2024 Ohio Reef Frag Swap

2024 flyer

Author Topic: Homemade CO2 Scrubber  (Read 12796 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline SweetReefOH

  • Lifetime Premium Member
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,654
Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« on: August 16, 2017, 18:19:21 »
Well since you guys talked me into an apex, I now see all the faults with my chemistry lol. I never knew I had a pH problem until I got the apex. It was getting down to 7.70 occasionally. I keep the house closed up pretty much all year except for a few weeks in spring and fall. So, obviously I have a CO2 problem that I never knew about. So check out my CO2 Scrubber courtesy of Dave and Busters 3/8" straw!

Offline Humphrey

  • Lifetime Premium Member
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 400
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #1 on: August 16, 2017, 20:36:53 »
Love it!

Offline lazylivin

  • Administrator
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 11,471
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #2 on: August 16, 2017, 22:18:59 »
Nice job! At first glance until i read the post i thought it was a retail manufactured one

Offline CoralBeauties

  • Lifetime Premium Member
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,804
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #3 on: August 16, 2017, 22:33:05 »
Are you running your skimmer intake through this?  Let us know if it helps.  Ive read where it can be expensive to run these.
Jeff

Offline SweetReefOH

  • Lifetime Premium Member
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,654
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #4 on: August 17, 2017, 05:55:44 »
Are you running your skimmer intake through this?  Let us know if it helps.  Ive read where it can be expensive to run these.
Jeff
Yes. I bought 3' of soft 3/8" tubing for $8 and I bought 9lbs of the soda lime for $50. Both from BRS. I know there's cheaper soda lime out there but the BRS claims to have a coating on it that makes it last longer. I will post some numbers tonight when I get home. But so far it definitely helped overnight. The pH hasn't dropped below 8.0 and it's normally way below 8 when I get up.

Offline SweetReefOH

  • Lifetime Premium Member
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,654
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #5 on: August 17, 2017, 05:56:15 »
Are you running your skimmer intake through this?  Let us know if it helps.  Ive read where it can be expensive to run these.
Jeff
Yes. I bought 3' of soft 3/8" tubing for $8 and I bought 9lbs of the soda lime for $50. Both from BRS. I know there's cheaper soda lime out there but the BRS claims to have a coating on it that makes it last longer. I will post some numbers tonight when I get home. But so far it definitely helped overnight. The pH hasn't dropped below 8.0 and it's normally way below 8 when I get up.

Offline SweetReefOH

  • Lifetime Premium Member
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,654
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #6 on: August 17, 2017, 05:56:50 »
Are you running your skimmer intake through this?  Let us know if it helps.  Ive read where it can be expensive to run these.
Jeff
Yes. I bought 3' of soft 3/8" tubing for $8 and I bought 9lbs of the soda lime for $50. Both from BRS. I know there's cheaper soda lime out there but the BRS claims to have a coating on it that makes it last longer. I will post some numbers tonight when I get home. But so far it definitely helped overnight. The pH hasn't dropped below 8.0 and it's normally way below 8 when I get up.

Offline SweetReefOH

  • Lifetime Premium Member
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,654
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #7 on: August 17, 2017, 05:57:30 »
Are you running your skimmer intake through this?  Let us know if it helps.  Ive read where it can be expensive to run these.
Jeff
Yes. I bought 3' of soft 3/8" tubing for $8 and I bought 9lbs of the soda lime for $50. Both from BRS. I know there's cheaper soda lime out there but the BRS claims to have a coating on it that makes it last longer. I will post some numbers tonight when I get home. But so far it definitely helped overnight. The pH hasn't dropped below 8.0 and it's normally way below 8 when I get up.

Offline SweetReefOH

  • Lifetime Premium Member
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,654
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #8 on: August 17, 2017, 05:58:34 »
Sorry, I don't know why it posted 3 times

Offline joelbegt

  • Adult
  • ****
  • Posts: 291
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #9 on: August 17, 2017, 08:53:41 »
Following this thread to see how long that canister lasts.  How many total gallons is this system?

Offline lazylivin

  • Administrator
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 11,471
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #10 on: August 17, 2017, 10:01:30 »
Following as well. My interest is if two part consumption changes indicating an increase in growth speed. Many years ago I connected a powerful air pump outside, pumping air into tank sump. I had an immediate increase in PH. Within 15 minutes. Ran it for 6 months. In the end I so no difference in coral health or color so I pulled it out. However I did not have automated dosing at that time to identify if there was enhanced growth indicated by increased 2 part consumption. If there is benefits in calcification speed it would be seen immediately. Within in days of connecting assuming the CO2 scrubber is working and increased PH.

Offline SweetReefOH

  • Lifetime Premium Member
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,654
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #11 on: August 17, 2017, 11:29:58 »
Brian, I did some testing prior to deciding on the Scrubber. I stabilized my dosing until I had three days of less than 3 points swing in ppm on the Hanna alk checker. I then left the windows open for 3 days. Immediately the next day alk consumption knocked down the ppm by 8 ppm. So I started dosing an additional 5 mL. I then closed the house up like normal and the pH dropped. The ppm on the alk went up 9 points. Signaling less consumption. At this point I have left the dosing regimen the same and I will test again when I get home. I am expecting to see the alk back to where it was when I had the windows open. I know this is far from scientific, but it is good enough for me. For what it's worth, I didn't notice a change in Calc, but I manually test that with the Red Sea kit.

Offline lazylivin

  • Administrator
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 11,471
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #12 on: August 17, 2017, 11:33:57 »
Are you able to show change in PH graph in conjunction with the total 24 hour dosing amount?


