Skimmer Recirc Challenges

[YOYOYOReefer]

yep ozotech IQ 40 is the one i use.. they make a smaller one called the IQ20.
no idea what color the media is , its in a sealed container.. i think i upgraded the media once.. ive had the unit at least 15 maybe 20 years.

 

[Steve2020]

yep ozotech IQ 40 is the one i use.. they make a smaller one called the IQ20.
no idea what color the media is , its in a sealed container.. i think i upgraded the media once.. ive had the unit at least 15 maybe 20 years.

I understand how the Ozotech IQ40 works and have heard they work great but I thought you were saying that you never have to change your CO2 absorbing media in the CO2 Reactor because of the air dryer but you meant the Ozotech media beds you never have to change. I got a little confused there for a minute because the Ozotech dryer does not remove CO2 and from what I have read, the only way to regenerate CO2 media is to heat it up to >700C and then still it might not retain it's original absorbing properties.

 

[WallyTime7]

You are running a Regal 250-INT so I am assuming you have a large total water volume of at least 200gal. If that is the case, the 250-INT can pull 2400L of air on setting 5. Even if lets say you are running the pump on setting 3 you are still pulling a lot of air. Running only one airline from the top of the skimmer will restrict the airflow to the scrubber. I used to run only two air lines from my skimmer to the scrubber and was only seeing a .2 change in ph with my setup. My lid would not always seat properly due to the pressure in the cup so I decided to try 6 lines and that made a huge change in my ph. I have an Elite 220-INT that can also pull 2400L of air on setting 5. I run on setting 3. The Icecap scrubber in the photo looks a little small. Is it the small, medium or large?
So, I am curious on why Icecap would make a media reactor that is supposedly made to run flow from top to bottom when the other 95% of media reactors run flow from bottom to top. And yes these devices with the name scrubber are media reactors.
You do need moisture in the air for the CO2 absorbing media to achieve maximum performance but you do not want it to sit in water. There are different ways to run a CO2 scrubber and some methods are way more efficient than others. The amount of ph change you are looking for should determine the method you use.
The method I am using will give a big ph increase with what I consider a small fluctuation in ph from day to night and no I am not running a refugium with an opposite light cycle nor am I dosing kalkwasser.
The setup I am using requires a control system to limit how high I want my ph to go. In my case I am using an electronic ball valve that is controlled by my Profilux 4 controller to set my upper ph limit to 8.44-8.45. I can explain in more detail on how this works if you are interested.
As far as moisture collection, I don't have an issue with it. My setup which is fairly large only collects about 1TBS per week. I only have to change out my media once every 5-6wks. I check the water level in the first canister once a week and in the almost 2yrs of running I only drained it once with the drain plug and that was at the beginning when I was not sure how much water it would hold before touching the media.
I also run a little fresh air into my scrubber which I can also explain that if you are interested.
Sorry so long but I think it is important to show proof of something instead of just saying it works.

Moisture is collecting in the lines but does not push all the way to the scrubber. I feed my tank a few time a day and I shut down my return pump which also shuts down my skimmer. The water you see collecting in the lines falls back into the skimmer when it shuts down.
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Moisture droplets collecting on the walls of the tubing but if you notice at the "Y" prior to entering the scrubber, the line going into the scrubber has little if any moisture collecting. That other line coming into the "Y" is the fresh air line. That air line runs 65ft to my furnace fresh are return hose.
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You can see the moisture collected in the scrubber. Not even half way up and that is 3 weeks of moisture.
When the first scrubber canister is depleted and the second canister just starts to change color I will sometimes swap the canisters and refill the depleted one but not all the time. I have not seen any real difference in ph or media depletion time whether I swap them out or not.
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Plugs in the two breather holes I am not using. You need to plug any unused holes so all the recirc goes to the scrubber.
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After I fed the tank. No water in the lines due to skimmer turns off during feeding. Skimmer is running in the video.
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PH back in March 2021 prior to scrubber.
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Scrubber installed with no recirc, but did have fresh air inputted into the scrubber along with room air.
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Two screen shots showing scrubber running recirc configuration along with fresh air input. 0.08 variation in ph from day to night.
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So you're keeping that high PH, WITH a fresh air intake going back into the skimmer with re-circ? So essentially 50% fresh air with the Y and the other 50% from the dual canisters?

 

[Steve2020]

So you're keeping that high PH, WITH a fresh air intake going back into the skimmer with re-circ? So essentially 50% fresh air with the Y and the other 50% from the dual canisters?

PM me and we can discuss.