# CO2 Reactor UK sellers?



## LondonDragon

Anyone know if I can get one of these in the UK?









						Aquarium CO2 Reactor - 16/22mm
					

Shop our Green Leaf Aquariums Aquarium CO2 Reactor - 16/22mm. Planted aquarium boutique since 2007 & 24/7 customer support, we ship fast!




					greenleafaquariums.com
				



Cheers
Paulo


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## Krisps21

LondonDragon said:


> Anyone know if I can get one of these in the UK?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Aquarium CO2 Reactor - 16/22mm
> 
> 
> Shop our Green Leaf Aquariums Aquarium CO2 Reactor - 16/22mm. Planted aquarium boutique since 2007 & 24/7 customer support, we ship fast!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> greenleafaquariums.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Cheers
> Paulo



They sell the exact same one on Ali express.

That's the only place I've seen them 😁


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## LondonDragon

Krisps21 said:


> Ali express


Not a name I would associate with quality and reassurance that my living room would not get flooded


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## Krisps21

LondonDragon said:


> Not a name I would associate with quality and reassurance that my living room would not get flooded


I've seen them in action. I've been speaking to a guy in the states and he uses them. He says they work very well and they're the same as gla.


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## Krisps21

LondonDragon said:


> Not a name I would associate with quality and reassurance that my living room would not get flooded


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## LondonDragon

Krisps21 said:


> I've seen them in action. I've been speaking to a guy in the states and he uses them. He says they work very well and they're the same as gla.


I will consider it  many thanks for the video link


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## LondonDragon

Krisps21 said:


> They sell the exact same one on Ali express.
> 
> That's the only place I've seen them


I placed an order for one in the end  let's see how long it takes to arrive! I will post a review when I get it  thanks for the links


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## Krisps21

LondonDragon said:


> I placed an order for one in the end  let's see how long it takes to arrive! I will post a review when I get it  thanks for the links


I take no responsibility for it flooding your living room 😂


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## LondonDragon

Krisps21 said:


> I take no responsibility for it flooding your living room 😂


I will send you the bill


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## LondonDragon

Just a quick update, mine arrived on the 7th June and have been using it for a week now with great results.





easy to setup and no leaks so far, and for the first time ever I have managed to get my drop checker yellowish with a much lower bubble rate!! 

Happy days  thanks for the recommenadation @Krisps21


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## Krisps21

LondonDragon said:


> Just a quick update, mine arrived on the 7th June and have been using it for a week now with great results.
> 
> View attachment 170738
> 
> easy to setup and no leaks so far, and for the first time ever I have managed to get my drop checker yellowish with a much lower bubble rate!!
> 
> Happy days  thanks for the recommenadation @Krisps21


I'm Glad I don't owe you a new carpet then 😂

I may have to get one myself 😁


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## LondonDragon

Krisps21 said:


> I'm Glad I don't owe you a new carpet then 😂
> 
> I may have to get one myself 😁


Not yet, I do have a flood sensor next to it just in case 

Also means no more cleaning diffurors and crap! If you have the space for one (you do) I would recommend it


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## Zeus.

What was the cost plus delivery?


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## LondonDragon

Zeus. said:


> What was the cost plus delivery?


£16.75 for the reactor, £8.46 shipping, £5.05 tax (VAT and Customs) total: £30.26

From the states was $70 for reactor $65 shipping then Taxes on top of that!

Ordered this one:









						19.63￡ |Yidao Aquarium Filter External Co2 Reactor Aquarium Filter - Filters & Accessories - AliExpress
					

Smarter Shopping, Better Living!  Aliexpress.com




					www.aliexpress.com
				




Placed order on the 27th May, arrived 7th June!


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## Gerry Bryden

LondonDragon said:


> Anyone know if I can get one of these in the UK?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Aquarium CO2 Reactor - 16/22mm
> 
> 
> Shop our Green Leaf Aquariums Aquarium CO2 Reactor - 16/22mm. Planted aquarium boutique since 2007 & 24/7 customer support, we ship fast!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> greenleafaquariums.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Cheers
> Paulo


I use one of these Paulo. Co2 Reactor 1000 – Aqua Medic Direct Replace the bio ball with Siporax. Works very well.


