CO2 Scrubber/Adding outside air to the tank (1 Viewer)

[spsick]

How was impact to ph

See post #3 above

 

[BlindSwordsman]

I also changed to a DC skimmer from my old Bubble King and I think the new skimmer pulls less air with a 30ft run of hose so that could be part of ir.

No, meaning skimmer perfomance wasnt impacted negatively from adding the long run of hose to the intake.

@spsick : I don't mean to pick on you but I think what you said are kind of contradicting? You said the new skimmer might pull less air because of the long tube but you then you said it did not have impact on the performance of the skimmer. I'm thinking, with the skimmer pulls less air, then it will make less bubbles, and less bubbles will lead to poorer skimming performance, won't it? ...

I'm thinking maybe I'll see into hooking my skimmer to the outside air somehow? I don't think it will do any harm to my tank. But I will try to keep the performance of the skimmer the same as skimming is something I'm concerned about most usually. I was thinking about connecting it to the air intake tube of my central air system but I don't know how good that air intake is with the air from my laundry room blowing out on the same side ... On the other side, I have my neighbor, the nut case, who has his mother in law cooking outside everyday, so ... Well, don't mind me! I'm just thinking out loud now .

 

[reef junkie]

Just for fun I took my Co2 scrubber offline for the day. I did notice the bubbles in the skimmer got way larger and the waterline in the skimmer dropped to a lower level. I think if I ran a dual canister scrubber like Jonty I would see even more increased numbers on Ph. But for now this is what im seeing.

 

[BlindSwordsman]

Adding the CO2 scrubber seems to be a safer way of doing it, and I know it depends on the environment, and how much CO2 present to be 'scrubbed', but I'm wondering how much the cost is for it in general annually for people?

 

[zoolan70]

Does anyone have experience with the Octo CO2 skimmer lid?

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In theory, it sounds like a good way to reduce the usage of CO2 media, but I didn't find any real-world experience when doing a quick search.

 

[spsick]

Does anyone have experience with the Octo CO2 skimmer lid?

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Shop top saltwater aquarium equipment at Bulk Reef Supply. We carry everything you will need for your saltwater aquarium or reef tank.

www.bulkreefsupply.com

In theory, it sounds like a good way to reduce the usage of CO2 media, but I didn't find any real-world experience when doing a quick search.

This is just a commercial version of what 90% of people use for recirculating scrubbers- the Fish of Hex 3d printed ones.

 

[spsick]

@spsick : I don't mean to pick on you but I think what you said are kind of contradicting? You said the new skimmer might pull less air because of the long tube but you then you said it did not have impact on the performance of the skimmer. I'm thinking, with the skimmer pulls less air, then it will make less bubbles, and less bubbles will lead to poorer skimming performance, won't it? ...

Nope! It still skims great and I struggle to keep
nitrates above 0. It may pull less lph of air hence the lesser impact on pH than with the bubble king if that makes sense.

 

[zoolan70]

This is just a commercial version of what 90% of people use for recirculating scrubbers- the Fish of Hex 3d printed ones.

Cool website! I've never heard of them before.

 

[spsick]

Cool website! I've never heard of them before.

His bubble algae tool and DI resin funnel/pusher are godsends!

 

[Varig]

Shoot. I had seen his recirculating co2 skimmer ring thing, but I never looked at his website. Darn you Ben! There are lots of neat gadgets there….

 

[reef junkie]

Adding the CO2 scrubber seems to be a safer way of doing it, and I know it depends on the environment, and how much CO2 present to be 'scrubbed', but I'm wondering how much the cost is for it in general annually for people?

I ordered my single brs co2 scrubber and 2 pouches of media 12/30/22. I just poured in my second media pouch over the weekend. They were 6.99 each For the 1.2lbs pouch.

 

[BlindSwordsman]

I ordered my single brs co2 scrubber and 2 pouches of media 12/30/22. I just poured in my second media pouch over the weekend. They were 6.99 each For the 1.2lbs pouch.

How do you determine the right time to switch out the media? By monitoring your pH? Is it the color changing thing where you look at the color and figure out it's time to replace? I read somewhere that they say the color might change then if they don't replace it, it will change back? Which is kind of tricky to me. But $7/year is not that bad, if that's the case.

 

[spsick]

How do you determine the right time to switch out the media? By monitoring your pH? Is it the color changing thing where you look at the color and figure out it's time to replace? I read somewhere that they say the color might change then if they don't replace it, it will change back? Which is kind of tricky to me. But $7/year is not that bad, if that's the case.

Jorvet brand one has a super obvious color change to purple. BRS one is very faint change hard to see through the canister. I guess the Icecap one starts purple and goes white.

@reef junkie that’s absolutely mental the media lasts that long for you with the recirc setup! When I tried one before they had that I would burn up a canister in 3-5 days!

 

[reef junkie]

The brs stuff is really hard to tell, but once you know what to look for it’s obvious. But it took me seeing @Jonty before I could tell what I was looking for.


@spsick maybe with all the fresh air I’m bringing in did this??? I don’t have away to monitor the Co2 so I can say what I’m competing with. My ph is not as high as I thought it was before recalibrating my probe recently though. . Lol.

