Would you get carbon scrubber?

[cjtabares]

I was thinking of getting a carbon scrubber to, hopefully, boost my ph a little. I have the skimmer hooked to an outside air source, so not sure how much it would help, but they are pretty cheap to try. Would you get one, or would you be happy with a ph between 7.9 and 8.1?

 

[Timfish]

Have you verified the apex and probe reading with a seperate test kit? A CO2 scrubber is a cheap test to see it you can raise your pH or if there might be a problem with your apex probe combination.

 

[cjtabares]

Have you verified the apex and probe reading with a seperate test kit? A CO2 scrubber is a cheap test to see it you can raise your pH or if there might be a problem with your apex probe combination.

I have not verified the reading, guess I should do that. Will need to pickup a test kit.

 

[GARRIGA]

This is my main objection to using skimmers in an airtight home as my own. Added complexity and cost vs just removing the socks and skimmer and using that area to run macroalgae opposite display lights or pegged to pH as I will be doing. Hard to beat nature. She's been at this long before we started boxing up fish and Sticks.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

I was thinking of getting a carbon scrubber to, hopefully, boost my ph a little. I have the skimmer hooked to an outside air source, so not sure how much it would help, but they are pretty cheap to try. Would you get one, or would you be happy with a ph between 7.9 and 8.1?

I recently got one because I do not open my windows, so my PH was staying at about 7.6. It is now staying at 8.4 to 8.5. They work exceptionally well!

 

[cjtabares]

This is my main objection to using skimmers in an airtight home as my own. Added complexity and cost vs just removing the socks and skimmer and using that area to run macroalgae opposite display lights or pegged to pH as I will be doing. Hard to beat nature. She's been at this long before we started boxing up fish and Sticks.

I was thinking of putting some macrophages into a 4 gal section of my sump. Thinking it would be good place for pods, and maybe could feed some of the excess to my urchins, didn’t even think of the ph boost.

 

[cjtabares]

I recently got one because I do not open my windows, so my PH was staying at about 7.6. It is now staying at 8.4 to 8.5. They work exceptionally well!

Yeah, seems like a cheap solution, how quickly do you go through media, and which do you use?

 

[GARRIGA]

I was thinking of putting some macrophages into a 4 gal section of my sump. Thinking it would be good place for pods, and maybe could feed some of the excess to my urchins, didn’t even think of the ph boost.

Simple HOB solved my 7.5 to 7.7 pH concerns. Hit 8.1 post implementation. Fact it wasn't even fully maxed out confirmed this being the solution to my upcoming main. Small HOB on a overfed experimental 20g. Obviously everything propped up to size should work comparably.

High wattage LED over the 4g area with Chaeto should help tremendously and possibly eliminate the scrubber altogether. Consider pegging the light on off to the pH vs just opposite display lights. This way pH gets maxed out and possibly stabilized.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Yeah, seems like a cheap solution, how quickly do you go through media, and which do you use?

I change the media about every 2 weeks. That will depend on what size unit you get. I bought the small Ice Cap unit for my 90 gallon tank. I currently use the pink Ice Cap media it came with. But when that runs out, I am thinking of switching to BRS media.

 

[Gtinnel]

I run an airline outside for my skimmer and I decided to add a scrubber. It did make a small difference in my pH, but not enough to justify the cost of the media for me.