Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'low ph'.
Found 2 results
-
Have you ever struggled with low PH? Has your coral growth slowed? Have you tried a CO2 scrubber yet? They work very well I assure you! I myself have been a victim of low PH especially in the summer and winter. You see at those times of year I have to keep my home closed up from the elements. I’d love to be able to open up all my windows all the time , but that’s just not realistic or possible with brutal Midwest heat and humidity. Let’s not even discuss bone chilling winters. Not everyone has all of the seasons I do but most of us have at least one time of the year that we can’t have our humble abodes open to the fresh air. This is exactly the time that CO2 scrubber comes in handy! So let me tell you my results with my first CO2 Scrubber. I was having a hard time maintaining 7.8-8.0 Ph on a daily diurnal swing. My coral growth had slowed, my alkalinity and calcium consumption had dropped dramatically and my tank just didn’t look right. Sound familiar?? The search was on for a solution, 😂 My mind begin to work! After some online searching I found some information about CO2 scrubbers . What’s this scrubber thing you speak of? What does it do? What’s the benefits? Well a Ph scrubber is basically a chamber or reactor that holds CO2media ( calcium hydroxide) and (sodium hydroxide). When you pass air laden with Carbon Dioxide through the reactor/scrubber media, the CO2 is absorbed by the media and fresh air continues on to your aquarium. This is generally done by connecting the air intake line of your skimmer to the reactor/scrubber. As CO2 is scrubbed out before fresh air is delivered to the aquarium your PH increases because your skimmer is no longer pumping CO2 laden air into the tank. Genius!! Let me show you a few pictures of what this looks like.😊 So we’ve gone over the basics of what a scrubber is , what it does , and what it helps with. Now we need to chat about one more important thing, the media. How do you know if the media is good? How do you know when it’s bad? How long does it last?.Glad you asked !! 😂 The media is white when it is fresh and in it’s sealed container. It won’t stay that way as it absorbs CO2. The IceCap media will turn Pink in color as it absorbs CO2. Once the media has sufficiently turned Pink it should be removed and discarded. If you leave the media in the scrubber after this point it could turn back to white, but it isn’t actually working any longer.Lets take a quick look at the media when it needs to be changed. At this point you can see the media has been sufficiently used and should be discarded.The time it takes for your to turn from white to pink will vary . Every aquarium and environment is different. Now what’s the point of all this? Well the end result of adding a CO2 Scrubber can substantially help with low PH. My PH now is sustained at 8.0-8.3 during my tanks diurnal swing. That’s a nice increase and my corals are much happier and are again growing wonderfully!
-
So I wanted to start a thread about using a CO2 scrubber in a nano tank. I know there are a few threads out there on CO2 scrubbing to help with pH, but most don’t really cover if it’s financially feasible based on how much soda lime or CO2 scrubbing media they are having to use. I literally set up my DIY CO2 scrubber last night 10/25/17 at 10pm. This morning I measured my pH at 6am before going to work and sure enough my pH was 8.0-8.1. My pH at that time usually runs 7.7-7.8. I couldn’t believe how well and fast this actually worked. As I said I just started this, but I’m planning on keeping a log to see what the pH averages, and more importantly how long the media lasts and whether it’s worth it financially. It’s a small tank, so I’m hopeful the media will last awhile and prove to be a reasonable method of increasing pH in a nano tank! If people are interested I’ll keep posting the progress!
