CO2 Scrubber question

kissman

Active member
Does a scrubber have to be hooked to the skimmer or can I just hook it into a powerhead and have it blowing in sump to help raise ph and remove CO2? I would prefer not mess with skimmer production
 
It's probably going to end up being a balance between the ratio of how much CO2 laden air the skimmer is pulling and how much CO2 deficient air your powerhead is injecting. I wouldn't do it this way. I agree with not wanting to restrict your skimmer's intake and I would feel the same way. What I would do is tee off your skimmers airline and use an air pump smaller (less liters per minute) than your skimmer's suction to run air through the scrubber and into the skimmer's intake. Now if the media clogs or causes resistance, it's not a problem for the skimmer. This is generally how people feed ozone into skimmers.

FB
 
Does a scrubber have to be hooked to the skimmer or can I just hook it into a powerhead and have it blowing in sump to help raise ph and remove CO2? I would prefer not mess with skimmer production

How do you mean, a powerhead with a venturi blowing bubbles in the sump? It should work, I can't imagine a reason to go that way.

CO2 scrubber hasn't affected my skimmer positively or negatively. PH is good though :)
 
How do you mean, a powerhead with a venturi blowing bubbles in the sump? It should work, I can't imagine a reason to go that way.

CO2 scrubber hasn't affected my skimmer positively or negatively. PH is good though :)


are you using a DIY scrubber? or did you buy one? I am just looking into them. My PH is running 7.8 when windows are closed and 8.2 when open
 
i was thinking of filling a phosban reactor with sodalime, and hook where the water inlet is to the skimmer and have it suck air through the normal outlet. Or was thinking of running the powerhead and hook the airline to the venturi and use the BRS airfilter kit. I am not much of a DIYer
 
are you using a DIY scrubber? or did you buy one? I am just looking into them. My PH is running 7.8 when windows are closed and 8.2 when open

I copied an elaborate design found in the forums...

IMG_0105.jpg


The full link can be found here.
 
The thing with the scrubber is that it removes CO2 from the air. Dumping that cleaned up air into the tank over a powerhead may help some, but the amount of CO2 you are dissolving through the skimmer outweighs that by a long shot if you have high CO2 in the house. You will end up fighting a battle against the skimmer over who can dissolve more air and the skimmer will win every time.

With the scrubber in front of the skimmer you aren't using the skimmer as a delivery device, you are actually cleaning up the air that your skimmer is going to equilibrate into your tank.
 
I installed a co2 scrubber on my tank a few months ago. My skimmer production hasn't been affected at all that I've noticed. My pH used to waver between 7.6-7.8 now it stays 8.1-8.3.

This is using a BRS canister to house the media.
 
Well, I've actually seen those moonshine setups and sampled the product in the backwoods of tobacco country in the then semi dry state of North Carolina in the late 60's while visiting my new bride's relatives. Maybe that's where I got the idea.
 
I had air draw with a long relatively small diameter pipe to draw outside air to the skimmer . I considered it as a potential problem for the scrubber.It doesn't restrict air intake if you have enough air slots in the bottom of the scrubber and the air hose has a suficient inside diameter . The media does not restrict air at all. I can breathe through my scrubbers without any resistance. There is no drop off in air flow through the skimmer at all. Folks breathe through the same media when receiving anesthesia and when using a diving rebreathers.
 
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