fresh air intake for skimmer, it’s a must.

[JPags]

I was having low ph issue in my frag tank and decided to run another tube for outside air. No other changes and you can see the difference

My house is not new, so I know it’s not as sealed up as others but it still makes a difference.

Don’t think I’ll ever run a skimmer without it

This is not even a full day running it

 

[Duds]

May I ask what you use for tubing and diameter size? And how do you go about running it outside?

 

[Mike Lemming]

May I ask what you use for tubing and diameter size? And how do you go about running it outside?

Following along..

 

[JPags]

So I have 2 different setups.

My display tank is in my Living room (Pretty far away from my air source). So I actually used 3/4 pex, I already had the PEX so I re-used it, running from my Basement door (Goes out to my bulkhead). There is a piece of PVC board running above the door, so I just drilled a 3/4 hole through it and stuck the pipe in and attached it to the ceiling along the basement. I then dropped it down to a smaller tubing around 3/8 to run into an old hole in the floor near my tank. Would have drilled a hole behind my tank if I did not already have one in the floor. From there I connected it right to the skimmer. I might have just bought 3/8 tubing and ran it all the way but I was not sure if the length would actually restrict the air flow too much.

My frag tank is in my basement near my cellar door, I figured there might be enough air leaking through the door that this would not be an issue, since its an old house, but its still a problem because of the furnace in the basement. I went to home depot yesterday and bought 20 ft of 1/4 ID tubing, 3/8 OD (Cost 8$). Ran it from the frag tank up to the ceiling and across to the door again and drilled a 3/8" hole near the other hole and ran the line out. I had to use a small bit of tape around the tubing coming from my skimmer to connect the new tubing to make sure it was a tight seal. Took less than 30 minutes to do this.

Thats it. I decided on using this area to drill through because its protected from weather since it is in under my bulkhead. Also my basement door it not 100% sealed so I was not worried about drilling a hole, but if you drill it right the hole is sealed by the tubing so no extra air gets in.

I have tried the CO2 absorbing media approach but its a pain and costly unless you do the re-circulating thing which again is a pain.

 

[Reefer508]

I had pretty much did the same on an old tank. The only thing I would suggest is to cover the outside intake with some type of screening to stop insects from crawling in. I had put a 90* on outside face down to limit any weather, rain/snow, from getting in. I then cut a small piece of window screening ang wrapped around end with a cable zip tie. Worked great.

 

[JPags]

I was thinking the same thing but since its under my bulkhead I have not had any issues with weather or insects. Spiders are around but have not bothered it.

 

[Mike Lemming]

Has anyone ran an airstone with this idea and not the skimmer? I recently added Kalk and a C02 srubber and am topping out at 8.04 ph.. Maybe this will push me up into the 8.2+ range? (wishful thinking)

 

[Duds]

Has anyone ran an airstone with this idea and not the skimmer? I recently added Kalk and a C02 srubber and am topping out at 8.04 ph.. Maybe this will push me up into the 8.2+ range? (wishful thinking)

@MichaelJ I believe runs a setup like that any chance you mind sharing your setup/results?

 

[Chris.sturgis]

I have a 3/4” pvc line running to my skimmer directly from outside. To boost it even more I added an air pump close to where the outside line comes in and that just bubbles into my sump. I would be hesitant about using a air stone since it would form micro bubbles.

You will also want to make sure the line is pitched to the outside so condensation doesn’t build up. My v1 was assembled using nylon tubing and water would build up in the low spots.

 

[SteveDola]

Definitely a great skimmer hack to help with PH. I run my skimmer air intake to my window and have it sealed with window foam and weatherproof tape. The tubing i use is 3/8" with a push connect fitting to connect to the air intake. lowes has all that stuff.

 

[Reefried]

I was having low ph issue in my frag tank and decided to run another tube for outside air. No other changes and you can see the difference

My house is not new, so I know it’s not as sealed up as others but it still makes a difference.

Don’t think I’ll ever run a skimmer without it

This is not even a full day running it

View attachment 201437

Maybe I’m confused by the pic. But on Jan 10 you had a high of 8.01-ish and after running line outside your high is now 8.04-ish? And your lows went from 7.9 to 8.0?

 

[JPags]

Maybe I’m confused by the pic. But on Jan 10 you had a high of 8.01-ish and after running line outside your high is now 8.04-ish? And your lows went from 7.9 to 8.0?

Yes right now I got a full 1pt increase with barely 1 day running.

I also run my alk a bit lower 8.5 -9 so my ph is never high. I figure it will take a day or so for the full benefit of the fresh air to take affect but on my main tank my ph runs between 8.05 to 8.2 normally

Here is an updated image after a full day you can see the low stopped just below 8 and the day high is going up. My kalk reactor needs to be reloaded but I wanted to see it increase and stabilize without the added ph from the kalk.

.

 

[Kens Bees]

Definitely a great skimmer hack to help with PH. I run my skimmer air intake to my window and have it sealed with window foam and weatherproof tape. The tubing i use is 3/8" with a push connect fitting to connect to the air intake. lowes has all that stuff.

That’s what I’ve done. I put a splitter in and run two tanks thru the same main. I still get the overnight drop but daytime is consistently 8.2 ish.

 

[JPags]

Yea the drop is when the lights go off. Mine drops but this keeps it from dropping very low