Recirculating skimmer air without scrubber media

[Subarcticreef]

What happens if the scrubber media is excluded from a recirculation system? As I understand it CO2 and O2 is relatively easily dissolved in the water whereas nitrogen is not? So over time the gas used in the skimmer will be almost exclusively nitrogen?
The reason to use a scrubber is to minimize the amount of CO2 added to the water from CO2 rich indoor air but could that be achieved through just recirculating the air in skimmer and allow for some leakage of air into the system to compensate for the gas volume lost through the water?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What happens if the scrubber media is excluded from a recirculation system? As I understand it CO2 and O2 is relatively easily dissolved in the water whereas nitrogen is not? So over time the gas used in the skimmer will be almost exclusively nitrogen?
The reason to use a scrubber is to minimize the amount of CO2 added to the water from CO2 rich indoor air but could that be achieved through just recirculating the air in skimmer and allow for some leakage of air into the system to compensate for the gas volume lost through the water?

You will give up oxygenation. No, it will not become enriched in N2. It will reflect the CO2 and O2 and N2 in the water.

I don’t believe this is a desirable effect. It’s akin to saying I won’t aerate the water out of concern for CO2 in the air. The tank produces a lot of CO2 at night, and the nightly low may actually get lower.