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## Wookii

LondonDragon said:


> Just a quick update, mine arrived on the 7th June and have been using it for a week now with great results.
> 
> View attachment 170738
> 
> easy to setup and no leaks so far, and for the first time ever I have managed to get my drop checker yellowish with a much lower bubble rate!!
> 
> Happy days  thanks for the recommenadation @Krisps21



Nice! Looks a fairly well made bit of kit - any chance of a video of it working? Also, do you get much gas collection at the top, as it look likes the elbow outflow sits an inch or so below the top?

Also, how much drop off in filter flow have you noticed - my 20" filter housing reactor has a big impact on the flow on my Oase 850.


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## LondonDragon

Gerry Bryden said:


> I use one of these Paulo. Co2 Reactor 1000 – Aqua Medic Direct Replace the bio ball with Siporax. Works very well.


I have one of those also, and it's pretty crap at the rate of CO2 I need to inject!


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## LondonDragon

Wookii said:


> Nice! Looks a fairly well made bit of kit - any chance of a video of it working? Also, do you get much gas collection at the top, as it look likes the elbow outflow sits an inch or so below the top?
> 
> Also, how much drop off in filter flow have you noticed - my 20" filter housing reactor has a big impact on the flow on my Oase 850.


I did post a video on my instagram stories a couple of days back but now its gone lol see if I can upload it somewhere else!
Does build a little at the top and there is the occasional blurp but not that noticeable to be honest, from everything I tested so far this one is the best performer, but you need to clear all the air from it when you clean filter etc... best way I found was to put the reactor horizontally until all the air is out of it (careful you don't mess up the pipe work) and then put it back vertically again, so the only thing that builds up in there is then CO2 as the air won't disolve!

I have not noticed much reduction in flow, filter is quite powerful though.


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## Zeus.

LondonDragon said:


> £16.75 for the reactor, £8.46 shipping, £5.05 tax (VAT and Customs) total: £30.26
> 
> From the states was $70 for reactor $65 shipping then Taxes on top of that!
> 
> Ordered this one:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 19.63￡ |Yidao Aquarium Filter External Co2 Reactor Aquarium Filter - Filters & Accessories - AliExpress
> 
> 
> Smarter Shopping, Better Living!  Aliexpress.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.aliexpress.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Placed order on the 27th May, arrived 7th June!



Ordered two


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## Wookii

Zeus. said:


> Ordered two


Ditto 😂

I'll wait for you to figure out how to DIY an air purge on the top! 😜


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## LondonDragon

Wookii said:


> I'll wait for you to figure out how to DIY an air purge on the top!


There is an article at the Barr Report about adding dual venturi to the CO2 reactors! Maybe that can be modded into this one! 









						Dual venturi DIY External CO2 reactor
					

This unit cost about 20$ due to using Clear PVC housing, you can use solid 2" pipe if you wish.  You can find all the parts at any Orchard Supply Hardware or Home Depot.  Two: 2" slip to 1/2 threaded bushing  Two: threaded 90 elbow 1/2" barbed About 10 Bioballs if desired 12" of rigid...




					barrreport.com


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## Wookii

LondonDragon said:


> There is an article at the Barr Report about adding dual venturi to the CO2 reactors! Maybe that can be modded into this one!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dual venturi DIY External CO2 reactor
> 
> 
> This unit cost about 20$ due to using Clear PVC housing, you can use solid 2" pipe if you wish.  You can find all the parts at any Orchard Supply Hardware or Home Depot.  Two: 2" slip to 1/2 threaded bushing  Two: threaded 90 elbow 1/2" barbed About 10 Bioballs if desired 12" of rigid...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> barrreport.com



So am I understanding this correctly - the gas build up escapes out of the tube at the top, and re-enters the reactor inlet pipe further up?


