Would This Reactor Work On Diy Co2?

[Dave Spencer]

In that last link, he injects the bubble whole, through the filter and still has bubbles coming out of the filter outlet. This means the impeller is pumping bubbles of CO2 gas, which will have a detrimental effect on it and could result in it needing replacing fairly often. I introduce CO2 in to the inlet of the filter on one of my tanks, but I do it via a ceramic diffuser and no bubbles reach the impeller.

If you are looking for simplicity, then buy a ceramic diffuser. I use this method in a medium light tank and get tons of pearling. If you don`t want bubbles blowing around the tank then diffuse the CO2 in to the filter outlet. If you want minimal hardware in the tank, then use a reactor.

D`Oh, I have just noticed from your original post that you are not thinking of an inline reactor. To be honest, that piece of kit will look a monstrosity in your tank. If you are thinking of spending £25 on a DIY set up, take a look at this for £26. The filter discharge coonnects to the top and discharges out the bottom. The CO2 connects at the bottom and rises up the reactor against the filter flow, and it is one less piece of kit in your tank.

Having gone through the trouble of removing the internal filter and background, it would be a shame to add a crappy looking CO2 reactor in to the tank.

Dave.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Basically any reactor needs to make the CO2 bubbles as small as possible and give them as long a time in the water as possible.

I went with just feeding the CO2 Directly into the outflow pipe from my canister and put a spiral of tubing in to mix the CO2 with the water (see link below).

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=205088

I'm not sure if this will work with a DIY system but I'm now down to slightly less then 1 bubble a second and the drop checker is still light green/yellow so I think it will.

 

[ShoC]

I was thinking something similar originally
but with a pipe put into the water for example to Gravel Vac,
with the Co2 going into that with Co2 pressure building up,
being in contact with the water untill it can blow a bubble down into foam to diffuse it,

I'll Do a bad drawing as I'm currently at work,

would this work or is it a bad idea?

the water could be maintained at a specific level by a slit into the tube but the co2 gap in the top will ensure mixture then when pressure is built diffuse through a sponge or something. and then the cycle repeats when pressure lowers... maybe its a stupid idea I don't know

A non return valve would be essential for when it looses pressure at the end of its life else the tank will empty on the floor

 

[xxBarneyxx]

I was thinking something similar originally
but with a pipe put into the water for example to Gravel Vac,
with the Co2 going into that with Co2 pressure building up,
being in contact with the water untill it can blow a bubble down into foam to diffuse it,

I'll Do a bad drawing as I'm currently at work,

would this work or is it a bad idea?

the water could be maintained at a specific level by a slit into the tube but the co2 gap in the top will ensure mixture then when pressure is built diffuse through a sponge or something. and then the cycle repeats when pressure lowers... maybe its a stupid idea I don't know

A non return valve would be essential for when it looses pressure at the end of its life else the tank will empty on the floor

I'm not sure it would build up enough pressure to counter-act the pressure of the water (a non-return valve might fix this though). This is basically a DIY diffuser which will work to a degree but you will probably find that the CO2 just build up until it "burps" out the edges and you would probably be better off using a ladder of some sort.

Ideally you want either a really good diffuser or you need something with moving parts to break up the CO2 bubbles, mix it with the water and then shoot it around the tank. The design Tom Barr came up with is basically the same as what you have there but has a power head attached to it which makes it a lot more effective.

 

[ebrcknrdg]

In that last link, he injects the bubble whole, through the filter and still has bubbles coming out of the filter outlet. This means the impeller is pumping bubbles of CO2 gas, which will have a detrimental effect on it and could result in it needing replacing fairly often. I introduce CO2 in to the inlet of the filter on one of my tanks, but I do it via a ceramic diffuser and no bubbles reach the impeller.If you are looking for simplicity, then buy a ceramic diffuser. I use this method in a medium light tank and get tons of pearling. If you don`t want bubbles blowing around the tank then diffuse the CO2 in to the filter outlet. If you want minimal hardware in the tank, then use a reactor.D`Oh, I have just noticed from your original post that you are not thinking of an inline reactor. To be honest, that piece of kit will look a monstrosity in your tank. If you are thinking of spending £25 on a DIY set up, take a look at this for £26. The filter discharge coonnects to the top and discharges out the bottom. The CO2 connects at the bottom and rises up the reactor against the filter flow, and it is one less piece of kit in your tank.Having gone through the trouble of removing the internal filter and background, it would be a shame to add a crappy looking CO2 reactor in to the tank.Dave.

I wouldnt mind an inline reactor having looked at sme done up. I d have a ceramic diffuser but the one of got does work with a 2 liter coke bottle and a nutrafin, the pressure doesnt seem to be high enoug. I was looking for oter waysof diffusing co2.Ive taken out the background but cant being myself to remove the internal filter yet

I was thinking something similar originallybut with a pipe put into the water for example to Gravel Vac,with the Co2 going into that with Co2 pressure building up,being in contact with the water untill it can blow a bubble down into foam to diffuse it,I'll Do a bad drawing as I'm currently at work,

would this work or is it a bad idea?the water could be maintained at a specific level by a slit into the tube but the co2 gap in the top will ensure mixture then when pressure is built diffuse through a sponge or something. and then the cycle repeats when pressure lowers... maybe its a stupid idea I don't knowA non return valve would be essential for when it looses pressure at the end of its life else the tank will empty on the floor

I'm not sure it would build up enough pressure to counter-act the pressure of the water (a non-return valve might fix this though). This is basically a DIY diffuser which will work to a degree but you will probably find that the CO2 just build up until it "burps" out the edges and you would probably be better off using a ladder of some sort. Ideally you want either a really good diffuser or you need something with moving parts to break up the CO2 bubbles, mix it with the water and then shoot it around the tank. The design Tom Barr came up with is basically the same as what you have there but has a power head attached to it which makes it a lot more effective.

