Co² Reactor Questions

[@ombomb]

I've just fitted one and have put it on the return part of the filter system.

Obvious pro = water cleaner

Potential con = may reduce flow

Your thoughts?

 

[Themuleous]

Should be ok. How you finding it? Am thinking of gettting one myself.

Sam

 

[JamesC]

Return side of filter is best as the water is cleaner and will prevent the reactor from clogging up.

James

 

[Gandalf-LoJ]

I've just got the aquamedic 1000 reactor and this says to put it either on it's own pump or the outlet of a canister filter.

I'll be sticking it on the outlet of an eheim 2327 however the eheim says to not put any accessories on the pipes!

ahh well, I'm sure it'd be alright

 

[@ombomb]

Should be ok. How you finding it? Am thinking of gettting one myself.

Early days, but it seems very effective. I've been getting through the CO² so quickly these days that I really had to try something new out.

 

[Spinal]

Definetly the outlet. I will reduce flow (by how much depends on your reactor), but then again, it would do so even if you put it on the inlet to your filter... the ideal would be to get a small filter or a spare pump, and use it to run your accessories (a bit of filter floss/poly-wool would be nice as it would really polish your water )
Michele

 

[@ombomb]

Now this is a really silly question...

Which way up should the reactor be?

I'd set it up vertically so that the water and the CO² were entering at the top and being pushed down through the reactor, then looping back up into the tank. The reactor however was slowly filling up with gas, which I am assuming is a sign that the flow from my filter is just not strong enough to propely dissolve the gas, even though I was only putting in around 1 bubble per second.

Have I set it up the wrong way up?

I'd ideally like to avoid buying a new filter (for obvious cost reasons) but I could by a small pump for a closed loop system...

The filter in question is an eheim classic 2213 and I could upgrade to an eheim 2236 for about £70 if that was the only way of doing it.

What do you think?

***EDIT***

For now I've turned it the other way up and reduced the bubble rate further.

 

[Gandalf-LoJ]

My one, which is the aquamedic 1000, has the water enter from the top and exit the bottom. The CO2 connector is at the top but there is an internal tube that runs to the bottom so the CO2 bubbles out and runs up inside the canister slowly dissolving as it gets trapped by the nodules. There is a vent at the top for venting excess gas too.

You can download their instructions in PDF format from their german site here; http/www.aqua-medic.de/freshwater/en/3/reactor1000/

They have a fantastic diagram on page three showing how everything connects up, which should assist even with other makes as I believe they all work in the same way.

Oh, and added bonus of this system is that the mounting clamps have holes in and they are spaced exactly the right distance apart to enable me to mount in my bubble counter I'll get some pics this evening.

 

[Underwurlde]

Has anyone else tried making a the Barr modified version of a Venturi Reactor. You have to DIY - I did and attached it to my Nutrafin CO2 Yeast Kit in my 60L.

I did have it connected to the lighting timer, but the levels only rose marginally. After having it on all the time for the last 2 days the difference is staggering: From a lowly 11-13ppm CO2 using the bubble ladder supplied, to levels now that I am seeing at 25ppm CO2 (and rising).

IMHO, you can't get better or cheaper than making one of these things. Of course the draw back is that you've got to DIY.

Andy

 

[@ombomb]

Do you have a link to that underwurld?

 

[@ombomb]

Thanks for the link Gandalf.

This is pretty much my exact set up:

Which suggests that the flow from the filter just isn't strong enough.

What do you think, new filter? seperate power head / pump? something else I've missed?

 

[Gandalf-LoJ]

separate powerhead/pump is probably the way to go with accessories. It does say in my filters instructions to not put any accessories on any pipes and to keep them the same length so the wet/dry function works correctly but I set it all up last night and it works fine.

It is a monster pump though, 1050litres an hour! The reactor I have says that is a minimum so maybe these bigger reactors need a huge flow of water to work effectively.

 

[voo]

What's number 10 for on that diagram?

 

[JamesC]

Has anyone else tried making a the Barr modified version of a Venturi Reactor.

I used one for a couple of years and it works really well. I only ditched it because I wanted as little in the tank as possible. Now use an external reactor off a German ebayer that is very good. The bubble rate I use for both is about the same which shows how good the Venturi Reactor is. External reactors do need a good strong pump to work effectively otherwise you tend to get a large build up of gas at the top. I don't think a powerhead would cut it TBH.

James

 

[Gandalf-LoJ]

What's number 10 for on that diagram?

That's the vent tap. You need that to vent off the air that is in there on initial installation and when you do water changes etc.