An Easy Way to Increase Your Tank's pH with a CO2 Scrubber

250mixreef · Jan 21, 2016

I used that 3 lb bag in two days

CoachRDB · Jan 21, 2016

Lol definitely not worth it

250mixreef · Jan 21, 2016

Just another donation to the reef hobby

Jonty · Jan 21, 2016

I did it for a while and it worked great, I became tired of the cost and figured out how to take air from outside and feed it directly to the skimmer and now get the same results for free.

bevo5 · Jan 24, 2016

Yeah - I just set one up on my 200g. It's working so far - got about a .15-.2 uptick based on the past week of results on APEX. But the soda lime was turning pink after a couple hours. I don't know how many days I'll get out of the 3lb bag. I'll probably need one every few weeks. That's too much $$.

I gotta figure something else out though. Tank is in a basement and I dno't want to leave the windows open - security risk.

But this is a fun experiment that seems to work surprisingly well for being so simple.

jelly · Jan 24, 2016

Use kalk in your top off water. 1 table spoon per gallon and it will help the ph. The kalk will bind to the co2 and pull it out .

jelly · Jan 24, 2016

Just keep the top off water covers

bevo5 · Jan 24, 2016

Top off container is covered....maybe not air tight though.

Starting to put kalk in there makes me nervous. I've never messed with it before. I dose 2 part as it is. My RO reservoir is 30gallons. Would that much kalk cause spikes?

jelly · Jan 24, 2016

You will need to readjust some friends your dosing. But I would ask others about that. I just know I have a 180 and I was down to 7.6 7.7 for ph. Now I use kalk I'm up to 8.0 8.1. Didn't affect my calcium reactor.

jelly · Jan 24, 2016

dang auto correct

Powderbluetang · Feb 11, 2016

I just ordered from medvet. I hope this will help with my low ph

Darren-oli · Feb 17, 2016

Great.
I really am going to have to try this . Problem here in PNG is finding soda lime

jason.kennedy.98478 · Feb 17, 2016

You can use lithium hydroxide as well for this purpose

Bori · Feb 17, 2016

Great info! Thanks!!

jason.kennedy.98478 · Feb 17, 2016

Or if you wanted to get really fancy you could make a regenerative amine scrubber. Wouldn't be cost effective unless you ran it for a few years but it would be cool

Tjakes680 · Feb 18, 2016

Very nice how does it affect your skimmer did u have to adjust it or was the air intake still enough to maintain a good skim

FireEMT · Feb 18, 2016

I have been contemplating doing a CO2 scrubber for awhile. Recently when I notice that my pH is decreasing, I open windows in the house to let in fresh air. That seems to bring the pH up for a couple days and then it gradually begins to fall again when the CO2 increases in the closed up tightly sealed house. I contacted a HVAC company to see about adding a whole house fresh air kit, they run around $600 installed. From reading some of the posts it might be cheaper in the long run to do something like this. I was also told by the HVAC guy that it is now code that houses be installed with a fresh air kit because they are so tight. Just a thought, does anyone have experience with this?

Bori · Feb 18, 2016

Hi, i have been an HVAC tech for the last 12 years and its the first time i have heard that's a new hose code! I know that every state has their own codes but usually in florida you dont need fresh air unless you live in appartments or highrise buildings, in a regular home you get fresh air every time you open a door, window or any other thing that will let outside air come in. I would first read the city codes because anyone would love 600$ in their pocket just to sale something you dont need!!

FireEMT · Feb 18, 2016

Bori said:
Hi, i have been an HVAC tech for the last 12 years and its the first time i have heard that's a new hose code! I know that every state has their own codes but usually in florida you dont need fresh air unless you live in appartments or highrise buildings, in a regular home you get fresh air every time you open a door, window or any other thing that will let outside air come in. I would first read the city codes because anyone would love 600$ in their pocket just to sale something you dont need!!

I appreciate the info, I live in Southern Oregon and the HVAC company is very reputable and even emailed me the code with the quote. He even mentioned that its funny how the codes have changed recently that create such a tight house, but now they are creating another code to cut a big vent hole to bring in fresh air. It seems like there could be a happy median. About a year ago I had a blower door test completed by the energy trust of Oregon. The test came back with a recommendation of the fresh air kit because my house is so well sealed after some work that I did to air seal the attic and crawl space. Would a fresh air kit help enough with the CO2 in the house? Has anyone installed one with improved pH levels after.

Bori · Feb 18, 2016

I assume it will defenetly help like it does in buildings, inside of a house depends on the measurement of the square footage of your home and the size of the kit. The HVAC company should know the math behind the percentage of clean air mass they sholud let in against the inside air.

"7.5 cfm per person plus 3 cfm per 100 square feet" that is in a very tightly build house
And on a not so tight build
"7.5 cfm per person plus 1 cfm per 100 square feet"