Ph low despite co2 scrubber

[GothFishKeeper]

I’ve been dosing aquavitro balance to boost ph in my fluval 13.5g since I started the tank, but with it being a small body of water, that skyrocketed my alkalinity to 16, which now is an issue because I want to add corals as soon as I have my ph stable between 8.0 and 8.3. I bought the BRS co2 scrubber and hooked it up to my eshopps nano skimmer that sits inside my display tank, but a day and a half later I’m still at 7.6-7.7

What am I doing wrong? The co2 scrubber media hasn’t changed color at all either which tells me that it’s not doing it’s job. Here are pics of how I have it set up, with the scrubber velcroed to the right side of the stand, and the tubing going up behind the tank and connecting the 3/8" tube to the skimmer’s 3/16" tube with an adapter.

 

[Formulator]

I suspect your pH measurement is false. No chance a tank could have alk of 16 and pH 7.6. I would test with another kit or meter. Regarding the scrubber, can you feel suction if you put your finger over the open hole on the reactor?

 

[yanetterer]

Did you add a few tablespoons of water to the media chamber? The media needs a bit of moisture to function properly, but not too much that it soaks into the media.

 

[GothFishKeeper]

Did you add a few tablespoons of water to the media chamber? The media needs a bit of moisture to function properly, but not too much that it soaks into the media.

Oh I’m supposed to add a few? The instructions said add one so that’s what I did.

 

[GothFishKeeper]

I suspect your pH measurement is false. No chance a tank could have alk of 16 and pH 7.6. I would test with another kit or meter. Regarding the scrubber, can you feel suction if you put your finger over the open hole on the reactor?

I can feel the slightest little bit of suction, barely.

 

[GothFishKeeper]

I suspect your pH measurement is false. No chance a tank could have alk of 16 and pH 7.6. I would test with another kit or meter. Regarding the scrubber, can you feel suction if you put your finger over the open hole on the reactor?

I tested with another ph test, and another alk test, but they all came up the same. I can’t feel the suction but when I take the lid off the scrubber I can hear the condensation bouncing around in the tubing. I need help

 

[fishyjoes]

I have a small tank and small skimmer and noticed almost no change in PH by adding a scrubber too. I think the small skimmers just don't pull enough air to make much of a difference compared to the amount of atmospheric co2 that gets in just through gas exchange at the surface (especially if your room has a lot of co2).

The only thing that helps me is opening a window/door to ventilate the room. My tank is in the basement and if everything is all closed up I will have very low PH (7.6 or so).

I got a cheap co2 meter from amazon and it's showing up to almost 2000 ppm co2 in my basement when everything has been closed up for a couple days (when it's very hot and we run the air conditioner) - after I air the place out for a while my room co2 reads ~450 and my PH is up around 8.1-8.2

 

[Formulator]

I think the small skimmers just don't pull enough air to make much of a difference compared to the amount of atmospheric co2 that gets in just through gas exchange at the surface (especially if your room has a lot of co2).

This ^ is likely the issue.

when I take the lid off the scrubber I can hear the condensation bouncing around in the tubing.

Be VERY careful about this. You absolutely do not want any water to wet the media. The media is solid sodium hydroxide (lye). If it dissolves and gets sucked into your skimmer, your pH will skyrocket and almost instantly kill the entire tank. The media does last longer if kept humid, which is why someone suggested adding a tablespoon or 2 of water to the bottom of the reactor, but under no circumstances should the liquid physically touch the media or be allowed to be sucked into the skimmer.

I’m going to suggest a quick experiment to make sure CO2 is your only issue, because 7.6 is pretty extreme. Take a cup of tank water and measure the pH. Take it outside and aerate the water with an airstone and pump for 10 mins, then measure pH again. Then do the same thing again with a fresh cup of tank water inside the house near your tank. If the pH goes up significantly more outside, then you know you have a CO2 issue. If it goes up a lot inside the house, you may just have a tank aeration issue. If it doesn’t rise significantly in either scenario, you have more investigation to do and the CO2 scrubber is not going to help you.

 

[GothFishKeeper]

This ^ is likely the issue.


Be VERY careful about this. You absolutely do not want any water to wet the media. The media is solid sodium hydroxide (lye). If it dissolves and gets sucked into your skimmer, your pH will skyrocket and almost instantly kill the entire tank. The media does last longer if kept humid, which is why someone suggested adding a tablespoon or 2 of water to the bottom of the reactor, but under no circumstances should the liquid physically touch the media or be allowed to be sucked into the skimmer.

I’m going to suggest a quick experiment to make sure CO2 is your only issue, because 7.6 is pretty extreme. Take a cup of tank water and measure the pH. Take it outside and aerate the water with an airstone and pump for 10 mins, then measure pH again. Then do the same thing again with a fresh cup of tank water inside the house near your tank. If the pH goes up significantly more outside, then you know you have a CO2 issue. If it goes up a lot inside the house, you may just have a tank aeration issue. If it doesn’t rise significantly in either scenario, you have more investigation to do and the CO2 scrubber is not going to help you.

