When I started my system a little over two years ago I had problems with the sand clumping due to Alk precipitating after I started dosing about 3 to 4 months in. Over the last year I don’t see much, if any, new clumping in the sand. But I continue to struggle with Alk consumption and lowered pH. I’m going to list as much as I can about my system below.
My entire system is in my basement and consists of an in-wall 210 display, a 60 frag and a 120 sump that reside in a fish/sump room. Total volume is approx 325 gallons. I have Chaeto in the center chamber in the sump and an ATS plumbed externally. Both are lit on a reverse cycle. My skimmer is a custom 48” MTC MVX that also runs externally. It pulls its air from an outside line that has a activated carbon chamber installed in case any aerosols get sprayed nearby. The exit air line runs to a DIY skimmate locker I made that has a carbon canister installed so the air leaving the bucket doesn’t stink the whole basement up. The bucket sits on the floor of the sump room.
My basement is concrete on three sides and day light on the back wall. The HVAC system for the basement is standalone and neither it, or the system for the floors above, have any type of fresh air input. I know that lower pH is mostly, if not entirely, dependent on the amount of CO2 in the water and surrounding air. All three tanks have ample surface agitation and there is an exhaust fan in the ceiling of the fish room. I have found that when the weather permits me to open a window down there that the pH will stay elevated and the Alk will stay stable between 9 and 9.5dkh. I had been dosing 2part with Cal during the day and Alk at night. My normal dose was 125ml per day. About 2 week ago I switched to dosing fully saturated Kalk at a rate of 1.54 gallons a day, being dosed 24/7. I did this in the hope that the Kalk would offset the CO2, but this does not seem to be the case and I’ve had to dose for Alk to keep the level up. It’s dropping at a level of 1 to .6dkh a day and the pH doesn’t rebound as high during the photo period. I switched to Kalk because I’m planning on firing up a CARX soon. But right now, the extra CO2 is kind of putting me off on the idea. Coral growth has been pretty good and soon 2part is going to be harder to keep up.
As you all know there is no way I can open a window this time of year for any length of time. I’d like to know if I have missed something or if there is something else I can try before I break down and install an air exchange system in the basement. So, if you have a basement system is this something you’re dealing with or dealt with in the past and how have you combated CO2?
My entire system is in my basement and consists of an in-wall 210 display, a 60 frag and a 120 sump that reside in a fish/sump room. Total volume is approx 325 gallons. I have Chaeto in the center chamber in the sump and an ATS plumbed externally. Both are lit on a reverse cycle. My skimmer is a custom 48” MTC MVX that also runs externally. It pulls its air from an outside line that has a activated carbon chamber installed in case any aerosols get sprayed nearby. The exit air line runs to a DIY skimmate locker I made that has a carbon canister installed so the air leaving the bucket doesn’t stink the whole basement up. The bucket sits on the floor of the sump room.
My basement is concrete on three sides and day light on the back wall. The HVAC system for the basement is standalone and neither it, or the system for the floors above, have any type of fresh air input. I know that lower pH is mostly, if not entirely, dependent on the amount of CO2 in the water and surrounding air. All three tanks have ample surface agitation and there is an exhaust fan in the ceiling of the fish room. I have found that when the weather permits me to open a window down there that the pH will stay elevated and the Alk will stay stable between 9 and 9.5dkh. I had been dosing 2part with Cal during the day and Alk at night. My normal dose was 125ml per day. About 2 week ago I switched to dosing fully saturated Kalk at a rate of 1.54 gallons a day, being dosed 24/7. I did this in the hope that the Kalk would offset the CO2, but this does not seem to be the case and I’ve had to dose for Alk to keep the level up. It’s dropping at a level of 1 to .6dkh a day and the pH doesn’t rebound as high during the photo period. I switched to Kalk because I’m planning on firing up a CARX soon. But right now, the extra CO2 is kind of putting me off on the idea. Coral growth has been pretty good and soon 2part is going to be harder to keep up.
As you all know there is no way I can open a window this time of year for any length of time. I’d like to know if I have missed something or if there is something else I can try before I break down and install an air exchange system in the basement. So, if you have a basement system is this something you’re dealing with or dealt with in the past and how have you combated CO2?
