Monitoring my PH... do I have too much C02

[DJBM3]

I recently started monitoring my tank on 9/27/15 with the anticipation that my temperature and PH were probably all over the place and not staying consistent. My first thing on the to do list was to get my temperature stable and then move to PH. Temperature was a rather easy task to get stable.
I then moved on the PH. My initial baseline was lower then I wanted to be at so I started doing some research and ran a few tests on the PH. I came to the conclusion that I may have too much C02 in the basement so I moved on to the window test. During the weekend that I left my window in the basement open, my PH improved so I figured at this point, too much C02. Being that we are coming upon winter no way was I going to leave the window open so I decided to run my skimmer intake to the great outdoors. I patched up some tubing that was much larger then the skimmers intake and made a simple carbon filter for the intake port that is now located outside and this greatly improved my PH as you can see from the graphs below.
I am now on the look out for soda lime so that I can build a C02 scrubber.



Here is the graph for the month that shows the setup, baseline, window test and skimmer to outside

[URL="http://www.marinecolorado.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=24582&d=1444243677%5b/IMG"]http://www.marinecolorado.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=24582&d=1444243677[/IMG[/URL]]

This graph shows the 2 days for the window test, open window at day, closed at night

[IMG][URL="http://www.marinecolorado.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=24583&d=1444243688%5b/IMG"]http://www.marinecolorado.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=24583&d=1444243688[/IMG[/URL]]

And lastly this graph, it shows no dramatic PH swings with the skimmer intake outside. Notice the one drop... that is when I brought the skimmer intake inside for a few minutes to tape up a joint.

[IMG][URL="http://www.marinecolorado.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=24581&d=1444243651%5b/IMG"]http://www.marinecolorado.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=24581&d=1444243651[/IMG[/URL]]

 

[DJBM3]

This is the money shot... stable PH.

 

[halmus]

I've used CO2 absorbent from BRS before on skimmer intakes. Seemed to help. I like your idea of using a carbon filter now that you're drawing air from outside. You never know what junk is flying around in the air out there. Here's a link to the BRS stuff: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-color-changing-medical-grade-co2-absorbent.html

 

[DJBM3]

Yep I saw that but have been looking at the 3lb bags that are a little more cost effective. I have a buddy in medical equipment sales on the look out for me, Hopeing to find something local.

and my pics never show up

 

[scchase]

Let your temperature be all over the place, stable temperature IMO is one of the biggest myths in the hobby. Rather than having a stable temp throughout the day you should aim to have a stable temp bracket say 78-82. The reason for this is that when something does happen (and it will) and temp gets outside of this range there is a lot more room for error than if you keep it at 79 all day every day. In the latter situation a simple temp spike up to 83 is likely to cause bleaching while the former (which is what I maintain in the summer) I have had temp spikes as high as 89 with no ill effects. Been doing it this way for more than 20 years now too and no problems so far. For a relation to real life, on the reef the temp can swing as much as 5 degrees at any time, upwelling’s from down deep are frequent as these are needed for reef health, conversely when low tides occur temps might spike into the high 80s and 90s. Coral bleaching events in the wild occur not because of spikes but rather due to weeks long spikes outside of the normal temps for that area. For instance a temp that causes a bleaching event in the Atlantic will generally be much lower than one near Fiji.
As to your actual question I have ran a fresh air intake for my skimmer several winters and really can’t see that I have seen any benefits from years when I didn’t. Any pH over about 78.8 seems to be acceptable IME.

 

[DJBM3]

Good info but... in my basement the tank never goes above 80 degrees and can get pretty low in temp if I don't run the heaters. That is year round. Reason for me wanting to maintain some temperature is to keep it from getting too low and to get my heaters in sync.

you can see from the charts that the outside air made a huge improvement on my PH swings.

 

[sethsolomon]

do you run a refugium?

 

[DJBM3]

yes

 

[scchase]

Run it opposite of your main lights, also if you are running a Calcium reactor dump the effluent into your marcoalgea, it will strip the CO2 out and grow faster as a result.

 

[Haddonisreef]

I wouldn't chase ph as long as alk and ca are in line!! To be honest do t remember the last time I tested for ph.....

 

[scchase]

yep, only time I check is if I have an old probe I am about to retire from my reactor then I will run it in the sump though I never calibrate it.

I wouldn't chase ph as long as alk and ca are in line!! To be honest do t remember the last time I tested for ph.....

 

[DJBM3]

no room for a calcium reactor and yea I run the refugium opposite of main lights. I did do some tests with the refugium light running opposite and full time and not much of a difference really... as long as I ran it at night because the PH would drop really low without it running.

 

[sethsolomon]

no room for a calcium reactor and yea I run the refugium opposite of main lights. I did do some tests with the refugium light running opposite and full time and not much of a difference really... as long as I ran it at night because the PH would drop really low without it running.

Might try a 24/7 chaeto feuge if you don't have nitrate problems.

 

[zombie]

Might try a 24/7 chaeto feuge if you don't have nitrate problems.

I've heard mixed results about growing cheato 24/7. From what I have heard, there is no increase in nitrate reduction when running 18 hours a day versus 24 hours a day.

 

[sethsolomon]

I've heard mixed results about growing cheato 24/7. From what I have heard, there is no increase in nitrate reduction when running 18 hours a day versus 24 hours a day.

Hence the if you *don't* have a nitrate problem. This is for increasing the ph over all all the time.

 

[zombie]

Hence the if you *don't* have a nitrate problem. This is for increasing the ph over all all the time.

Makes sense. I didn't notice the "dont".

 

[DJBM3]

I tested with the 24/7 shift and it did not make a difference. The carbon filter outside intake has things pretty steady and I seem to get double the skimmate. I still want to get my hands on some soda lime for a C02 scrubber.

 

[DJBM3]

and cool.... I'm a Chromis now