Diy Co2 Reactor B&q Style

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Hello, this is a CO2 reactor I made quite cheap with parts from B&Q, your local B&Q may be different than mine (I doubt it though) and you may be able to get better parts than this but you will get the general idea anyway.

Total cost was about €17 or about £11.50 and I have enough pipe to make another, so for about €25 (£16-17 ) you could make two of these.

The original design that didn't work too well, (too long in the picture it was cut before I glued it together) but I made it anyway and modified it later, it was noisy because it got airlocked very quickly and didn't seem to dissolve the CO2 too well, the bend in the pipe at the top didn't help here and also the CO2 injection position was too high IMO, once I changed it so the flow went straight through the pipe and lowered the CO2 injection position it worked very well and didn't get airlocked, it does get airlocked but only much later in the day, this seems to be the case with most CO2 reactors, what the airlock is, is still under debate in the various planted forums around the internet, some say its CO2 some say its a different gas, who knows.

Overall size of the reactor is 18 inches and I have it running on a 40 US gallon tank with an Eheim 2215 filter.

The idea behind this type of reactor is that the water flow enters through the top, once the water enters the chamber of your reactor it will slow down somewhat because the PVC pipe is wider than your cannister filter tubing, your CO2 bubble is injected a few inches (about 6 inches in this case) below the top of the reactor, the idea is that the bubble will want to rise to the top but your water flow will keep pushing the bubble down and therefore dissolves the CO2, basically it works on gravity and the fact that the flow has been reduced so in theory the bubble will bobble up and down in the reactor chamber, the reactor is set at about a 45 degree angle in your stand so the bubbles don't shoot straight out the bottom which would happen if you laid it flat, they stay in the chamber until there is none left to dissolve, that's the idea anyway.

These are the original pieces I made the reactor with, there are no bioballs in the reactor or any other media, there is no need, the water flow and gravity dissolve the CO2.

Reactor1.jpg


This is the piece for the top and bottom of the reactor, I used this type because it is removable to access the reactor if ever there is a problem , I drilled a hole with a holesaw set in each one to fit the hose connectors.

Reactor2.jpg


Made sure the hose connectors would fit well didn't want to make the hole to big initially, I just widened the apature a little with the sides of a pliers, just pared the hole bigger with a twisting motion until it was a tight fit for the hose connector, and then I snapped it through, there is a lip on the orange piece which stops it going through the hole completely, add solvent to this lip before you push it through.

Reactor3.jpg


These are the hose connectors, they come in two parts which screw together, got these in the garden equipment section.

Reactor5.jpg


This bit is self explanatory, once you have this bit finished the rest is easy, just use lots of solvent cement here to make the fittings watertight, the idea is to glue everything together, the hose connector will not be removable from the cap once this is done, but the cap will just screw off the pipe, so it can be removed that way. Just push the orange bit through the hole and glue everything up, use lots of glue for the edges etc, has to be watertight.

Reactor6.jpg


This is the sort of pvc cement you want to use, its like a clear sticky glue, sets in minutes but needs 24 hours to cure correctly. Any brand will do, usually sold in containers like this, brush is included in the head of the container.

Reactor7.jpg


This is the original head that didn't work too well, just showing you to avoid making it this way, looks nice but doesn't work!!

Reactor4.jpg


The offending piece removed.

Reactor8.jpg


This is the reactor now, couldn't get a better picture because I have it in use, but you get the idea, just has a 90 degree bend piece at the bottom so it can be laid down on this section, hose piping connects to it and goes straight up to the tank, I lowered the CO2 hosing down about a third of the way down the reactor, drilled a hole in the pipe and used a nipple from a hagen ladder set, glued it in with the solvent cement and connected the CO2 pipe. It looks further down in the shot bt its only about 6 inches, think this is a better way than having it up high, if the unit gets airlocked later in the day, as you inject the fresh CO2 at least its entering water and some will get dissolved that way than if you have it lower down, most designs have it higher up but don't consider this fact IMHO.

