Fresh air in the basement

[bigfish14]

For those of you with your aquarium in the basement, how do you keep your pH up? My pH is on the low side at 7.8 and I believe the cause to be CO2. I am not sure how to get fresh air to the tank though. Obviously there are no windows in my basement.

 

[ryeguyy84]

they make co2 scrubbing material but I hear that it wears out pretty fast and gets expensive.

 

[HiggyBrew]

My main tank is in the basement. I ran a garden hose up from the skimmer air intake (not directly connected, but just above the air intake to skimmer) up through the main floor via an usused clothes dryer duct to the outdoors. The hose was then connected to a carbon filter housing to capture any bad fumes before heading to the skimmer.

Hopefully this gives you some other ideas...

I tried the scrubber route. Too expensive since I depleted the stuff so quickly...

 

[bertoni]

The air line to the skimmer approach works well for some situations. The carbon dioxide scrubbers can work, too. The media consumption rate seems to vary, so I don't know how to predict the cost.

 

[SI_rEEfer]

Through having an aquarium in my basement I have discovered that basements may not have the best indoor air qaulity (IAQ) in the house. This can affect the pH of an aquarium. I also believe it can affect sensitive aquarium inhabitants as well. I understand the increased CO2 and low pH is not necessarily that bad for inhabitants. However I believe there are potentially other "nasties" in basements as well.

First , basements can have gas appliances in them such as furnaces, hot water heaters and gas dryers. The venting efficiency of these appliances may not always be 100%. This can lead to CO2 build up and possibly other even less desireable combustion by products as well. My basement has a furnace and hot water heater which was passivley vented.

Second, the ventilation in basements may not be the best. For example, the quantity and locations of supplies and returns. This allows heavier lower air quality gases to pool in basements.

My pH was always low as well. However, I recently replaced my furnace with a high-efficiency closed system that draws supply air from the outside and ducts out to the outside. I also installed a newer water heater with a power vent to ensure combustion gases are vented.

As a result of these new appliances I had an abondoned 5" duct that went from the basement up through the roof. I attached it to a very quiet Panasonic fan that is controlled by a timer that turns it on for a settable number of minutes every hour. This brings fresh air in and hopefully pushes stale air out through leaks in my home. I also added a dehumidifier in case humid air is brought in from the outside. There are more energy efficient solutions such as whole house ventilators (HRVs and ERVs). Maybe something I will upgrade to in the future.

I am now maintaining my pH around 8.25 during the day only dipping slightly in the evenings. Anecdotally, I have always had trouble keeping one of my favorite fish, copperband butterflys. Since addressing my basement air quality I have success with this. As a side benefit I believe I have improved IAQ for my family as well.

I am of the opinion now that aquariums and sumps should not be put into basements unless IAQ is considerd.

 

[KCombs]

For those of you with your aquarium in the basement, how do you keep your pH up? My pH is on the low side at 7.8 and I believe the cause to be CO2. I am not sure how to get fresh air to the tank though. Obviously there are no windows in my basement.

mine stays at 7.7-7.8 ish.....

still timley thread: I missed this thread but instead recently consulted a RC member whom I know is a HVAC dude...

basically I'm having the same issue: low pH and a basement tank...
I have a HE direct vent furnace and still have "low-ish" pH issue (note I sometimes think pH is sorta/kinda over rated but everything has its limits)

FWIW I'm considering running 1/2" pvc or flex tube from the outside directly to my skimmer intake,,,,we'll see

 

[ghostman]

My tank is in the basement, with the sump in the furnace/water heater room. I also have a lowered pH, around 7.8. It wouldn't be easy to install a vent or hose to get external air. I started using kalk in my ATO, and my pH is rising. I also switched from a Ca reactor to using 2 part solution. I bake the Alk component (soda ash) to get rid of CO2 that way. So far, I have good results with no problems.

 

[cyberdude47]

I installed a small HRV (heat recovery ventilator) picked one up for $150 and installed it myself. Never had more problems with PH or humidity

 

[disc1]

My tank is in the basement, with the sump in the furnace/water heater room. I also have a lowered pH, around 7.8. It wouldn't be easy to install a vent or hose to get external air. I started using kalk in my ATO, and my pH is rising. I also switched from a Ca reactor to using 2 part solution. I bake the Alk component (soda ash) to get rid of CO2 that way. So far, I have good results with no problems.

There is no CO2 in baking soda.

While baking the baking soda does make soda ash which will have a pH raising effect, the CO2 that you drove off wouldn't have ever been CO2 in your tank. It was the product of a chemical reaction that occurred in the oven. But you didn't do anything to decrease the CO2 content of anything. All you did was convert some bicarbonate into CO2.

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

Been in the basement for 12 years. No problems. My tank is in the wall with with the furnace and water heater. I do however leave my heat registers open slightly to keep air circulating in the basement. I was going to put in a bathroom vent thru the wall to the outside to move some heat and humidity during the summer. My friend told me not to because it may draw exhaust thru the flu for the water heater. Do you guys think you could build that much co2 to drop the ph? Id be a little worried about hanging out down there.

 

[bertoni]

I'm confused as to how carbon dioxide from the heater is going to enter the house. If it did, it could drop the pH noticeably. That seems somewhat common.

 

[bigfish14]

Thanks for all the great replies everyone! Unfortunately, I am still living in my parents house and I doubt my dad wants me cutting holes in the walls or messing with the furnace. I don't think I would have the money to do that anyway because I am a college student. I am glad to know that it is more of a common problem than I thought though. Or maybe I should say not so glad since I would never wish any problems on another reefer.