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Andy Wakefield says:
I have been using this method for about 4 years now and have only had good results. I use a generic 'dive (rebreather) lime' which I can easily source in 25 liter drums, here in the UK (damp/high humidity here too!). I haven't used a standard filter before as I wanted a cheap solution so use a 1.5 liter fizzy drink bottle with a filter sponge circle top and bottom to stop the media spilling out. The bottle lid has a hole in it to allow a 1/4 tube in to draw air through the media; at the base i have drilled multiple small holes below the top of the filter sponge. Simple and cheap! Soda Lime a little more expensive tho'. In honesty, I really didn't think it would work but the pH starting dipping below 7.5 in my 400 gallon tank after it was set up for 18 months so started to use this process to good effect - over two days the pH moved up to 7.9 and then a week later it peaked/stabilized at 8.1 in the day and 7.9 at night. I replace the media after approx. 2 months but monitor the pH through my calc reactor daily. I stopped using the lime with the color indicator after about a year as it was much more expensive. Hope the article and comments give people confidence to try this non-invasive process.Ron says:
Thank youanthony lore says:
This method works extremely well. My ph was constantly under 8.0 dipping under 7.7 at night even though I was/ am using kalkwasser. As per an article I had read, I tested my water by removing some from the tank, inserting my ph probe and agitating the water. Viola', my ph went up significantly, indicating that I had excess Co2 in my water. Increased agitation/ circulation helped, but not enough. I went so far as to run tubing to the outside of the house to draw fresh air in, connected to the air intake of the skimmer. After some research I found out about soda lime and ordered some online. I placed some into a small reactor canister connected to the air intake of the skimmer. It worked so well that I was now worried that my ph would rise too high (it did not). As one of the previous commenters correctly mentioned, the soda lime is more efficient when there is some moisture in the air. I solved this by placing a small spacer in the bottom of the canister and adding a small amount of water to that space. Enough so that it did not touch the soda lime. The only downside is that, in a 125 gal tank, It used up a gallon of soda lime per month. So cost can be an issue.AlekKoomanoff says:
Great public service to community . Totally timely. Great job , Matt PedersenJules A Birnbaum says:
Thanks for the update. Some of the things mentioned in your report will help where I live in the North East to cope with future storms. We have had some violent storms in the last few years and most of aquarists with fish rooms do not have generators. I am convinced it is Global Warming. It is a shame the topic has become so political. 95% of the scientists can't be wrong.Dave Giles says:
Wow, where can I get some of those barred rainbow fish?