dont think that will work, you need a pump

In that last link, he injects the bubble whole, through the filter and still has bubbles coming out of the filter outlet. This means the impeller is pumping bubbles of CO2 gas, which will have a detrimental effect on it and could result in it needing replacing fairly often. I introduce CO2 in to the inlet of the filter on one of my tanks, but I do it via a ceramic diffuser and no bubbles reach the impeller.If you are looking for simplicity, then buy a ceramic diffuser. I use this method in a medium light tank and get tons of pearling. If you don`t want bubbles blowing around the tank then diffuse the CO2 in to the filter outlet. If you want minimal hardware in the tank, then use a reactor.D`Oh, I have just noticed from your original post that you are not thinking of an inline reactor. To be honest, that piece of kit will look a monstrosity in your tank. If you are thinking of spending £25 on a DIY set up, take a look at this for £26. The filter discharge coonnects to the top and discharges out the bottom. The CO2 connects at the bottom and rises up the reactor against the filter flow, and it is one less piece of kit in your tank.Having gone through the trouble of removing the internal filter and background, it would be a shame to add a crappy looking CO2 reactor in to the tank.Dave.

In that link you sent is that an inline reactor?

 

[adam_s_101]

Im really up for making this reactor but i dont know if my 2 liter coke bottle and nutrafin will have enough pressure? Does it need pressure for it to work seeing as it has the pump attached? Not 100% how it works

scroll down to bottom of that page to see reactor

I dont think you should need any more pressure using that, than if you just had the airstone sitting in the tank. you may need a little bit more pressure but i dont think you would need that much more

 

[Dave Spencer]

Yes, it is an inline reactor. Here is a pic of the one I got from Aquamas (who no longer seem to be trading on eBay). Hopefully you can see that the filter discharges in to the top of the reactor, and exits at the bottom (clear tubing) and off in to the tank. The small pipe at the bottom of the reactor is the CO2 injection point with a built in NRV and bubble counter.

Dave.

 

[adam_s_101]

I was thinking something similar originally
but with a pipe put into the water for example to Gravel Vac,
with the Co2 going into that with Co2 pressure building up,
being in contact with the water untill it can blow a bubble down into foam to diffuse it,

I'll Do a bad drawing as I'm currently at work,

would this work or is it a bad idea?

the water could be maintained at a specific level by a slit into the tube but the co2 gap in the top will ensure mixture then when pressure is built diffuse through a sponge or something. and then the cycle repeats when pressure lowers... maybe its a stupid idea I don't know

A non return valve would be essential for when it looses pressure at the end of its life else the tank will empty on the floor

If you put a slit in the tube to maintain the level of the water, then you might aswell get rid of the foam in the end of the tube. The CO2 will just escape out the slit in the tube. The idea will diffuse a certian amount of CO2 into the water but it wont be that effective. its basically the same as bubbling the CO2 into an upturned cup (if i understand you correctly)

 

[ShoC]

i did think they might escape from the slits after i typed up =)

I love what you have Dave,
I have an eheim filter,
Can you send a link to what your using,
I can see you have a tube that the eheim goes through before the tank,
and the Co2 is bubbled into the cannister before being pushed into the tank,,
If I need a Pressurized bottle to do that I'll just buy one, instead of messing about with diy, if its easier

If You have some spare time later tonight, after I finish work as I have heard about the cannisters dumping their co2 after they get low or something,

cheers
Carl

 

[ebrcknrdg]

Yes, it is an inline reactor. Here is a pic of the one I got from Aquamas (who no longer seem to be trading on eBay). Hopefully you can see that the filter discharges in to the top of the reactor, and exits at the bottom (clear tubing) and off in to the tank. The small pipe at the bottom of the reactor is the CO2 injection point with a built in NRV and bubble counter.

Dave.

I sort of get that but where does the clear plastic tube go to? You say your tank but what does it do? I see that the co2 will b coming out of the larger clear pipe? Confused!

 

[Dave Spencer]

The filter outlet goes in to the reactor at the top. The water flows down through the reactor, out the bottom through the clear pipework and in to my tank via the spray bar. Therefore, you are discharging water with CO2 dissolved in it, in to your tank via the spray bar.

The CO2 is just entering the reactor and floating up the clear plastic tube, where it eventually becomes trapped at the top and continues to dissolve.

There are some plans for home made versions of these knocking about on the internet.

Dave.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Not sure where the input and output is on the canister filter so assuming the bottom one is the in and the top one is the out:

Canister out>top of CO2 Reactor>Bottom of the CO2 Reactor>clear plastic tube going to the tank and returning the water.

Then you have coming from the tank:
Clear Tubing> heater>input on Canister.

Edit: NM you beat me too it

 

[ebrcknrdg]

The filter outlet goes in to the reactor at the top. The water flows down through the reactor, out the bottom through the clear pipework and in to my tank via the spray bar. Therefore, you are discharging water with CO2 dissolved in it, in to your tank via the spray bar.

The CO2 is just entering the reactor and floating up the clear plastic tube, where it eventually becomes trapped at the top and continues to dissolve.

There are some plans for home made versions of these knocking about on the internet.

Dave.

ah so ill need some more of that tubing as i dont have enough of the eheim one left. Any ideas what size it is?

ggrr confused again! Ive never been technically minded. Can i just put it into the outflow of my filter or do i need extra tubing?

 

[SuperColey1]

If you have enough tubing to get to the tank from your filter outflow you should be able to cut it in the middleonnect the 2 pieces either end of the reactor as this would take the pace of 1 ft of the hose.

Andy