Does the type of water in a CO2 scrubber matter?
- Thread starter LeafsReefer
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Oh lord please do not put water in it!!! Who on earth told you to do that? You will kill your entire tank!
I think it’s common practice to use water in the bottom of the chamber for humidity. But the CO2 scrubber media stays dry. I use RODI water, have wondered if tap water would be fine. Would never consider saltwater.
CO2 scrubber media is just sodium hydroxide (NaOH) pellets, also known as lye, a strong base. If you put water in a CO2 scrubber the NaOH dissolves, will get sucked into the tank and your tank pH will spike extremely high. Everything will die. They are not meant to get wet. They can be more efficient if kept slightly humidified, but this is achieved by pulling in moist air from the skimmer, and even then a safety trap is included in-line to prevent liquid water from making it into the scrubber. The media and reactor should always be dry.
I have never heard of putting water in the bottom. That sounds extremely risky to me. But if people do that, its their own prerogative. I see how it might work, but again not worth the risk to me. From a chemistry perspective, freshwater would accomplish this better as the vapor pressure of saltwater is lower so it evaporates more slowly.
Dburr1014
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Yup, I get that. I'm thinking he bought a commercially made one and needs to add water.CO2 scrubber media is just sodium hydroxide (NaOH) pellets, also known as lye, a strong base. If you put water in a CO2 scrubber the NaOH dissolves, will get sucked into the tank and your tank pH will spike extremely high. Everything will die. They are not meant to get wet. They can be more efficient if kept slightly humidified, but this is achieved by pulling in moist air from the skimmer, and even then a safety trap is included in-line to prevent liquid water from making it into the scrubber. The media and reactor should always be dry.
New concept to me… scares the heck outta me
It’s in the BRS instructions:
Color Changing CO2 Absorbent Media
Raise your Reef Tank's pH by controlling Carbon Dioxide! Bulk Reef Supply Color Changing CO2 Absorbent Media (Soda Lime) is the perfect solution if your aquarium has a low pH but proper alkalinity levels. It is most commonly used by connecting a carbon dioxide scrubber to your protein skimmer's...
www.bulkreefsupply.com
Still couldn’t pay me to do it. But thanks, I learned something new!It’s in the BRS instructions:
Color Changing CO2 Absorbent Media
Raise your Reef Tank's pH by controlling Carbon Dioxide! Bulk Reef Supply Color Changing CO2 Absorbent Media (Soda Lime) is the perfect solution if your aquarium has a low pH but proper alkalinity levels. It is most commonly used by connecting a carbon dioxide scrubber to your protein skimmer's...
How would water from the skimmer get into the scrubber chamber? I don’t have a trap, trying to figure out if I should as a preventative measure, but can’t figure out how water would end up in my scrubber, with my setup.CO2 scrubber media is just sodium hydroxide (NaOH) pellets, also known as lye, a strong base. If you put water in a CO2 scrubber the NaOH dissolves, will get sucked into the tank and your tank pH will spike extremely high. Everything will die. They are not meant to get wet. They can be more efficient if kept slightly humidified, but this is achieved by pulling in moist air from the skimmer, and even then a safety trap is included in-line to prevent liquid water from making it into the scrubber. The media and reactor should always be dry.
If you let the skimmer cup overflow or get too high, the suction could pull it down the line. Also just general condensation in the line depending on your setup, if the reactor is lower than the skimmer, gravity will pull the condensed droplets down into the reactor.
I know people run them without a trap in line just fine, but I like to have every possible security measure when using such a powerful media and understanding the consequences of a failure are total loss.
I see. Mine must be setup differently as the cup overflowing wouldn’t make a difference. The air tube from my scrubber connects to the air inlet on my submerged skimmer pump.
Thats the skimmer intake tube. The trap is for a recirculating setup where you have the scrubber sucking air from the top of your skimmer and recycling it back into the skimmer. This provides better efficiency since the air going into the reactor has already been scrubbed of CO2 once before. It also helps keep the media humid. Not everyone runs this way. It sounds like you are just taking raw air from the room into your scrubber. In that case the trap is not needed. Take a look at the photo I posted here earlier for more clarity.
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