Skimmer impact on pH

Well I've been dealing with some painfully low pH (7.7-7.8) for a while and was actually starting to consider switching from my CaRx to kalk as a result.  A few days ago I also noticed that my skimmer didn't seem to be producing a nice frothy head like it usually does.  So I decided to clean out the recirc pump on the skimmer.  Upon inspection I found a couple small snails stuck in the needlewheel of the pump.  After removing them and cleaning the impeller I put the skimmer back together.  I was absolutely stunned how much of a difference it made... apparently I've been neglecting my skimmer for a while.  Over the next few days much to my delight I saw my pH climb back up.  I don't run any airstones so my skimmer is a pretty vital source of oxygen in the water.  You can see pretty clearly when I fixed the skimmer:









 

 

Good point...it also impacts pH on where you get your air from...inside the house or outside the house. Air from inside your house typically has a higher level of carbon dioxide than outside air. If your pH is always too low, outside air can help raise it up.

--AJ

 

+1.....Ive been leaving the windows open and it makes big difference.

 

I ran a 3/8 air line from my skimmer to out side and it made a difference, Just got to make sure you use a air filter on the end to keep bugs and debris out.

 

Do you think that resricts the air intake? What do you use for a filter.

 

Not much, I was using a valve to restrict it a little anyway. so it worked out about the same.
I use an air silencer with some cotton balls to filter it out.

 

Guess Ill be blasting a hole the side of the house!

 

We have been having the same ph problem and read on a different forum to let some fresh air into whatever room our skimmer is in. Our sump is in our bedroom so during the say when nobody is in there we just open the windows and close them when we get home so its not freezing in there when we want to go to bed. Just opening the window closest to the sump as made a huge difference in our ph. I would try that before you start buying expensive equipment.

 

My tank is an in wall build with a dedicated fish room behind it. There is a window in this room, however, I know I would end up forgetting that I opened the window and either freeze everything or leave it open during a storm or somehting. I'm also not extremely wild about the idea of drilling a hole in the side of the house.

 

Like most new furnaces, my furnace uses outside air.  I drilled a small hole in that PVC pipe and put my airline in that...on the top side of it of course.  You could always put a DIY inline filter on the tube if you were concerned about bugs and stuff.
--AJ