Offline SweetReefOH

  • Lifetime Premium Member
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,654
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #13 on: August 17, 2017, 11:37:08 »
I could probably do that if you show me how Saturday lol

Offline lazylivin

  • Administrator
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 11,471
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #14 on: August 17, 2017, 11:37:41 »
Have you used the same vials and retested it over and over again? For example fill one with your saltwater and the other vial with your saltwater and reagent. Then repeat test 4-5 times in a row back to back. I ask so we can see the margin of error on your meter

Offline SweetReefOH

  • Lifetime Premium Member
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,654
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #15 on: August 17, 2017, 11:42:20 »
I understand there are margins of error. When I have 2-3 days in a row where it is within 1-2 points of the day before, I consider that consistent and accurate. I do use the same vial, cleaned the same way with the 10mL tag facing me, every time I test

Offline SweetReefOH

  • Lifetime Premium Member
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,654
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #16 on: August 17, 2017, 11:45:05 »
From what BRS's video on pH and CO2 scrubbers said, its a guaranteed fact that having your pH between 8.2-8.3 increases coral skeletal growth significantly. Which creates another problem if your pH drops. You'll be overdosing your tank....

Offline SweetReefOH

  • Lifetime Premium Member
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,654
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #17 on: August 17, 2017, 13:16:48 »
Have you used the same vials and retested it over and over again? For example fill one with your saltwater and the other vial with your saltwater and reagent. Then repeat test 4-5 times in a row back to back. I ask so we can see the margin of error on your meter
I'll do this tonight!

Offline lazylivin

  • Administrator
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 11,471
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #18 on: August 17, 2017, 13:45:35 »
I find this subject interesting and would like to get more in depth with it. It would be nice to know the percent of calcification increase associated with the PH level. For example if a tank required 100ML Calcium and Soda Ash per day to maintain alkalinity level of 9.5 and Calcium level of 400 at a average daily PH of 7.8. Would a increase in average PH to 8.2 equate to a dose of 120ML to maintain ALK/CAL. If yes we could say it is a 20% increase. We could learn this but would need a KH Monitor in the mix as well where we can get various alk levels throughout the day that would also have a PH level at the same time. When the Apex one comes out I will definitely get it. For now the method you are doing, testing each day and matching it to the average PH data points over the day we should be able to draw some conclusions.

I wonder at what average daily PH does it no longer benefit? Could a PH of 8.5 be better then 8.3? Could the same be achieved by keeping alkalinity higher? How about lighting. What if we increased that? So much to learn in this space. With the dawn of Alk monitors and alk consumption being tied to growth I think we will learn a whole lot over the next few years and will see some pretty incredible reef tanks as a result

Offline SweetReefOH

  • Lifetime Premium Member
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,654
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #19 on: August 17, 2017, 14:57:30 »
I whole heartedly agree with you. I love the numbers and tinkering with things after reading and hypothesising and testing it on my system. Albeit, your brain is working a lot harder than mine! I tend to overlook a lot of the little things you catch. I will say, the corals just looked a lot happier with more polyp extension when I was keeping the window open. But living in Ohio, that is not feasible for me year round.

Offline SweetReefOH

  • Lifetime Premium Member
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,654
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #20 on: August 17, 2017, 17:16:28 »
Ok Brian, I did your test. I think you need a new Hanna Checker lol. I tested it 7 times. Turning it off after each. Every single test was 173.
Also, as I suspected, the alk has dropped from 9.96 when the house was shut, to 9.68 with the CO2 Scrubber. It is obviously consuming more alk at a higher pH. The pH is up to 8.18 at the moment and I still have a 2.5 hour photoperiod left. Hoping to reach over 8.2. The Scrubber is definitely working.

Offline SweetReefOH

  • Lifetime Premium Member
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,654
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #21 on: August 17, 2017, 20:12:16 »
Well I topped out at 8.21. It's actually holding steady during my light ramp down. I think I will have a head start on tomorrow if the pH stays a little higher than what it dropped to last night. Fingers crossed. I will test the alk again at the same time tomorrow to see if there was any additional consumption. I'm attaching a simple photo markup of my pH over the last few days under what circumstances.

Offline SweetReefOH

  • Lifetime Premium Member
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,654
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #22 on: August 17, 2017, 20:18:37 »
Following this thread to see how long that canister lasts.  How many total gallons is this system?
Joel, sorry I didn't respond earlier. Just noticed your question. I have a 75g with a 30g sump. I only have about 63-67g of water due to all my rock in the display and sump. So far, no blue beads yet.

Offline SweetReefOH

  • Lifetime Premium Member
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,654
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #23 on: August 18, 2017, 17:26:24 »
New results...
I know I am being less than scientific because I'm making adjustments as I see results. But, today I came home after approximately 48 hours of the Scrubber being online and again I see a drop of .15 in my dKh and 20 ppm drop in my calcium. I am going to bump the dosing up another 5 mL on each. My conclusion at this point is you don't even have to maintain a pH of 8.2 to start noticing more consumption. I now have a peak of 8.2 that only holds for 15 minutes before it starts dropping because of my light schedule. Previously, my peak was about 8.05. Take that for what you will, but I am definitely keeping the Scrubber online for whatever little extra growth I'll be rewarded with.

Offline lazylivin

  • Administrator
  • Adult
  • *****
  • Posts: 11,471
Re: Homemade CO2 Scrubber
« Reply #24 on: August 18, 2017, 23:14:38 »
What was your daily ml of dosing and what is it now with the bump up?

 

Powered by EzPortal