pH Stabilization With Algae Scrubber?

[Kengar]

My setup is newish, with some well cured authentic Pacific rock I found in Ohio few months ago and some fresh maricultured Fiji rock that went in a month or so ago. With cure of the new rock, quite a bit of hair algae bloomed, and the hair algae has been, I believe, a major consumer of CO2 introduced by skimmer. As a result, I see sizeable pH swings between day (lights on, algae consuming CO2, pH rising) and night (opposite, pH falling).

So my question is, once the hair algae has run its course, can I stabilize the pH using an algae scrubber? Perhaps running it primarily at night? Also, has anyone situated the inlet of air intake line to skimmer right in the middle of an algae scrubber, so you are effectively using the algae scrubber as a CO2 scrubber, too? If so, how well did it work?

Thanks.

 

[earwicker7]

The algae scrubber will definitely affect the pH to some degree.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

My setup is newish, with some well cured authentic Pacific rock I found in Ohio few months ago and some fresh maricultured Fiji rock that went in a month or so ago. With cure of the new rock, quite a bit of hair algae bloomed, and the hair algae has been, I believe, a major consumer of CO2 introduced by skimmer. As a result, I see sizeable pH swings between day (lights on, algae consuming CO2, pH rising) and night (opposite, pH falling).

So my question is, once the hair algae has run its course, can I stabilize the pH using an algae scrubber? Perhaps running it primarily at night? Also, has anyone situated the inlet of air intake line to skimmer right in the middle of an algae scrubber, so you are effectively using the algae scrubber as a CO2 scrubber, too? If so, how well did it work?

Thanks.

Run the scrubber opposite the tanks light cycle. The photosynthesis taking place in the scrubber will consume the co2 building up in the tanks night cycle, oxygenating the water & stabilising the pH

 

[Nrdau]

Second the opposite schedule I did that and it stabilized my ph

 

[Kengar]

Thanks.

Re my thought about putting inlet to skimmer airline in space in an algae scrubber, scratch that. I don't have scrubber yet, but was considering a CW-300 https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/cw-300-external-algae-scrubber-clear-water.html and was thinking I would put the scrubber airline inlet in the space between the lights. Looking at the unit more closely, however, it appears -- and stands to reason, when thinking about it further -- that the growth screen is actually sandwiched between plexiglass (to prevent water from slopping all over the place) and that the screen chamber is enclosed at the top. Therefore, even if I inserted the airline inlet into that chamber somehow, and even though the algae is not completely submerged and will be exposed to some air as water cascades over it, the amount of CO2 the algae might take out of the air would be minimal -- particularly when you look at flow rates of air into the airline versus CO2 take-up rates by the algae. (So time to stop working on a patent application direct to THAT idea...... )