Co2 scrubber

[Reeferkcp]

Dealing with low pH due to high fish load. Who’s doing co2 scrubber? Any thoughts and advice?

And no, I cannot drill a hole in my house. Wife said I can move in the garage if I drill the hole along with my fish tank.

I got a brs canister and 5 gallon of lime soda. Will recirculate the air from the skimmer.

 

[OldReefGuy]

I run..scrubber with outside air.....average is really only .5 increase for me....so running at 8.0 ~ 8.2 throughout the day...was running 7.9~8.0 without...must be the crappy air in the valley

 

[Discotu]

Best thing I ever did. I use a media canister that holds exactly one 3lb bag of Jorvet soda lime. One end pulls moist air in from one of my sump chambers. Other end I have a "y" to my skimmer silencer and split to ambient with valve. This allows me to control how much air is drawn through the scrubber vs bypass. You might not need the "y" depending on your needs.

 

[OldReefGuy]

^ He is the reason I run mine...

 

[prion27]

Best thing I ever did. I use a media canister that holds exactly one 3lb bag of Jorvet soda lime. One end pulls moist air in from one of my sump chambers. Other end I have a "y" to my skimmer silencer and split to ambient with valve. This allows me to control how much air is drawn through the scrubber vs bypass. You might not need the "y" depending on your needs.

What brand CO2 Scrubber do you use?

 

[Reeferkcp]

Best thing I ever did. I use a media canister that holds exactly one 3lb bag of Jorvet soda lime. One end pulls moist air in from one of my sump chambers. Other end I have a "y" to my skimmer silencer and split to ambient with valve. This allows me to control how much air is drawn through the scrubber vs bypass. You might not need the "y" depending on your needs.

That’s a big scrubber! On average what is your annual cost for media? I heard it get expensive.

 

[Jimbo327]

You think the wife will even notice the drilled hole behind the tank? Tell her it'll save hundreds of dollars per year if you just drill a tiny little hole that can be easily patched if she don't like it.

That's how I sold my 4" hole, LOL. I told her I can run the loud chiller, smelly skimmate locker, noisy DOS dosers outside, not have to bring in messy brute bins for water changes, and not refill the ATO weekly. She was sold!

 

[Reeferkcp]

You think the wife will even notice the drilled hole behind the tank? Tell her it'll save hundreds of dollars per year if you just drill a tiny little hole that can be easily patched if she don't like it.

That's how I sold my 4" hole, LOL. I told her I can run the loud chiller, smelly skimmate locker, noisy DOS dosers outside, and not have to bring in messy brute bins for water changes. She was sold!

Unfortunately the tank is in the living room up against the wall that is right in the front of the house. The external hole will be on the front of the house and she doesn’t like that… I tried bro. My electrician was here drill in hand and she said no! Lol

 

[Jimbo327]

Unfortunately the tank is in the living room up against the wall that is right in the front of the house. The external hole will be on the front of the house and she doesn’t like that… I tried bro. My electrician was here drill in hand and she said no! Lol

Doh! Yeah, when da boss said no, then it's a no. LOL.

 

[bakbay]

Scrubbing, drilling, holes, wifey… I thought that this was a family site?

 

[joeoliver]

I drilled the hole without asking, but was ready to ask for forgiveness and/or ready to patch it up.

fortunately she let it go. however, it only raised ph by .1 from a low of 7.8 to 7.9. I also started kalkwasser (I also continue to dose all for reef) and that raised ph another .1.

overall, i went from 7.8-8.1 to 8.0-8.3

i know my ph want bad, but made the changes hoping it helps with coral skeleton growth. Just did it recently so we'll see.

Edit: didn't want the added cost of co2 scrubbing so haven't done that.

 

[Reeferkcp]

I drilled the hole without asking, but was ready to ask for forgiveness and/or ready to patch it up.

fortunately she let it go. however, it only raised ph by .1 from a low of 7.8 to 7.9. I also started kalkwasser (I also continue to dose all for reef) and that raised ph another .1.

overall, i went from 7.8-8.1 to 8.0-8.3

i know my ph want bad, but made the changes hoping it helps with coral skeleton growth. Just did it recently so we'll see.