Reactor10.jpg


Anyway that's it, thought some of you may be interested, pretty easy really, cheap as well, no need for any media in the reactor either, that just cuts down the flow, one bubble per second gives me 20ppm of CO2 using this reactor so it is an efficient way to inject CO2.

Oh yeah last thing, the reactor is placed on the output side of your filter ie. the side of the filter where the water flow enters the tank.
 
will read in a minite and will probably have ago at this tommorow as my diy one leaked (£8-9 to waste :rolleyes: )

thanks for sharing
 
just read it and sounds good i will be doing it tommorow but will be changing a few things

could you list down what i would need to get please

from what i can see i need;

2 inch waste pipe
2x hose connectors
1x bend
2x end caps (what tyoe are they as the look good?)
solvent weld

thanks
chris
 
Looks good Zig, and cheap too :) Im surprised you dont need any bioballs inside? Does the water flow 'down' the reactor which the bubbles go up?

I take it is relatively easy to take apart for maintenance? And its all quite easy to seal? No leaks?

Sam
 
how about feeding the airline inside the reactor and fitting some sort of ceramic diffuser inside the reactor so your starting with smaller bubbles that will disolve quicer and so avoid airlocking?
 
just got back from buying it all came to £11.86 but i didnt get solvent weld as i still have it from my last disaster but i got 10 7mm barbed joiners (same section as the tap connectors) which where £2.48

i think im going to make it smaller (length) but wilh sponge and have the co2 coming in at the bottam

Themuleous the end cap make a 1/3 turn and open it has a o ring to stop leaks i guess and its used for waste so i guess it will be fine although ill add a little of vasaline just to make sure
 
Thanks chaps

Here's the list of parts

2xHose connectors from the gardening section

All the rest from the plumbing section

1x40mm Marley waste pipe.......my one was 2 metres, shortest one I could find and cheapest

1x40mm ST Coupling.......this bit goes on the top and basically connects the access cap to the main piping. This partis not in the picture above, this was an extra added later when I cut the old top off the main section of pipe.

2x40mm access cap........this is the top and bottom caps that I drilled and fitted the hose connectors . This comes in two pieces just check it has the rubber O ring inside it.

1x90 degree bend piece for the bottom section

Its really easy, just pick up the cheapest 40mm piping section and find the access caps and the rest of what you need will be pretty obvious to make it fit together.

Use lots of glue when making up the hose connectors, I didnt have a problem with any leaks here, where I did have to make an adjustment was when the whole thing was made up and I switched on the filter for the first time and water passed through, basically it sprung a leak where one of the caps was not connected properly, I stopped the filter running and switched the access cap to a different notch (which closes it, it will be obvious) and then there was no more leaks.

Sam thats right, the water flows down and the bubble wants to travel up because under the tank the reactor sits at a 45 degree angle, so the bubble will always want to travel up but is pushed back down by the flow of the water, in the final picture the way im holding the reactor is the way it should sit under the tank, if you lie it flat the bubble will just pass through with the flow of the water and spit out the spraybar as bubbles. The flow goes downward from the top of the reactor in that picture as well on the output side of the filter. It can be pulled apart no problem, but tbh once its setup you will have no need to remove it, but it is possible, just remove the spraybar from your tank before you ever open it up because it will act as a siphon, found that one out to my cost, water everywhere.

BigIan you could do that I suppose , you would need a way to remove the airstone or whatever type of diffuser you want to use in order to clean it, yeah I will think about that one, its so cheap that you can play around with different things like that for only a couple of extra quid, for instance I could cut the reactor in half right now, try and add some sort of diffuser and if that didnt work glue it back together again with an extra piece that probably cost about a quid or so.

If anyone can modify it to make it work better, great, its a pretty basic design.

Edit: Chr15 that was quick, I was typing when you made your reply, got distracted and then came back to it ,let us know how you get on.
 