 

[BlindSwordsman]

OK, so I did not want to pay for a CO2 reader. I did not want to pay for a CO2 scrubber and continue to pay for refill media. But I did not think there would be anything wrong with supplying the tank with fresh air. So, I decided to blindly run a line from outside to my skimmer on Fri . I use a 1.5" PVC tube that runs about 10 feet, connected to a 3/4" tube that runs another 10 ft max, then converted to a 1/2" tube that's connected to the skimmer. Does it do any good? That, I do not know as I usually run things blindly, but I don't see any ill effect .. yet . But with the temperature outside around 40-50 degrees, I think there is a drop of at least 1 degree in the tank temperature, or at least keeps the tank temperature at 76-77. I set the tank temperature at 75 and my chiller would kick in around 77 (even in winter time as my tank has a 'heat' issue, not 'cold' issue). Lately, it's been sitting around 76+. So, maybe I should expect a rise of at least 1-2 degrees in the summer?? We'll see about that.

 

[asifiqbal2]

I ran a line from outside to my skimmer. It helped quite a bit with my average high and low pH, and especially helped with the wild swings based on how many people were home and if the windows were open etc. Since out toddler started walking the gains in pH have been negated but still have the stability. I also changed to a DC skimmer from my old Bubble King and I think the new skimmer pulls less air with a 30ft run of hose so that could be part of ir.

I’m now looking into adding a ERV unit to our HVAC as I know our co2 levels in the home are high as the cost of this vs a jumbo double chamber co2 scrubber and a years worth of media will probably compare in cost.

I just added an ERV a couple month ago, it does make a difference. Air inside the house feels fresh . My wife was like wait so you added an ERV for your tank

 

[BlindSwordsman]

I just added an ERV a couple month ago, it does make a difference. Air inside the house feels fresh . My wife was like wait so you added an ERV for your tank

I wouldn't say that's the worst thing yet . I once met somebody. We talked about his tank for a bit. Then he said: 'I have a dream! .. My dream is to build a big house so I can .. have a bigger fish tank!' .. That was not how exactly he said it, but he did say he 'wanted' to do that. And his tank was already 100+ - 200 gallons?? .. Well, everybody has a dream .

I don't know anything about pH and stuff. But before, due to my heavy feeding, I would have to clean my glass every 2-3 days. Now, it's gone for nearly a week and it's not that cloudy yet. So, I think there is an improvement? .. I added a few hundred snails though. They clean my sand but I don't know that has something to do with the glass?? .. Maybe??

OK, I'm a home owner and there are many things I haven't thought of, in this case, the ERV system. .. Now, this is brought up and the same thing like the CO2 scrubber, I go: Hmmm! Should I get that?? So, my questions are again:

1) Are these systems noisy?
2) They circulate the air in and out of the house. So, do they run as an individual unit? If so, wouldn't they being cold air into the house in winter time??? I read somewhere from my quick search that the cold air is warmed up by the warm air inside .. I don't know how that works!! .. Or maybe these ERV systems are connected to the furnace and such?? But wouldn't the furnace have that function already?? ... I think I need to do more research on this. Right now, I do have the air from my fish room extracted out constantly since I was afraid of condensation and the smell in that room. I did that myself. Like the rest of my stuff, it's not very high tech, but it works somewhat I think .

 

[reef junkie]

My HRV is silent. It runs on a scheduled based on the percentage per hour I want it to run. It’s tied into my hvac system. The cold air in and the warm air out cross each other via an exchanger. In sense the warm air out heats the exchanger warming the cold air in. I also have mine set to not run if it’s below or above a certain temp as well as above a certain humidity. It also tell the furnace fan to turn on when running just to help with cfm’s pushing more air around the house. It drastically reduced the amount of dust/dandruff/pet air that collect in the home. Not sure what it does for Co2 since I never monitored before adding hrv. If you are curious if your house would benefit an home energy audit can tell you how well the home is sealed or leaking air in or even find some leaking areas in the home.

Received my Co2 monitor yesterday. Here are my results. Basement first at the frag tank, then living room, then upstairs. Middle of the day.

 

[HouseofStark]

My two cents, my tank is along an outside wall. I used 3/4" grey electrical PVC conduit to pass through my outside wall and put a 90 degree "pull box" pointing down on the outside, and one on the inside facing up. One the inside i used a 3/4" street to 1/2" barb fitting to connect skimmer tubing to box. Ive removed my silencer and have tubing go directly into RO Regal 150 pump. Overall length from skimmer to outside less than 10ft. My swings are 7.9-8.2 with closed up house. My house also have a HRV that runs I believe10 min/hr. I have never pulled the trigger on recirculating skimmer/scrubber, for the reason of cost. I go through so much all for reef at this time, if I pushed the 8.3 plus mark, my tank would consume even more AFR, that I just dont want to spend, along with media. Also, outside air does help, but it does not compete with tanks water surface. I still see drops when company comes over, weekends when we are in the house alot, just high CO2. I feel like there are some gains possible, but you have to deicide if they are worth it. To me, find a happy medium is ideal.....having stable PH without burning through AFR and media is best for me.

HRV connects to homes duct work the nuts and bolts are:


some things i experienced with mine, runs too much/too long in winter can really pull down the humidity (static shocks), and therefore of course higher heating bill.

In the summer I unplug mine, I open windows instead. During those crazy hot weeks/spans, hrv can really heat the house and cause ac to run 24/7 along with pulling in a lot of humid air.

I see the most benefit in winter time.

 

[BlindSwordsman]

In the summer I unplug mine, because windows get opened and during those crazy hot weeks/spans, can really heat the house and cause ac to run 24/7 and also pulls in summer hot humid air.

I see the most benefit in winter time.

I honestly have too much on my brain right now, and it's bit overloaded to process more info. But, are you saying the ERV system causes the house to get warmer in the summer time and the AC to run constantly? Or you are saying it's because you usually open the windows in the summer time? I'm reading that a few times but I'm not getting it. I probably just have a brain clog to be honest .