[quote=“Gordonious, post:20, topic:5583”]
Kalk may help with pH a little bit, but CO2 is most often the root cause of low pH in aquariums.(and our worlds oceans despite what some corrupt politicians would have you believe) Ventilate the room the aquarium is in and you’ll be surprised how much the pH will increase. If you own your home and are able to run the air line tubing from the air intake of your skimmer to outside it will help a bit. A CO2 scrubber on the air intake will help as well. [/quote]
I found the biggest increase in ph came from opening a window. I was consistently around 7.8 (pinpoint ph) and opened the window. Fresh air keeps it around 8.1 daytime. Amazing how much co2 build up was in the house. Now that its hot, I ran a hose for the skimmer air intake to the outside air and It seems to work well. I agree the API ph test kit is not very accurate, I found that out 1st hand.
Ok so let me start by saying I have approx 250g sump/fuge in my basement with lights on at night to help offset ph drop at night.my question is if I cover some of the filtration in my basement can/could that cause any problems? Now obviously nothing is air tight so it all still breathes,no cover on top of dt,just some of the other stuff to help with evaporation. And if I understand correctly you guys are saying to just extend skimmer air intake outside?and that will help with this?
Ok so since this last post I have ran the skimmer intake to my basement window and noticed a small differance in the ph with my pin point tester. However during the day ph stays at8.1. I have an ato with 30g of ro for the week, if I mix up some of this and add it to my ato will this help my ph stay in the 8.2-8.3 range?
That should def help with ph, and add some calcium and KH. you may just need to experiment with the strength of the kalkwater you make… a little lime goes a long way as far as boosting ph.
reefers all over the world have great success with not much more than a kalk drip.
I liked using it before, and plan on doing it with my small tank… the only complaint i have is the lime water kept getting build up and required the drip line to be adjusted daily. i think i needed to let the mix settle more and take the “cleaner” kalk water for the drip. I’d like to have a kalk reactor someday to make it easier/ more effiecient.
I dunno what ato you have, but keep and eye out for carbonate build up
Its hard to keep deposits from building up. lime water reacts with the 391 ppm CO2 in the air, soon as it emerges from the drip line and forms carbonates.
it will only get worse with time. atmospheric CO2 is increasing by more than 2 PPM each year.
but it should still be manageable to drip. Is your Magnesium level at normal?
Jason, look into geting a TLF kalkwasser reactor, it will save you in a long run. I run mine attach to an ATO. I just add 10 TB to the reactor and it last 2 to 3 weeks depends on your water evaporation rate. You will not ever need to do all that water mixing prior to dosing. Just have to make sure there water in you ATO container. I don’t check or haven’t check my PH lately, but I know it stays stable.
I also use TLF reactor the same as A does and my ph is always @ 8.1 to 8.3, with my skimmer air intake line getting fresh outside air
I have almost 25g a week evap,basement sumps are nice but I go through alotta water. It would be easier for me to just add it to my ato container.is there any problems with doing that?
easiest thing i can suggest is to make up a batch in a 5g bucket first. you’ll get to see how much “crud” there is, and if it will affect anything in your ato container.
I’m not sure of your ato setup, i’d just be very concerned that the build up won’t clog ur ato, or even crud it up, and keep it from turning off.
Thats a ton of top-off per week, you may be able to keep the mix on the low end… less saturated and less build up, but you’ll still get it.
My ato is a jbj with a mag 12 pumping ro into sump,doubt it will clogg 3/4pvc
[quote=“beadlocked450r, post:30, topic:5583”]
My ato is a jbj with a mag 12 pumping ro into sump,doubt it will clogg 3/4pvc[/quote]
I was more worried about impellers and float valves/ switches… anything that a bit of build-up would affect…
you’ve won half the battle though with 3/4 plumbing already in place :
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