sudden Low PH due to skimmer shutting off

[andyman]

I just wanted to post some observations the last week and I didn't really realize how much difference CO2 makes to the pH in the tank. A little background, I plumbed the skimmer intake to the outside of the house a while ago and the pH in my tank has never dipped below 8.1 and reaches a peak of 8.4. The only thing I do is top off with ro/di water and I dose 2 parts BRS.

Anyway my royal exclusiv skimmer pump threw a F4 error code but I didn't realize it and the pump shut off a few days ago. What I did notice from my neptune apex was a drop in pH. I started getting alarms I never get with ph at 7.84 at the lowest. And my peaks were no longer as high and only reaching 8.12 at its peak. I thought my pH meter was broken. But what I do know is the corals are much happier at a higher pH. After an online search I read an article on BRS that indicated co2 (carbonic acid) is the primary driver of low pH. Thats when I decided to look at my skimmer to see if the tube running to the outside of the house was clogged and I realized the skimmer was not running.

After restoring the pump using citric acid to remove the calcium build up triggering the F4 alarm, my pH returned back to normal overnight. My pH is now 8.15 at its lowest at 5am and hopefully later today my peak pH should go above 8.4.

Anyway I thought I'd share this story.

 

[FinalPhaze987]

Plumbing my skimmer with outside air was the best thing I've done for ph hands down. Ive noticed a similar improvement to your numbers when working properly, but have also noticed similar drops in pH when shutting it down due to high co2 in my household.

Sorry your pump went down. Ive got a sicce PSK 1200 you can use while you get yours back up if you like?

 

[Kensington Reefer]

Plumbing my skimmer with outside air was the best thing I've done for ph hands down. Ive noticed a similar improvement to your numbers when working properly, but have also noticed similar drops in pH when shutting it down due to high co2 in my household.

Sorry your pump went down. Ive got a sicce PSK 1200 you can use while you get yours back up if you like?

Thanks for the pump recommendation

 

[andyman]

thanks for the offer. I got my pump back online in 1hr. It was just calcium buildup and all I needed was citric acid to dissolve it. Plus the pump is a skimmer pump so its custom to the skimmer. I love royal exclusiv though, it threw an error and shut down the pump before damage occured. It must have detected higher then normal current draw due to friction from the calcium buildup.

 

[Darkxerox]

thanks for the offer. I got my pump back online in 1hr. It was just calcium buildup and all I needed was citric acid to dissolve it. Plus the pump is a skimmer pump so its custom to the skimmer. I love royal exclusiv though, it threw an error and shut down the pump before damage occured. It must have detected higher then normal current draw due to friction from the calcium buildup.

That's the only issue with these old RE pumps, they're so silent that you don't know if they're dead unless you have it set on a current monitoring outlet.