CO2 scrubber short lived

[jimmypencil]

hey everyone, i added a co2 scrubber to my 50 lagoon aio 5 days ago. im using a recirculating cup attachment on my tunze 9004 that goes to the brs scrubber using ice cap media. skimmer runs 24/7. for the first few days i got a great ph boost but then a drop. media hasnt changed color or anything so im wondering what could be the cause. i know "everything will be fine" with these ph levels and im not trying to debate the effects of ph level im just wondering what could have caused the scrubber to work for such a short amount of time. the main thing that caught my attention is the low was 8.04 for a couple days then it shot down to a new low of 7.88. when i set it up i took out the media cartridge and put the table spoon of rodi in there then replaced the cartridge. is this necessary? anyway, heres my ph graph.

noteworthy
26th- set up scrubber
28th - 10% water change, cleaned algae in tank, cleaned skimmer cup and neck
29th- started dosing 130 ml kalkwasser at night from 10pm-10am, also me and my girlfriend were gone since saturday afternoon and came back night of 29th so maybe that could drop ph a bit.

 

[Graemesreef]

hey everyone, i added a co2 scrubber to my 50 lagoon aio 5 days ago. im using a recirculating cup attachment on my tunze 9004 that goes to the brs scrubber using ice cap media. skimmer runs 24/7. for the first few days i got a great ph boost but then a drop. media hasnt changed color or anything so im wondering what could be the cause. i know "everything will be fine" with these ph levels and im not trying to debate the effects of ph level im just wondering what could have caused the scrubber to work for such a short amount of time. the main thing that caught my attention is the low was 8.04 for a couple days then it shot down to a new low of 7.88. when i set it up i took out the media cartridge and put the table spoon of rodi in there then replaced the cartridge. is this necessary? anyway, heres my ph graph.

noteworthy
26th- set up scrubber
28th - 10% water change, cleaned algae in tank, cleaned skimmer cup and neck
29th- started dosing 130 ml kalkwasser at night from 10pm-10am, also me and my girlfriend were gone since saturday afternoon and came back night of 29th so maybe that could drop ph a bit.

Have you checked your alk. consumption? I think its imperative daily, especially at the beginning.

 

[jimmypencil]

Have you checked your alk. consumption? I think its imperative daily, especially at the beginning.

alk consumption is roughly .1-.2 dkh daily. thats why i started dosing the kalkwasser. im hovering at 8.7 dkh.

 

[jimmypencil]

hey everyone, i added a co2 scrubber to my 50 lagoon aio 5 days ago. im using a recirculating cup attachment on my tunze 9004 that goes to the brs scrubber using ice cap media. skimmer runs 24/7. for the first few days i got a great ph boost but then a drop. media hasnt changed color or anything so im wondering what could be the cause. i know "everything will be fine" with these ph levels and im not trying to debate the effects of ph level im just wondering what could have caused the scrubber to work for such a short amount of time. the main thing that caught my attention is the low was 8.04 for a couple days then it shot down to a new low of 7.88. when i set it up i took out the media cartridge and put the table spoon of rodi in there then replaced the cartridge. is this necessary? anyway, heres my ph graph.

noteworthy
26th- set up scrubber
28th - 10% water change, cleaned algae in tank, cleaned skimmer cup and neck
29th- started dosing 130 ml kalkwasser at night from 10pm-10am, also me and my girlfriend were gone since saturday afternoon and came back night of 29th so maybe that could drop ph a bit.

Changed out the tubing and also shortened the distance between skimmer and scrubber. problem solved!

 

[Gatorpa]

Just a heads up some argue to not do recirc from the skimmer. Not saying I subscribe to that line of thinking.
The argument is that it can (in theory) lower the dissolved O2 in the tank and cause hypoxia.

 

[jimmypencil]

Just a heads up some argue to not do recirc from the skimmer. Not saying I subscribe to that line of thinking.
The argument is that it can (in theory) lower the dissolved O2 in the tank and cause hypoxia.

wow i didnt think about that, thanks for bringing that to my attention.

