Sawdonkey’s 210 Build #2

Funlad3

Well-known member
Added a super high-tech CO2 Scrubber. With the new baby, we’ve been home and basically just sitting in the basement breathing out CO2. PH was around 7.7. Between a few cooler days where I could open the windows and this scrubber, I’m up to 8.3 and basically staying there.

How's the CO2 scrubber been holding up? I think it might be my next addition. :)
 

Sawdonkey

Premium member
How's the CO2 scrubber been holding up? I think it might be my next addition. :)
Hard to say. I’ve been pretty much above 8.2 and sometimes as high as 8.5. It definitely makes a difference.

I’m out of media now and now that my wife is off maternity leave, she and the baby aren’t sitting around all day blowing out CO2. I’m going to monitor PH for a while and see if I want to buy more media.

This is all the result of me getting an Apex. I never cared about Ph in the past and all was fine. Now, it’s just one more thing to complicate things.
 

Funlad3

Well-known member
Hard to say. I’ve been pretty much above 8.2 and sometimes as high as 8.5. It definitely makes a difference.

I’m out of media now and now that my wife is off maternity leave, she and the baby aren’t sitting around all day blowing out CO2. I’m going to monitor PH for a while and see if I want to buy more media.

This is all the result of me getting an Apex. I never cared about Ph in the past and all was fine. Now, it’s just one more thing to complicate things.
pH readings that high just sold me on it. Besides. I like complicated things. :)
 

Sawdonkey

Premium member
Here are some graphs, but keep in mind that a lot of thing impact PH. How many people are in the house, are windows open, etc.

July (pre scrubber)


Recently

 

superchargedgp

Well-known member
My ph is all over the place. But i think i should be glad that its like that without me doing anything to it



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Sawdonkey

Premium member
My ph is all over the place. But i think i should be glad that its like that without me doing anything to it



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That’s just natural swings from day to night. All over the place above 8.0 is good, as long as the midpoint is somewhat consistent. I was dipping down to 7.7 at night back in July.
 

ultimatemj

Active member
I don't "chase PH" but I do use it to avoid spiking my tank with Kalkwasser.

My ATO pushes through a Kalk reactor, so I have the APEX setup to pause the ATO for 30min whenever PH goes over 8.5...which will also keep it off if it doesn't come down, but it always has.

Based on the chart, I've been considering putting the ATO on a timer to spread out the Kalk dosing...and aim for less of a roller coaster...but then I'd need to add a high water sensor as well. Not a big deal, just haven't gone "that complicated" yet. And the roller coaster seems to match up with the natural photo cycle...
View attachment 25473
 

Funlad3

Well-known member
Even with windows open, I'm barely scraping up to 8 this week, so I'm definitely going to set a scrubber up.
 

Spartanman22

Well-known member
I’ll be honest I’ve never really chased pH. On my current setup pH is usually about 7.8-7.9, but it’ll fluctuate. Coral don’t seem to mind really.


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Sawdonkey

Premium member
I opened the R2R forum a few days ago and Adam at BC had just posted that he would do 5 10 packs of corals that were browned out from being on the edges of his tanks for $100 shipped each. I responded in less than 30 seconds and scored one.

Got the frags today. Yes, they were a bit browned out and a got two pieces I already had, but I scored big time. I even got a frag of his Fleshdunce. I got a couple that he lost track of and didn’t know what they were, so maybe those will turn into something cool when they get some color.
 

Spartanman22

Well-known member
I opened the R2R forum a few days ago and Adam at BC had just posted that he would do 5 10 packs of corals that were browned out from being on the edges of his tanks for $100 shipped each. I responded in less than 30 seconds and scored one.

Got the frags today. Yes, they were a bit browned out and a got two pieces I already had, but I scored big time. I even got a frag of his Fleshdunce. I got a couple that he lost track of and didn’t know what they were, so maybe those will turn into something cool when they get some color.
Nice job on scoring one! Those went so fast


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Sawdonkey

Premium member
Long time, no update. I had a little setback over thanksgiving. Before I left town for a week, I bought some big hunks of live rock and threw them in. Then my Venturi on my skimmer got plugged with salt so it wasn’t sucking air. I came home to really browned out SPS.

I’ve did three 45 gallon water changes over a few days, put biopellets on line, and cleaned throughly.

I also adde Orphek light bars to get more even light coverage.

Oh, and I got a big zebra moray!





 

Sawdonkey

Premium member
Looking good. What size bars? 36inch?

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Yes, end to end. I got the sky blue ones, but had them swap in four white diodes per bar, cuz I’m not a windex guy.

They made a HUGE difference in terms of eliminating shadows and just making the tank look full of light.
 

GugsJr

TeamCR
Yes, end to end. I got the sky blue ones, but had them swap in four white diodes per bar, cuz I’m not a windex guy.

They made a HUGE difference in terms of eliminating shadows and just making the tank look full of light.
That's what i'm going to do as well, birfday waiting for the 60"

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Sawdonkey

Premium member
That's what i'm going to do as well, birfday waiting for the 60"

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I was waiting for a while for the 60” too, but I had no idea when they’d actually release it. Plus part of the reason for the bars was to get light from corner to corner. 60” would leave gaps on the ends while two 35” give full coverage. Just takes up an extra apex outlet.
 

GugsJr

TeamCR
I was waiting for a while for the 60” too, but I had no idea when they’d actually release it. Plus part of the reason for the bars was to get light from corner to corner. 60” would leave gaps on the ends while two 35” give full coverage. Just takes up an extra apex outlet.
I went with 3 compacts so I want them for a bit extra par

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Spartanman22

Well-known member
Love the zebra moray! I’m a big fan of eels in reefs. They add so much personality


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