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## LondonDragon

Wookii said:


> So am I understanding this correctly - the gas build up escapes out of the tube at the top, and re-enters the reactor inlet pipe further up?


That's the idea, you create a loop so that the water pressure then brings it back down into the reactor until it's dissolved and prevents the bubble build up! How well that works, no idea!


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## Wookii

LondonDragon said:


> That's the idea, you create a loop so that the water pressure then brings it back down into the reactor until it's dissolved and prevents the bubble build up! How well that works, no idea!



It might also be worth adding a length of rigid tube to the CO2 inlet inside the reactor, so the bubbles are released near the bottom of the reactor rather than the top (I can't see one in the images, so assume it doesn't come with one?).


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## LondonDragon

Wookii said:


> It might also be worth adding a length of rigid tube to the CO2 inlet inside the reactor, so the bubbles are released near the bottom of the reactor rather than the top (I can't see one in the images, so assume it doesn't come with one?).


I did think of that, I did not have anything suitable at the time to do that, I just wanted to extend it as far as the water inlet, so the flow would hit the bubble head on and break it against the cylinder into smaller bubbles straight away!

Some smaller CO2 bubbles still escape the reactor at times into the tank.


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## Zeus.

Wookii said:


> Ditto 😂
> 
> I'll wait for you to figure out how to DIY an air purge on the top! 😜



My purge will be similar to the one I had on my APS EF2 reactors - just undo the pipe fitting a bit . The collected air soon goes anyway.

Plus thinking using the CO2 inlet for the feed for the Pre reactor venturi, so a 'T' off that could be used the release air also. Was going to have the CO2 going into same tubing also.


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## LondonDragon

Zeus. said:


> My purge will be similar to the one I had on my APS EF2 reactors - just undo the pipe fitting a bit . The collected air soon goes anyway.
> 
> Plus thinking using the CO2 inlet for the feed for the Pre reactor venturi, so a 'T' off that could be used the release air also. Was going to have the CO2 going into same tubing also.


Need to see how you do this


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## LondonDragon

This was the first test I did:



Been running for just over a week now.


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## Wookii

LondonDragon said:


> This was the first test I did:
> 
> 
> 
> Been running for just over a week now.




Looks like the vortex created in the middle is holding the larger bubbles in suspension well - I'm wondering how it would cope at a higher injection rate though.


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## LondonDragon

Wookii said:


> Looks like the vortex created in the middle is holding the larger bubbles in suspension well - I'm wondering how it would cope at a higher injection rate though.


injection rate is much higher now, cannot even count the bubbles, I will do a new video at the weekend with the unit working as normal now!


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## Wookii

LondonDragon said:


> injection rate is much higher now, cannot even count the bubbles, I will do a new video at the weekend with the unit working as normal now!



Cool, cheers Paulo - try and get the camera looking up to where the gas is coming in and the inlet hitting it 👍


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## LondonDragon

After increasing the CO2 a little more it has become a little noise now as a larger bubble seems to be building up so not disolving the CO2 quick enough, have to wait for @Zeus.  venturi solution


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## Deano3

Hi paulo hows things, just wondering how the the reactor is going ? Inam really fancying one soon as hate the mist from the inline diffusers.

Anyone else using them and as mentioned earlier how much flow is lost or does it depend on the reactor ? Also can it not be placed on the inlet as bubbles so small.

Also agree with above a lot more seem to be using them on YouTube, seen yesterday mj aquascaping using on on his new tank.

Thanks dean

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk


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## LondonDragon

Deano3 said:


> Hi paulo hows things, just wondering how the the reactor is going ? Inam really fancying one soon as hate the mist from the inline diffusers.


I added a little tube inside the reactor, so the bubbles drop a little further down rather than build up at the top and since then I haven't had any more noise in the reactor, so that seems to be doing the trick. It's nice to finally have consistent CO2 in my tank without having to clean diffusers every week, my tank has never pearled so much every day, and all my algae issues have disappeared just by changing to the reactor (since I haven't done a water change in two weeks, will do one tomorrow).