Chris I tried the barbed joiners, didnt work to well for me, couldnt get them to glue properly, lets just say I had issues with them, thats why I tried the hagen ladder piece for the nipple, just letting you know, you might have more success than me. You can always try drilling the hole smaller and pushing the CO2 hosing through with the aid of a pliers, but it would have to be near the top or the bottom of the main section for this to work, if the hole is smaller than the CO2 hosing you wont get a leak this way.
 
Looks good, most reactors i have seen do have bioballs inside them, cant help thinking that this design may be a good benefit to it, Maybe if they were added the reactor could sit upright inside your tank stand, and the co2 hose could also be moved near the top? in doing this making the diffusion of the co2 even better?


Just my thoughts Cheers Gordon
 
had to drop my sister off at a mates house and there was a b&q about 5 mins away so went and got everything

Chris I tried the barbed joiners, didnt work to well for me, couldnt get them to glue properly, lets just say I had issues with them, thats why I tried the hagen ladder piece for the nipple, just letting you know, you might have more success than me. You can always try drilling the hole smaller and pushing the CO2 hosing through with the aid of a pliers, but it would have to be near the top or the bottom of the main section for this to work, if the hole is smaller than the CO2 hosing you wont get a leak this way.


i hope the barbed things do work as ive just glued it in place i put lots of glue on the barbed joiner (was almost driping off) a put it in and help it still for a few minites all i have to do now is glue the 90 degree bend on and the end caps

i will also try it with no media/bio balls if i find theres still co2 coming out i put abit in and see what happens
as you say easy to play about with as the end caps are removable

btw the 45 degree bend your talking about is a 90degree bend (well looks like it to me) 1st pic on the right)

chris
 
The reactor can sit upright if you want, but there is no need to do that it will just reduce the flow, it will make your filter work harder to push the water around, having the reactor at the 45 degree angle stops the bubble from flowing out the pipe and gives you the maximum flow, you wont need the bioballs either, the reactor will work fine without them, try it first of all and see for yourself, when you set it up first of all and have the water running through it just make sure to let all the air out by tipping the reactor to remove any trapped air, and then it should work fine.

Sorry Chr15 you are correct the bottom bend piece is indeed a 90 degree angle.
 
The reactor can sit upright if you want, but there is no need to do that it will just reduce the flow, it will make your filter work harder to push the water around, having the reactor at the 45 degree angle stops the bubble from flowing out the pipe and gives you the maximum flow, you wont need the bioballs either, the reactor will work fine without them, try it first of all and see for yourself, when you set it up first of all and have the water running through it just make sure to let all the air out by tipping the reactor to remove any trapped air, and then it should work fine.

Sorry Chr15 you are correct the bottom bend piece is indeed a 90 degree angle.

well its all finished and looks 10x better than my other one already

i think i went abit made on the glue and the barb connector isnt very strong either but will see

as i said will try with no media and if it dont work i will add abit of sponge

is there any reason you didnt put it on you intake?

thanks again for the wonderful tutorial

chris
 
Hi chris

To much glue is no bad thing although like I say the only place I had a leak was the actual cap area. Just dont forget to turn off the filter and remove the spraybar from the tank if you have to do any maintainence or open it up.

Its not really recommended that external reactors go on the intake side, the pvc tube will slow the flow down but your filter pump will still pump as if there was a normal flow, so it may over the long term damage the pumphead, I also imagine it would be noisey, any stray bubbles would end up in the filter and cause noise probably.

You could try it if you want but personally I dont see the advantage.

If the barb connector does not work and you need to cover the hole to try something else, cut a piece of spare pipe about an inch or so and wrap this around the existing pipe to patch it up, just make a cut in the inch or so you cut off and use it as a wrapper, done this a couple of times myself, the usual, just use lots of glue.
 
oh yes lots of glue isnt a bad thing

the reator is on the output like yours the co2 enters about 2 inches from the bottam and there is no media/bioballs in there and my reactor is sitting straight (vertical)

the barbed connector seams to have glued into place quite solid although if anything falls/hits it it might loosen it

i havent turned the co2 on yet as im waiting for all the bubbles to clear first

a pic of mine in place will be here in a sec
 

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