pH problem need fresh air

[jverna1]

I have been having a pH problem. My fish room is a converted storage room with no windows. I have to get some fresh air into the room. Does anybody have any suggestion on how to punch a hole through the wall? I dont want to put in a window. Any suggestions?

 

[steelhead77]

I have been having a pH problem. My fish room is a converted storage room with no windows. I have to get some fresh air into the room. Does anybody have any suggestion on how to punch a hole through the wall? I dont want to put in a window. Any suggestions?

Uhhhh.....A big hammer, a sawzall, a jackhammer, a keyhole saw, an icepick, your fist, your head. The list is almost endless.

Why not just try leaving the door open?

 

[jverna1]

Im sorry, I guess i worded that wrong. I do have the door open. I do know how to go through the wall. Do I put in some kind of ventilation system, an air pump with a hose going into my sump? Just wondering what people with a low pH problem did to get some fresh air in, thats all.

 

[89Foxbody]

I'd try a pedestal fan first, put it outside the door blowing in. Rather than tearing your house apart.

 

[Porcupinepuffer]

in the heating/air condition trade, the simplest thing you can do is cut out a good 4.5" hole. Install a fresh air hood outside (it's a hood that looks a lot like a dryer hood outside, except it has a kind of a screened off area since it drawn in air without drawing in mice and squirrels)... Then on the inside, have some 4" flex hose attached to this, it can be metal, plastic, whatever you like, have it covered atleast 5 feet with insulation around it (which you can buy at home depot specifically made to wrap around it)... Then aim it down to the floor inside a 5 gallon bucket. These will allow fresh air to come inside as needed. This is common for natural vent furnace installs. The insulation around it just allows for the air to slowly adjust to your inside home temperature so it doesn't condense in to moisture if it's really cold outside.

 

[UWUALineman]

Open up the room the best you can, and start using kalkwasser. I struggled around the 7.8 to 8.1 mark, and now am ranging from 8.1 to 8.3 just by using kalk to supplement my calcium reactor. Cheap too.

 

[anbosu]

Are you running a skimmer?

 

[geaux xman]

make sure your pH meter is calibrated and reading accurately also. you might be going thru all this trouble for no reason.

 

[jverna1]

in the heating/air condition trade, the simplest thing you can do is cut out a good 4.5" hole. Install a fresh air hood outside (it's a hood that looks a lot like a dryer hood outside, except it has a kind of a screened off area since it drawn in air without drawing in mice and squirrels)... Then on the inside, have some 4" flex hose attached to this, it can be metal, plastic, whatever you like, have it covered atleast 5 feet with insulation around it (which you can buy at home depot specifically made to wrap around it)... Then aim it down to the floor inside a 5 gallon bucket. These will allow fresh air to come inside as needed. This is common for natural vent furnace installs. The insulation around it just allows for the air to slowly adjust to your inside home temperature so it doesn't condense in to moisture if it's really cold outside.

Thanks porcupinepuffer. Thats exactly what I was looking for.

 

[jverna1]

Open up the room the best you can, and start using kalkwasser. I struggled around the 7.8 to 8.1 mark, and now am ranging from 8.1 to 8.3 just by using kalk to supplement my calcium reactor. Cheap too.

My pH is going from 7.95 - 8.13. Im gonna try to place a fan at the door and dose kalkwasser in my tunze ATO first before I put a hole in the wall with my head. lol

 

[jverna1]

make sure your pH meter is calibrated and reading accurately also. you might be going thru all this trouble for no reason.

I have and apex with a pH probe. Last week it was reading 8.6 to 8.4. I thought my pH was too high so I recalibrated it and it was acturally 7.9 to 8.1. ***.

 

[jverna1]

Are you running a skimmer?

Im running a super reef octopus xp 3000 external.

 

[geaux xman]

You could also look into dosing Kalkwasser or Limewater?

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php

Low pH causes and cures by Randy:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.php

 

[dzhuo]

My pH is going from 7.95 - 8.13.

7.9 - 8.1 isn't low at all. Have you consider a CO2 scrubber before punching a hole? My pH runs as low as 7.7 and after installing the CO2 scrubber, pH went up to 8.1. A CO2 scrubber can generally raise pH anywhere from .05 to .3 if your low pH is caused by excess CO2.

 

[mikk1301]

can you get the air feed for the skimmer to take air from outside? could be easier than ventillating the whole room

 

[aniceplace]

I bought about 30' of hose for my skimmer's air supply and ran it to an outside air source. This brought my PH up from 7.7-7.8 to 8.0-8.1. Simple and effective.