Air pump drawing outside air into skimmer silencer for low ph

[HBtank]

HBtank- i'm actually trying to source or borrow something to test the Co2 concentration in the building. if it works out i think it would be very helpful to see what if anything is causing the issue and what corrective measure could help. if the concentration isn't as high as i expect it i may go with a scrubber although that adds a possibility of stability issues if i dont stay on top of the media changes

Mako61 - thanks for the advice and heads up on media sourcing.

I work in IH partially (including indoor air quality) and my expectation is your scenario is not typical. Your description of little air exchange with lots of people makes it tricky (basically a residence on steroids), as most people never experience that situation. Commercial buildings with higher occupancy will typically have exchange.

I am not versed enough to try and speak to ambient air versus skimmer exchange rate impacts on CO2, but I would think your scenario may be one that is not average and worth digging into if you are concerned. I do share the general sentiment that pH is not all that critical, but this whole hobby is about making refinements and finding ways to improve your setup, and I find this kind of stuff interesting.. sooo

You can rent a meter (i.e. TSI Q-Trak 7565) and log the room for 24 hours if you really want to see your rooms CO2 profile.

 

[Turbo5oh]

Thanks again HBtank. Super insightful. Do you have any more info on a meter rental? Should i be looking locally or online?

 

[mcgyvr]

Not sure what point renting a meter would do.. other than just to give another number to geek out too..

Have you run the airline yet?
What are you waiting for...
Even just a temporary line and watch for results...

 

[HBtank]

Thanks again HBtank. Super insightful. Do you have any more info on a meter rental? Should i be looking locally or online?

Not sure what the cheapest route is for a hobbyist, most rentals used in IAQ assessments (such as the meter I linked) are like $50-100 a day. At that price you could just buy a cheaper monitor or similar meant for home use.

Not sure what point renting a meter would do.. other than just to give another number to geek out too..

Have you run the airline yet?
What are you waiting for...
Even just a temporary line and watch for results...

Confirmed geek! but yeah the number would just give an idea of his situation versus others and/or typical indoor values.

 

[Turbo5oh]

mcgyvr- i get what your saying but it's in a business aimed towards kids and young adults running 6 days a week and the closest window that opens is roughly 70 ft away from the tank. so imagine a gaggle of 2 year olds and a hose strung out across the floor.
Plus wouldn't it be nice to actually diagnose the issue and have actual data to backup the effectiveness of outside air to a skimmer raising ph, or even disproving the benefits and if the effort is even worth doing for others?

HBtank- after some digging i came up with the same results pricing wise for online rentals. my uncle runs a energy auditing company but in all his testing equipment he doesn't have one that measures Co2.
i did find some good reviews through amazon and from some hydro/aquaponics groups on co2meters TIM10 desktop monitor.
i wasn't able to find anyone comparing results to the higher end professional style meters though. so accuracy may be an issue

 

[Turbo5oh]

to get super sciencey it would be cool to know the actual dissolved Co2 in the tanks water and than changing the ambient air co2 concentrations to see how it affects it. crap i should have payed more attention in school!

 

[BrettDS]

Air pump drawing outside air into skimmer silencer for low ph

There's a quick and easy test you can do to see if high indoor CO2 levels are affecting pH. Take a cup of your tank water and test the pH level. Then put the cup next to your tank and use an air pump with an airstone to bubble indoor air from next to your tank through the water for 30 minutes. If the pH rises then it's not low indoor CO2, but poor gas exchange and trying to remove tank covers or increase surface agitation in your tank would help here.

If the pH doesn't rise, then take the cup of tank water and the pump and bring them outside. Again, let the pump aerate the water for 30 minutes with outside air and test the pH again. This time if the pH rises then high levels of indoor CO2 are affecting your pH. If it doesn't rise then it's something else entirely.

 

[Turbo5oh]

thanks BrettDS pretty simple but accurate way to find the source of the issue

 

[gabe145]

I run 8.1 pH but would rather have 8.8 because I have seen the colors some corals put out at higher pH. My brother's tank is around 9.5 and his corals really pop.

 

[Turbo5oh]

just wanted to add a small update to this topic,

this week is spring break for the studio and human traffic is at a minimal. so i decided to try something i've been thinking about for a while.

i started by changing the buildings thermostat so the furnace fan is constantly on and recirculating the air.
i found the furnace had a restricted fresh air intake on the return side ducting and got that working as it was supposed too.
then i turned both bathroom exhaust fans on and left the doors open 24/7

the results are a stable rise in PH of .5-.7 although i don't have data logging capabilities currently this i what i physically found on multiple visits.

so it looks as though im onto something. i will update this topic with more findings when i can. i still have the issues of limited time with the tank so results will be slow going.

thanks again everyone.

 

[ca1ore]

Been giving this a bit of thought over the last couple of weeks. As I noted earlier, none of my efforts to supply fresh air directly to my skimmer have resulted in material increases to pH; though I do run a fresh air line to reduce the noise of the dual mazzei injectors. I accept, with a little bit of skepticism , the claims of others that fresh air made a material difference. So why the incongruity?

What does make a difference to pH in my system, is if I run a blower to exchange the air in my basement sump room. This gets me about a 0.3 boost (so 8.1 first thing in the morning rather than 7.8 - accepting that both are really fine). This is only practical in the Spring and Fall, however.

My system has many tanks (some of which are in the sump room), all open top, highly circulated. So the ability of fresh air to the skimmer to 'offset' all that CO2 soaking up across all that surface area is inconsequential. Since I run a recirculating skimmer, any CO2 blow off is further marginalized. So it makes sense me that a fresh air line to said skimmer would make no difference (versus exchanging the room air).

My sense is that for folks that run smaller systems (and don't have a basement sump room), often with oversized flow-through skimmers, a fresh airline would have a better chance of positively affecting pH.

 

[mcgyvr]

I run 8.1 pH but would rather have 8.8 because I have seen the colors some corals put out at higher pH. My brother's tank is around 9.5 and his corals really pop.

9.5? What?

You mean alkalinity not PH right.. They are not the same..