I’m most definitely going to do this experiment tonight when I get home, thank you for that suggestion.

As for the moisture in the tubing, it’s inside the skimmer tubing, not the scrubber tubing so that won’g be an issue I don’t think. But if the 2 table spoons of water makes the media last longer, would not having any moisture in the scrubber potentially use it faster and therefore do its job better? Or is that not how it works?

 

[Formulator]

I’m most definitely going to do this experiment tonight when I get home, thank you for that suggestion.

As for the moisture in the tubing, it’s inside the skimmer tubing, not the scrubber tubing so that won’g be an issue I don’t think. But if the 2 table spoons of water makes the media last longer, would not having any moisture in the scrubber potentially use it faster and therefore do its job better? Or is that not how it works?

I don’t think it works better under either condition, just lasts longer if kept humidified. I’m not sure the mechanics/science of it, but I do know they work just fine completely dry. I don’t put any water in mine because it scares me. I get about 0.2 pH boost running mine that way, but the media only lasts about 2 weeks. I’m considering changing to a different pH boosting method because I’m tired of paying for the media and changing It so often. I have a mature tank with lots of coral already so I have some options with kalk and using NaOH as my alk part in my 2-part. Unfortunately those things aren’t really an option for you yet, so hopefully we can figure out a good way to get CO2 down in your tank.

 

[GothFishKeeper]

This ^ is likely the issue.


Be VERY careful about this. You absolutely do not want any water to wet the media. The media is solid sodium hydroxide (lye). If it dissolves and gets sucked into your skimmer, your pH will skyrocket and almost instantly kill the entire tank. The media does last longer if kept humid, which is why someone suggested adding a tablespoon or 2 of water to the bottom of the reactor, but under no circumstances should the liquid physically touch the media or be allowed to be sucked into the skimmer.

I’m going to suggest a quick experiment to make sure CO2 is your only issue, because 7.6 is pretty extreme. Take a cup of tank water and measure the pH. Take it outside and aerate the water with an airstone and pump for 10 mins, then measure pH again. Then do the same thing again with a fresh cup of tank water inside the house near your tank. If the pH goes up significantly more outside, then you know you have a CO2 issue. If it goes up a lot inside the house, you may just have a tank aeration issue. If it doesn’t rise significantly in either scenario, you have more investigation to do and the CO2 scrubber is not going to help you.

The pictures don’t really show the colors correctly but it’s a co2 issue for sure

 

[Formulator]

Yep, it does look like you could benefit from the CO2 scrubber. I’m thinking your skimmer just isn’t quite up to the task. I don’t see anything wrong with the way you have the scrubber setup. I’m not sure I have a great solution for you. You could look into getting a a larger external skimmer that would fit under the tank, or maybe folks on here with smaller AIO tanks will have better ideas…

 

[GothFishKeeper]

Yep, it does look like you could benefit from the CO2 scrubber. I’m thinking your skimmer just isn’t quite up to the task. I don’t see anything wrong with the way you have the scrubber setup. I’m not sure I have a great solution for you. You could look into getting a a larger external skimmer that would fit under the tank, or maybe folks on here with smaller AIO tanks will have better ideas…

Darn, I really like my skimmer though! And my lid is custom made to fit that specific skimmer out the top of it. Do you know if there’s anywhere I could just buy a better pump for it without buying a whole new skimmer?

 

[Formulator]

Darn, I really like my skimmer though! And my lid is custom made to fit that specific skimmer out the top of it. Do you know if there’s anywhere I could just buy a better pump for it without buying a whole new skimmer?

I’m not really sure, but it sounds reasonable. You may want to start a separate thread to try and attract more folks with AIO experience to share ideas. I’m not the best person to consult on that as I’ve always had a big tank with sump.

 

[14 foot reef]

Have you tested your cO2 in the room where your tank is ? I would start there and see how tall of a mountain you're going to have to climb to offset natural cO2 in your room from, people, pets, and closed up house.
If your room co2 is high, you probably won't ever fix your pH with a scrubber on that small of a skimmer.
Test with a cO2 checker, inexpensive ones are on amazon that will test and monitor very accurately considering the price.

 

[Formulator]

If your room co2 is high, you probably won't ever fix your pH with a scrubber on that small of a skimmer.

I don’t think I would say won’t ever fix. You may just have to get more creative. For example, you could get a tight fitting glass/acrylic lid for the aquarium and vent it through an additional scrubber. Sounds like a lot, but where there is a will, there is a way!

I do think it is a good suggestion to check the house CO2 level. If it is super high, you may need to check your venting is up to code on your gas appliances. Or complain to your landlord if you rent. Extremely elevated CO2 is unhealthy.