Reactor & Diffuser: Difference?

[DBridges]

As I prepare to start my first real effort at a planted aquarium, I'm coming across a lot of information that I don't totally understand immediately. For the most part, I feel like I've gotten a pretty decent understanding of what I need to do and have as I proceed through my research. Here's what I'll be getting for my set-up:

- 50gal. aquarium;
- Lighting fixture providing 3.1 Watts per gallon;
- 100W substrate heater;
- Eheim 2128 ProII filter with heater;
- Planning on using sand topped with a thin layer of nutrient rich substrate, then topped with fine gravel;
- Fertilizers plus pressurized CO2 injection.

That last part, CO2 injection, is what's been puzzling me for a while, but after doing a lot of research, I think I understand how it operates. CO2 from the pressure resevoir goes to the regulator, thence through a needle valve which you use to control the rate at which CO2 is added to the tank, through a bubble counter which lets you gauge how much CO2 you're adding to the tank, and then to either a reactor or a diffuser in the aquarium itself. But...

What's the difference between a reactor and a diffuser?

I understand pretty much what those two items do, but is there any real difference between them? Is it just a matter of preference that determines which you use? Or is one actually better at getting the CO2 into the water than the other?

David

 

[aaronnorth]

please dont get the substrate heater, as the advantages to plants are minimal, and i mean minimal. 98% of the tanks you see dont use substrate heaters, 1% use them in nano's for heating the water, the other 1% waste their money!

for a 50g an external/ inline reactor would be better, this fits on your external outlet pipe, so the CO2 gets distributed better around the water column.
Diffusers are better for smaller tanks as you can usually direct flow at the and blow the bubbles around the tank.

The difference being a diffuser creates tiny bubbles, as the gas is forced through a cermaic plate.

A reactor, the water is in contact for a longer time, allowing it to dissolve that way.

 

[DBridges]

for a 50g an external/ inline reactor would be better, this fits on your external outlet pipe

Can someone point me toward some examples of these types of reactors? If they are what would work best, I'd rather go with that option. I can't recall seeing one of those yet on any of the online retailers, though I may have very well overlooked them or didn't know exactly what I was looking at.

 

[Gav935]

Aquamedic 1000 is about the only one I'm aware of dude, quite pricey though...

http/www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idProduct~AQ7531.html

 

[revilo88]

could always go for something like this?

from the pictures it looks like you can mount it externally

Diffuser

 

[FishBeast]

This is one similar to mine. I have the next step up which suits 800 lt/hr

http/cgi.ebay.com.au/Multi-direction-CO2...p3286.m20.l1116