Recirculating Co2 Scrubber Designs

[jackson6745]

I see many different ways to create a recirculating co2 scrubber from reading loads of threads and watching YouTube videos. Moisture collection seems to be an issue so most guys incorporate a catch can of some type. The main issue that I see is the Saftey issue. If the skimmer foamed up for a particular reason and the co2 scrubber filled up and then released that water back into the system, that would spell disaster if not caught immediately or stopped from progressing somehow.

I'm exploring a bunch of options to make a failsafe should that occur. I was looking at one of those smart optical shutoff switches for skimmers but they seem to malfunction from moisture according to most guys. I was thinking about using and auto shutoff skimmate container but I think that would allow the skimmer to draw outside air? As a last resort I could use a controller to shut off based on PH but I would rather keep that as a second fail safe should the first option fail.

I am usual an old ro filter with only media in the center, the sides are used to catch moisture. Seems to work well. Open to any failsafe suggestion that might work to keep this from releasing water back into the tank. I did put a ping pong ball in the cylinder which should in theory suck to the inlet of the ro should it fill up....in theory lol. No idea if that would actually work,.

 

[Reefering1]

I'm not convinced the average skimmer venturi syphon has the pulling power to pull water up through the line into skimmer. Especially how you have that hose going up like that, maybe make it higher.. a float switch in the cup could be a option. Maybe if its housed inside a piece of pvc pipe, it won't get all gunked up

 

[jackson6745]

I'm not convinced the average skimmer venturi syphon has the pulling power to pull water up through the line into skimmer. Especially how you have that hose going up like that, maybe make it higher.. a float switch in the cup could be a option. Maybe if its housed inside a piece of pvc pipe, it won't get all gunked up

I tested that out already. Filled cup with rodi water. It gets sucked right into the canister. This BK 200 sucks some air. I like the idea of a float switch in the cup. Got to see how I would accomplish that.

 

[TehBrainz]

So I have my recirculation going to a water trap and then into my scrubber. This allows for any condensation to drip into the cup and not get pulled into the media.

I also have my skimmer cup drain going to it's own collection so that if I do get overflows in the skimmer cup it is discharged separately and does not get sucked into the scrubber line. The skimmer overflow is tied to a float switch that will kill the skimmer and send me an alert. I'm using a 1gal BRS container as overkill. This allows for crazy wet skimmate when socks are changed or anything sends the skimmer into frenzy mode.

The benefit I've found with the recirculating collection cup is that I keep moisture rich air going through the line for the media without having to put RODI into the bottom of the canister.

 

[jackson6745]

Something like this would work. Need to wire it to a plug though.

 

[TehBrainz]

So that's basically how mine is set up, but instead of putting the vertical float switch on the skimmate cup I have it on the reservoir connected to the drain port of the skimmate cup. Same principle, but I've increased the volume of skimmate that can be collected and made it so I don't have to remove the collection cup to empty (PITA for me). I also added a vent port that scrubs the displaced air through carbon so I'm not pushing stinky air into the cabinet.

 

[TehBrainz]

Double post - Deleted

 

[TehBrainz]

I bought a recirculating skimmer ring from FishOfHex and it works pretty darn well for my set-up. I didn't have any ports I could connect into like your skimmer cap. What his design does is offsets the intake from where the foam comes in so the likelihood of sucking up gunk is reduced. You could probably achieve similar if you put an elbow on the inside of your cap. Only would be worth the effort if you're sucking up a lot of foam

Skimmer Scrubber Attachment

fishofhex.com

 

[jackson6745]

I bought a recirculating skimmer ring from FishOfHex and it works pretty darn well for my set-up. I didn't have any ports I could connect into like your skimmer cap. What his design does is offsets the intake from where the foam comes in so the likelihood of sucking up gunk is reduced. You could probably achieve similar if you put an elbow on the inside of your cap. Only would be worth the effort if you're sucking up a lot of foam

Skimmer Scrubber Attachment

fishofhex.com

If I didn't have that port on my lid I would be getting one of those adapters for sure. I don't have problems sucking skimmer foam, just wanted a failsafe should a reactor occur and the skimmer floods .i.e. using epoxy in tank or new foam/filter socks etc

 

[TehBrainz]

Also, I looked closer at your system and skimmate foam should really not be a big issue since you are going through those canisters. Only suggestion would be to add a bit of tubing to the inlet of the first canister so that if moisture does come in it will be directly all the way down to the bottom of the canister

 

[TehBrainz]

If I didn't have that port on my lid I would be getting one of those adapters for sure. I don't have problems sucking skimmer foam, just wanted a failsafe should a reactor occur and the skimmer floods .i.e. using epoxy in tank or new foam/filter socks etc

Yea float switch in your skimmer cup or an external reservoir connected to the drain port would be the way to go! Especially if you have a controller already running