifereef. If so, please see this thread I made. It works REALLY well.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-best-way-to-implement-a-co2-scrubber.330806/

Wow, that is an awesome thread as well, between that and what we have discussed here I am going move my intake to the collection cup to see if the media can be extended even further than the solenoid bypass alone.

Recirculating the same air - brilliant!

Greater piece of mind and much easier than plumping outside and running carbon.

Dennis, you start some of the most thought provoking threads. Thanks!

M

d2mini · Feb 7, 2018

ok so last night was a PITA.
First, i had my Vectra return pump soaking in a vinegar bath because I'm having a whole other problem with that.
So the tank recirculation was off for about 6 hours which dropped the ph below 7.
Then after I get the pump cleaned, put back together and flowing again, I realize like an hour later that my skimmer is not working. Inspected the pump first, couldn't find anything.
Finally took the skimmer apart and found a litte snail jammed up in the venturi. :mad:
Got that put all back together and running by 9pm. Yeesh.
But that includes drilling the skimmer cap hole a little larger and shoving a 1/4" ro/di line in there. I ran it out the back of the stand. So it's poking out the rear corner.
It took quite a while of the ph to rise and is currently at the same value of 7.57.
Will see if it gets any higher today than normal.

Velcro · Feb 7, 2018

d2mini said:
ok so last night was a PITA.
First, i had my Vectra return pump soaking in a vinegar bath because I'm having a whole other problem with that.
So the tank recirculation was off for about 6 hours which dropped the ph below 7.
Then after I get the pump cleaned, put back together and flowing again, I realize like an hour later that my skimmer is not working. Inspected the pump first, couldn't find anything.
Finally took the skimmer apart and found a litte snail jammed up in the venturi. :mad:
Got that put all back together and running by 9pm. Yeesh.
But that includes drilling the skimmer cap hole a little larger and shoving a 1/4" ro/di line in there. I ran it out the back of the stand. So it's poking out the rear corner.
It took quite a while of the ph to rise and is currently at the same value of 7.57.
Will see if it gets any higher today than normal.

Tank pH below 7.0? I don't think that's possible!

d2mini · Feb 7, 2018

Velcro said:
Tank pH below 7.0? I don't think that's possible!

Yup. While the sump was sitting stagnant (where my probes are) it was reading 6.5.
Once it got going the sump water had to mix with the tank water... whatever that was at the time.

GoVols · Feb 7, 2018

d2mini said:
Will see if it gets any higher today than normal.

....

............ ;Wideyed

d2mini · Feb 7, 2018

GoVols said:
....
............ ;Wideyed

Like I said in my first post....

Brew12 · Feb 7, 2018

d2mini said:
Yup. While the sump was sitting stagnant (where my probes are) it was reading 6.5.
Once it got going the sump water had to mix with the tank water... whatever that was at the time.

Wow! That must be some crazy interaction with the calcium reactor! CO2 alone couldn't do that!

d2mini · Feb 7, 2018

Brew12 said:
Wow! That must be some crazy interaction with the calcium reactor! CO2 alone couldn't do that!

I had the c02 solenoid and feed pump unplugged while the return pump was down. Basically nothing in the sump was running. Only the display had circulation from the vortechs.

Velcro · Feb 7, 2018

Velcro said:
Tank pH below 7.0? I don't think that's possible!

d2mini said:
I had the c02 solenoid and feed pump unplugged while the return pump was down. Basically nothing in the sump was running. Only the display had circulation from the vortechs.

Man that's really weird...

Velcro · Feb 7, 2018

Dennis, take a cup of your tank water outdoors and aerate the hell out of it for a few hours. Remeasure the pH with your controller to see what that says. I'm really starting to think there's a calibration of equipment malfunction going on here. I don't think saltwater with appropriate alk can even get that low from CO2 alone (at least the levels in the ambient air).

d2mini · Feb 7, 2018

Will do.

Brew12 · Feb 7, 2018

Velcro said:
Dennis, take a cup of your tank water outdoors and aerate the hell out of it for a few hours. Remeasure the pH with your controller to see what that says. I'm really starting to think there's a calibration of equipment malfunction going on here. I don't think saltwater with appropriate alk can even get that low from CO2 alone (at least the levels in the ambient air).

I'm not a calcium reactor guy, and I know they work at pH's down in the 6.5 range since they use carbonic acid to do the dissolving. I just can't figure out how it could drop the entire sump that low if it wasn't running.

Calibration could be an issue, but that would have to be WAY off since pH is a log scale.