Old thread but I put this to work today and I'm already happy. I used the Gatorade bottle DIY. My ph was going down to 7.6 at night and in the day 7.96. Before attaching the soda lime to the skimmer, the ph was going down and was at 7.83. I attached the the bottle filled with SL and within the hour it shot up to 7.91. My controller keeps a log so I will check tomorrow to see all the changes.
CO2 Scrubber...Who uses one?
- Thread starter reefs4life
- Start date
- Location
- Duluth, Minnesota
Yup Will, no reason why one can not DIY their own.
- Location
- FREEPORT,LONG ISLAND
Keep us posted ricwill
As you can see from the pic below that I have a real big problem with PH. As I have stated in my previous post. The PH was coming down at 7pm (19:00). A few minutes after attaching the bottle filled with Soda Lime to the skimmer air inlet, the PH started going up. The PH started coming back down at 9:30pm but it stood steady at 1am reading 7.92. I guess its better than 7.72. Will let you know the reading at mid day.
Thats the same results I had with mine. It's not so much about drastically raising it but it's more helpful at keeping it stable throughout the day. All in all I think it's a good and inexpensive piece of equipment to make and use.
- Location
- Duluth, Minnesota
Will
How are you measuring your pH that is really that 7.7 ?
How are you measuring your pH that is really that 7.7 ?
- Location
- Elizabeth, NJ
I've also been using this method of CO2 scrubbing now for about two years and love it. Higher and more constant PH levels are juts two of the benefits. When I change the media, I get SPS growth spurts for about two weeks until the media starts to loose its potency.
- Location
- Elizabeth, NJ
Another little trick that I've learned from some of the guys. Is running a line from the skimmers air intake to the outside of the house. In my case air is being pulled in from the outside, thru the scrubber, then to the skimmer. A little kalk with the top-off and PH is up in the 8.2's - 8.4's, all depending on how active is the soda lime.
Yeah I run mine outside and through the scrubber as well. My pH stays well between 8.1 and 8.3 and I have the tank in the basement and run a calcium reactor so it seems to be doing it's job. What does your scrubber look like anyways? Maybe I over complicated mine
- Location
- White Plains
This is what I built and it works GREAT and the media I use
Intake from skimmer goes to the bottom of the reactor
Sent from my iPhone using Reefs
Intake from skimmer goes to the bottom of the reactor
Sent from my iPhone using Reefs
Last edited:
- Location
- suffolk
subscribed to this. this is a very helpful thread and great for me as i knew my ph was low due to my calcium reactor. great thread.
PH is measured with a PH probe connected to my controller. Yes, it gets that low.
- Location
- White Plains
my media last me a month and half which media are you using??
That's odd? I haven't changed the media in my reactor once ever since I made mine which was when I started this thread. I was actually just looking at my pH now to see what it was like and the funny part is my calcium reactor went off completely because my controller has been acting up bring the effluent water to 7.6. Now it went back on not too long ago and it is going back down to my usual 6.4 but the funny part of it all if that my system pH is going up, it was around 8.17 when the effluent water was high but now that it working again the pH slowly went up to 8.3 and slowly climbing.
I didn't think there was different types. I ordered it from here http://www.shopmedvet.com/product/soda-lime-3-lb-bag/anesthesia-products
reefs4life said:
Now that you mentioned this, I noticed my PH going down when I ran out of CO2 for my calcium reactor. I never bothered to refill it cause at that time I lost most of my SPS and I started dosing manually. I never had this problem before. I did put a window AC in the basement cause of the humidity, but I don't think that would affect the PH. Right?
- Location
- White Plains
This is the one I used but I had to order a big box which cost around $100 but me and a buddy split it
http://www.airgas.com/content/products.aspx?id=9002003007007
Sent from my iPhone using Reefs
http://www.airgas.com/content/products.aspx?id=9002003007007
Sent from my iPhone using Reefs
I'm giving up on this scrubber. Its going to be to expensive to run. Mine depletes every two weeks. So instead on running the scrubber, I drilled a hole from my basement into the garage and ran a hose from the garage to the air inlet of the skimmer. My ph was at 7.6 and this morning it is at 7.9. I will check later this afternoon to see how high it gets. I'm hoping this works. I also attached some type of filter to the end of the hose so that it does not suck up any dust. Lets see how it goes.
- Location
- Duluth, Minnesota
Yes there are different "kinds" some are smaller or larger mess size and some have more water. Larger mess size and high water content is better. It can get expensive for some if they have high room air CO2. Lasting 2 wks is not uncommon.
Will
That helps and/or works too at times.
Will
That helps and/or works too at times.
- Location
- Garden city
Guys I just added a reactor and my cal and alk are stable all day long but ph is low at some points I can't fit one more thing under my tank is this really as easy as u guys make it sound ...... I'm thinking of going with a doser?
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