I have a 250 gallon reef set up with overflows going into a sump. The sump and tank are completely covered, though not air tight. I've had this tank from my reefing days. The problem is I can't get a pH drop greater than pH= 0.9 and rarely a 1.0 pH drop. I suspect that the overflows could be part of the problem since it introduces a lot of gas exchange into the system (lots of water turbulence in them). I would ultimately like to get at least a 1.2-1.5 drop... I would like to be able to go as far as I need to in order to increase my light energy (measured in PAR) over the tank.
There is inherently so much dissolved O2 produced by reef tanks (overflows/sump) that the CO2 could probably be pushed quite high without damage to the fish furthermore, I am sure that ultimately Decreasing what causes the O2 to rise so high would in turn automatically Increase the CO2 level by preventing less gas exchange.
I have an AquaMedic 1000 CO2 reactor powered by a Sicce 2.0 pump which is what is what is required for this reactor. I push through 100 cc/min CO2 through the reactor. The CO2 obviously never shuts off all day.
The Aqua medic 1000 was the largest reactor I could find.
The tank does ok at this CO2 level when I am running about 80 PAR at the substrate and has been for about 1.5 years. It's when I raised the PAR level to ~120 PAR that I became aware that there just isn't enough CO2 to compensate for the increased metabolic demand of the plants at this energy level! Green algae is now covering most of the plants leaves and sides of the tank. I have to clean the front glass every day. Last night I shut off the extra 2 - T5 tubes and went back to my old light level. I am pretty sure it's from not enough CO2.
I would appreciate any thoughts or solutions regarding how I could increase my CO2 level.
I am scratching my head at this point.
There is inherently so much dissolved O2 produced by reef tanks (overflows/sump) that the CO2 could probably be pushed quite high without damage to the fish furthermore, I am sure that ultimately Decreasing what causes the O2 to rise so high would in turn automatically Increase the CO2 level by preventing less gas exchange.
I have an AquaMedic 1000 CO2 reactor powered by a Sicce 2.0 pump which is what is what is required for this reactor. I push through 100 cc/min CO2 through the reactor. The CO2 obviously never shuts off all day.
The Aqua medic 1000 was the largest reactor I could find.
The tank does ok at this CO2 level when I am running about 80 PAR at the substrate and has been for about 1.5 years. It's when I raised the PAR level to ~120 PAR that I became aware that there just isn't enough CO2 to compensate for the increased metabolic demand of the plants at this energy level! Green algae is now covering most of the plants leaves and sides of the tank. I have to clean the front glass every day. Last night I shut off the extra 2 - T5 tubes and went back to my old light level. I am pretty sure it's from not enough CO2.
I would appreciate any thoughts or solutions regarding how I could increase my CO2 level.
I am scratching my head at this point.