Aeration / CO2 Scrubber

[RonS]

Howdy all,

I've mentioned elsewhere that I'm having difficulty getting my pH about 8.0. On my smaller tank, I plumbed a reactor with CDX into my skimmer and had great results, raising pH consistently by 0.2 - 0.4 points.

I want to do this on my larger tank. However... I am going with the Miracle Mud process, wherein you only run your skimmer for 6 hours a day, and let the refugium handle the rest. In addition, I'm running very low on NH3 and PO4 again, so I will not be running the skimmer at all and the refugium lights minimally for a while, until I get my nutrients back up.

Unfortunately, it's very difficult to run air through the CO2 reactor when the skimmer isn't running

I was thinking about a dedicated old school air pump and air stone, but I doubt that it will get the same contact that a skimmer impeller does. thoughts? suggestions for brands/types?

I could also just run the skimmer for the aeration effect, and just let the effluent drain back into the sump when I don't want to actually extract any crud. But it would be a PITA to constantly have to empty the cup before opening the valve.

There's also using a second, small skimmer without a cup at all.

I'm sure there are better ways I'm just not thinking/aware of. Any insights are appreciated!

--Ron

 

[lmm1967]

I'm gonna follow along to see other's take on this - I'll say that I've just about given up on worrying about PH. Strong arguments that I'm crazy - and some strong arguments say I'm not so crazy (Jason Fox for instance).

Ultimately PH has been too hard for me to chase and doing so gets expensive (CO2 scrubber media) and is a pain - at least to me it is.

Current goal - rather than chasing PH - is to try to get my alk consumption up so high that dosing brings the PH up on it's own. I'll also eventually add a refugium of sorts to run lights at night to help at least keep PH more constant than it is today.

 

[civics14]

What's PH? lol. JK. I don't even measure PH because if I did, I would be chasing some number that would just in the end hurt me.

I'm with @lmm1967 on this. Stop worrying about it.

 

[Adam]

I didn't chase pH but I did what I could to mitigate the drops that kept it low. If I left it alone this time of year I would see drops under 7.65 at night. If we cooked with the oven, when we had people over it would go lower. I never though our old house was buttoned up that tight but even me being in the basement by myself and falling asleep watching tv would make the pH drop. My goal was to try and get it above 8.

Are you dosing for Alk and Cal yet?

Current goal - rather than chasing PH - is to try to get my alk consumption up so high that dosing brings the PH up on it's own. I'll also eventually add a refugium of sorts to run lights at night to help at least keep PH more constant than it is today.

To drive up Alk consumption up you need a lot of growing coral. Coral grows better when...
Dosing Sodium Hydroxide instead of Soda Ash for Alk will give you a bigger boost in pH. I wouldn't use it without a doser though, needs to be added in small amounts.
Mix it in glass jugs, not plastic where the heat may melt it. This is basically Lye.

When I was using it I was able to maintain a nighttime low pH of 8.1. Then I had to muck things up by switching to a calcium reactor.
Using metered Kalk doses also works good.

 

[Doberman13]

I also am posting to see what others think. I used some tubing to pull air from the attic into the skimmer and that has helped keep ph above 8. Now due to low nutrients I have the skimmer off from 7:30 to midnight it drops down during this time.

 

[Adam]

Does anyone know how much turning a skimmer off effects the nutrient levels in a system? I know it won't pull dissolved NO3 & PO4 out of the water when running but how much will it allow those to build up when it's off? This would be a great BRS experiment.

In my system I only shut the skimmer off when adding Phyto or dosing amino's. It would be off for 4hrs two to three times a week.

 

[RonS]

Thanks, all, for the comments so far!

I’m chasing pH for 3 reasons:

1) I’m obsessive and chasing parameters is fun for me... I want to hit the target, and I feel that having a proper pH is the the right thing to do for my animals

2) I’ve had pH problems on every tank I've ever had, and I am damned determined to “do it right” this time. I’m already seeing my sand stick together, and I want to get out in front of it

3) I’m also chasing KH (see reasons above ), and the only way to get there is to have a higher pH

I’m dosing the hell out of KH right now. It's not precipitating, but I don't want it to start. I'm comfortable with 2-part, and would prefer to stay that route. I'm keeping an eye on it, because I know all of a sudden it will shoot up, and I want to be ready.

So now that the whining's over... any ideas on the best way to make the most of a Co2 scrubber without it being connected to my main skimmer? In the Miracle Mud method, you only run the skimmer for about 6 hours a day, maybe less, so I want a more constant source for my skimmer.

Thank you for indulging my OCD!!

--Ron

 

[RonS]

Does anyone know how much turning a skimmer off effects the nutrient levels in a system? I know it won't pull dissolved NO3 & PO4 out of the water when running but how much will it allow those to build up when it's off? This would be a great BRS experiment.

In my system I only shut the skimmer off when adding Phyto or dosing amino's. It would be off for 4hrs two to three times a week.

It was always my understanding that the skimmer removes a lot of precursors of the NO3/PO4 cycles. It certainly seems like many sources indicate that your levels will rise with the skimmer off, but I can't think of a direct source of that info...