Diffuser For 400 Litre Tank

[dave_m13]

Hi all

I am just wondering what peoples recommendations are for Diffusers on a 400ltr tank. I have pressurised at the moment but the one I have said that its for upto 300ltr so I am using a nutrafin ladder, would this be sufficient or do I need another one?

Thanks
Dave

 

[Liam]

I guess (though I don’t have pressurised) you could use a T joint and add another line feeding another diffuser into another part of the tank, which would give more even distribution. Have you tested the ph change to see how much Co2 is getting diffused with the one ladder. If you are getting enough Co2 already then you wouldnt need to change things.

 

[JamesC]

Most off the shelf CO2 diffusers work best with small tanks. You could double up with a diffuser at each end of the tank but this will require that you have 2 needle valves. A bit problematic if you have a combined regulator and needle valve. Plenty of choice of diffusers at Aquaessentials. Depending on how much dissolved CO2 you are aiming for I think you'd be hard pressed even with 2 hagen ladders in your tank.

My personal favourite for large tanks are CO2 reactors. Two kinds, external and internal. External ones attach to the return pipe from your filter. The Aqua Medic Reactor 1000 springs to mind here. I use an internal reactor made from an algarde gravel cleaner and a Rio 600 power head. This works very well and I'm able to disslove large amounts of CO2 with ease. Only downside is they don't look too nice unless you can hide them well. Here's a picture of mine with the plants moved out the way.

Which ever method you use you will have to have good water circulation to prevent CO2 dead spots.

James

 

[dave_m13]

Thanks for the Info.

At the moment I have a PH of 7 and KH 90, so according to the CO2 calculators I have 15ppm, I always see that people aim for 25-30 so is 15 sufficient or do I need to try and add more.

I have the d&d co2 set with combined regulator and valve.

I have been looking around at the reactors on the web and there seems to be a slightly smaller one Aqua Medic CO2 Reactor 500 for tanks up to 500 Litres. Would this be ok. How do they work? I can see that you can also get one called Reactor M which is the reactor 500 with a power head. Does anyone this it would be better to get this one that pushes the CO2 around the tank.

How do these work. I have no idea, do they work the same way as a diffuser?

Ok I have just seen how the reactor works by looking at the Aqua Medic website, so I would have to attach my external filter to it.

Many Thanks
Dave

 

[Themuleous]

Yeh aim for a CO2 of 25-30. Diffuers for 600lt tanks!

Sam

 

[dave_m13]

Thanks Sam

Have you ever purchased anything from this ebayer? Working out euro to pound including delivery would cost around £25.

Would you know of anywhere in the UK that may sell them that cheap

Do they work the same way a normal diffuser works?


I work in Belgium during the week, so I am trying to locate any lfs in the area

 

[JamesC]

Thanks for posting that link Sam. That ebayer has some really nice stuff for sale. Shame we don't have the variety of equipment here for sale. Web based translator came in handy.

 

[Themuleous]

Yeh, I and several other people have got stuff from him, he's very good and normally gets the stuff through in 3 days, which is speedy considering his location. I've got a reg from him and it lives up to the reputation the Germans have for engineering, very robust and easy to work. I would however say that the CO2 tanks he sells you might have difficulty filling. Most LFS that I know of only refill JBL cylinders, so you might want to source a supplier before you get one. Although, given the cheapness of the complete CO2 systems you could always buy a separate JBL cylinder or use a fire extinguisher.

That diffusers works in a similar way to the ladder, but instead of one large bubble that gradually rises to the surface, it produces lots of small ones (farcation of mm wide) that increases the surface area massively and so increases the diffusion rate. These ceramic/glass diffusers are very very efficient and are used by many people, Amano even does his own range via the ADA product range but these are around 100quid so not for everyone!

Aquaessentails is the only place in know that does glass diffusers but don't think there is one for 400lt tanks. Guess you could split the CO2 tubing and run two diffusers.

Sam

Sam

 

[dave_m13]

Many thanks

So in your opinions do you feel that the Glass diffusers are better than Reactors or are they pretty smiliar in what they do and there effect on distributing co2 into the tank.

Looking at prices on the web, the 500 reactors are about £30 or £50 for the larger one and the Diffuser £25. I do not know what is better but personally think the diffuser would be easier to set up.

What are your opinions on this

Thanks

 

[Themuleous]

Not used a reactor, but they look bulky and unless you get an external (although these could still look daft unless you put it in a cabinet or something) an internal would take up tons of room in the tank and look ugly and stupid IMHO. So basically get a glass one, small, discrete, works great, cheaper, and even if you can see it, it'll look the part You don't even need a separate bubble counter with that diffuser I linked to as the spiral bit doubles as a bubble counter!

Have I plugged diffusers enough yet?

Sam

 

[JamesC]

It's a matter of personal taste at the end of the day. I like reactors because they work well in a large tank and need very little in the way of maintenance. Ceramic disk diffusers work very well but you need good water circulation and in a large tank that is going to be a lot of water movement. The thing that puts me off them is that they need constant cleaning to keep them efficient.

 

[dave_m13]

Ok so its going to be down to personal perferance now.

As I am away most of the week, I suppose which would be easier to maintain. As I have to clean tank, I suppose that I do not want to be maintaining the Diffuser/Reactor as well.

Which product is more efficient in getting the CO2 in to the tank, what I am trying to say is will either of them make a difference to how quickly the co2 bottle is used up.

I do have quite bit of water movement in the tank at the moment and will have more when I add a new filter to it.

Thanks
Dave

 

[Themuleous]

I suspect they are pretty much the same in terms of efficiency.

Ceramic disk diffusers work very well but you need good water circulation and in a large tank that is going to be a lot of water movement.

Just out of interest, the one in my 20 high is set right at the bottom of the tank, underneath the spray bar so is probably in the biggest 'dead stop' in the whole tank (the water goes horizontally out of the spray bar not down) so there is limited water movement over it and is works great. The thing I've noticed with large tanks is that they are taller so the bubbles have ages to dissolve as they float upwards and I've noticed that mine get so small whilst rising about 5-6inches that they get pushed around the tank by the slightest water current as they have very little buoyancy. So you don't have to have high flow.

It's a matter of personal taste at the end of the day. I like reactors because they work well in a large tank and need very little in the way of maintenance.

I just leave mine in a dilute but strong (1:10 if not less, never actually measured it!) bleach solution for about an hr and that normally cleans them right up, followed by a bit of a brush to remove any debris. And I only do that every few weeks.

Sam

 

[JamesC]

Ah, I might be wrong on this. I thought that you had to have the ceramic diffuser underneath a water outlet so that the fine bubbles travel around the tank as plants prefer gaseous CO2 rather than dissolved CO2. This method is know as 'misting' and is favoured by many top aquatic plant growers. This is why I thought misting was difficult to do on a large tank as you need a strong current to get the bubbles around the tank before they reach the surface.

 

[Themuleous]

I see you're point, but I would have thought that as long as the CO2 dissolves into the water, it'll pass round the tank anyway? And as I said, my bubbles get to the point where they are so small that they float around the tank despite not being in a very fast flow.

Sam