Edit: didn't want the added cost of co2 scrubbing so haven't done that.

8-8.3 pH is solid man. Mine is 7.8-8.2 now. When it was higher, I definitely noticed more growth and health in my acro so hoping to bump it up. I have been dosing kalk like 30 gallon every 2 weeks. I would take 0.1 boost any day. Hope this work. I’m annoyed at the cost and time to change co2 media but I feel I gotta do something for the low pH. Getting rid of my fish is the last resort ! lol. Maybe I need to rehome my big blue tang and fox face and start with 2-inch fish again. But i feel like they are family after 3 years so hard to let go…

 

[Jimbo327]

Your wife would probably kill you if you did this, huh? LOL. I even failed on my 1st attempt at drilling (lower hole and had to patch that haha). Luckily mine is on the side of the house, so no one can really see it.

To make it wife approved, I did make it look clean with some PVC pipe and RV electrical covers.

I have about 10 tubings running through this hole now.

 

[Discotu]

That’s a big scrubber! On average what is your annual cost for media? I heard it get expensive.

When I initially set it up I was pulling air directly through the scrubber and it last about a month.
Since then my corals have grown and also increased my dosing of sodium hydroxide so need less of a ph boost. That's where the "y" split comes into play.

On a separate note, I had also played around with adding tubing from my skimmer to the outside. I think I used 3/8 ID tubing ~ 2-3 feet. I'm almost positive it reduced air flow and negatively affected the ideal air volume. I abandoned this is favor of the co2 scubber so didn't explore it further but I imagine you'll want to oversize the tubing to increase flow.

 

[drexel]

What about upgrading to a bigger skimmer or adding another skimmer just at night? It might be cheaper than buying media for a scrubber, unless you're going to buy the big bucket? You also have to determine whether it's co2 building up in the room or not?

 

[Discotu]

I have a BK supermarin 200 so I'm not gonna be upgrading anytime soon lol. I think I did the math and it's actually cheaper to buy the 3lbs bags vs the heavier bucket because of shipping. There was a moment when amz carried it for less with free shipping. I should've stocked up then! Anyway, it's definitely c02 in the house. The scrubber media is color changing so confirms it's pulling co2 from the air.

 

[Reeferkcp]

Your wife would probably kill you if you did this, huh? LOL. I even failed on my 1st attempt at drilling (lower hole and had to patch that haha). Luckily mine is on the side of the house, so no one can really see it.

To make it wife approved, I did make it look clean with some PVC pipe and RV electrical covers.

I have about 10 tubings running through this hole now.

View attachment 124986

Damn that looks clean. Yeah I would be single if I do that lol

 

[Reeferkcp]

When I initially set it up I was pulling air directly through the scrubber and it last about a month.
Since then my corals have grown and also increased my dosing of sodium hydroxide so need less of a ph boost. That's where the "y" split comes into play.

On a separate note, I had also played around with adding tubing from my skimmer to the outside. I think I used 3/8 ID tubing ~ 2-3 feet. I'm almost positive it reduced air flow and negatively affected the ideal air volume. I abandoned this is favor of the co2 scubber so didn't explore it further but I imagine you'll want to oversize the tubing to increase flow.

Hmmm this makes me feel better going scrubber vs outside air. I don’t think too much ph boost is gonna be my problem so probably won’t need the Y adaptor but will see . Thanks for the tip.

 

[jaxcarnage]

I wasn't thinking of PH when putting up the tank. Tank sits in the hallway, to help circulate fresh air I open the bedroom windows when I'm at the home office and run the AC fan.

I removed the Kalk. an installed IceCap scrubber early March. I'm still tweaking with the skimmer start time.

Start

Current

 

[Reeferkcp]

I wasn't thinking of PH when putting up the tank. Tank sits in the hallway, to help circulate fresh air I open the bedroom windows when I'm at the home office and run the AC fan.

I removed the Kalk. an installed IceCap scrubber early March. I'm still tweaking with the skimmer start time.

Start
View attachment 125011

Current
View attachment 125010

Whoa. 7.5 pH. Probe might be off? That’s really low.