@Randy Holmes-Farley thoughts?

 

[Gatorpa]

wow i didnt think about that, thanks for bringing that to my attention.

@Randy Holmes-Farley thoughts?

Mind you I’m not sure there is any clear data to support the theor, more learned minds may know.

 

[piranhaman00]

Just a heads up some argue to not do recirc from the skimmer. Not saying I subscribe to that line of thinking.
The argument is that it can (in theory) lower the dissolved O2 in the tank and cause hypoxia.

wow i didnt think about that, thanks for bringing that to my attention.

@Randy Holmes-Farley thoughts?

Mind you I’m not sure there is any clear data to support the theor, more learned minds may know.

I have proof, happened to me. See my thread. I no longer run scrubber due to this and other reasons. Line outside now.

Recirculating Co2 Skimmer Reminder/Warning

Hello, something very interesting I noticed on my tank recently that has been pointed out by @Randy Holmes-Farley and others as a warning. 160 gallons, lids on DT, air exchange is probably mostly through skimmer. I was running a Lifereef skimmer through a Co2 scrubber in recirculating fashion...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[jimmypencil]

Mind you I’m not sure there is any clear data to support the theor, more learned minds may know.

i just saw an old thread from randy where he says basic chemistry would suggest that exactly what you said is true, but there is no data to support.

 

[jimmypencil]

I have proof, happened to me. See my thread. I no longer run scrubber due to this and other reasons. Line outside now.

Recirculating Co2 Skimmer Reminder/Warning

Hello, something very interesting I noticed on my tank recently that has been pointed out by @Randy Holmes-Farley and others as a warning. 160 gallons, lids on DT, air exchange is probably mostly through skimmer. I was running a Lifereef skimmer through a Co2 scrubber in recirculating fashion...

www.reef2reef.com

i always have my window open in my room, would that counter act this?

 

[piranhaman00]

i always have my window open in my room, would that counter act this?

Ya probably

 

[Gatorpa]

I have proof, happened to me. See my thread. I no longer run scrubber due to this and other reasons. Line outside now.

Recirculating Co2 Skimmer Reminder/Warning

Hello, something very interesting I noticed on my tank recently that has been pointed out by @Randy Holmes-Farley and others as a warning. 160 gallons, lids on DT, air exchange is probably mostly through skimmer. I was running a Lifereef skimmer through a Co2 scrubber in recirculating fashion...

www.reef2reef.com

I noticed your DT has lids, many do not. I would think there is a great deal of gas exchange with lidless tanks and good surface distruption. That likely would counteract the negative effects of the recirculating through the skimmer cup..

 

[Gatorpa]

i always have my window open in my room, would that counter act this?

If your windows are open always the ambient CO2 is likely low and I’m not sure how much bump would would get from running a recirculating line through a CO2 scrubber or if it’s even worth getting a scrubber.

Buy a CO2 meter from amazon. If the CO2 in the room is close to 400 your gain with a scrubber is likely small.

 

[reddogf5]

i just saw an old thread from randy where he says basic chemistry would suggest that exactly what you said is true, but there is no data to support.

Link?

 

[jimmypencil]

If your windows are open always the ambient CO2 is likely low and I’m not sure how much bump would would get from running a recirculating line through a CO2 scrubber or if it’s even worth getting a scrubber.

Buy a CO2 meter from amazon. If the CO2 in the room is close to 400 your gain with a scrubber is likely small.

That sounds right but I have tested windows open and windows closed while CO2 scrubber is running and ph is a good .1-.15 higher with windows open

 

[jimmypencil]

Link?

 

[Gatorpa]

The only way yo know for sure would be to actually measure the dissolved O2 with and with out recirculating.
Since the level of O2 in a house really doesn’t vary much surface agitation adds much O2 as well as an overflow and obviously a skimmer.
Ive run tanks for days after a hurricane with only a 500 gph bilge pump and never had any losses.