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## Deano3

LondonDragon said:


> I added a little tube inside the reactor, so the bubbles drop a little further down rather than build up at the top and since then I haven't had any more noise in the reactor, so that seems to be doing the trick. It's nice to finally have consistent CO2 in my tank without having to clean diffusers every week, my tank has never pearled so much every day, and all my algae issues have disappeared just by changing to the reactor (since I haven't done a water change in two weeks, will do one tomorrow).


I think i am going to order one of them, sounds great, i have seen a few vids on YouTube with same reactor, they angled the flow straight into the co2 inlet and seemed to work well, only thing i am worried about is reducing the flow.

I currently have the oase 600 buy want to upgrade soon to the lager 850 when i rescape buy reactors seem to be getting popular due to no mist in the tank also they seem to do a better job of dissolving the co2 into the water column, any pics of it attatched inside the cabinet mate ? 

I was origionally thinking could it not be on the inlet side but i know know needs the strong flow to break againt the co2 bubbles entering the reactor

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk


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## Deano3

If ordered one of these now  lookomg.forward to it arriving then if flow no good maybe add a 2nd smaller filter or upgrade mine when rescape 

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk


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## LondonDragon

Deano3 said:


> If ordered one of these now  lookomg.forward to it arriving then if flow no good maybe add a 2nd smaller filter or upgrade mine when rescape


Didn't notice a flow reduction per se, hard to tell at times, but my filter is rated at 1850lph anyway!


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## dcurzon

Arrived yesterday, couldn't sleep so installed in the early hours, into the juwel Rio 125 with eheim classic 350 12/16 pipework and DIY spraybar.

No modifications to the reactor, and the co2 entry inside was already lined up with the flow into the reactor.  Doesn't seem to be making any additional noise to what the filter makes already. No noticeable flow reduction.

I have a slight leak on the pipe (filter out to reactor in) but I believe that's down to the crappy piece of pipe I've had to use.  I'll source a length of better 12/16 later today or tomorrow.

Co2 comes on at 9am, lights on 12:00... I'll see what the dropchecker has to say


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## dcurzon

LondonDragon said:


> I added a little tube inside the reactor, so the bubbles drop a little further down rather than build up at the top and since then I haven't had any more noise in the reactor, so that seems to be doing the trick. It's nice to finally have consistent CO2 in my tank without having to clean diffusers every week, my tank has never pearled so much every day, and all my algae issues have disappeared just by changing to the reactor (since I haven't done a water change in two weeks, will do one tomorrow).


What size tube did you need to use?  I'm not seeing any bubbles inside the reactor so would like to add a down tube just for that visual verification.
Thanks

EDIT: I found I drinking straw that fitted nicely.  Unfortunately, with a pice of straw in place, I couldn't bleed the air out so I've reverted back to no co2 tube inside the reactor.


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## dcurzon

Well after all that... the solenoid failed on my regulator.  Have another one ordered but probably won't arrive until after the weekend. 
In the meantime, I realised that I have sugar and yeast available, so I made a quick diy co2 generator and have hooked that up to the Chinese reactor.


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## LondonDragon

dcurzon said:


> EDIT: I found I drinking straw that fitted nicely. Unfortunately, with a pice of straw in place, I couldn't bleed the air out so I've reverted back to no co2 tube inside the reactor.


I had something lying around that fitted, not sure what it was from. but I have notice that the bubbles no longer come out the bottom of the tube but rather escape to the sides of it at the top, I used a very smaller diameter tube, but since that forces out much smaller bubbles now, it seems to work even better lol so I am leaving it like that at the moment. (sorry late reply)


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## Courtneybst

@LondonDragon  Was it easy to setup? I'm thinking to get one but I have no idea how and can't see any videos on YouTube, unless I'm searching for the wrong thing?


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## LondonDragon

Courtneybst said:


> @LondonDragon  Was it easy to setup? I'm thinking to get one but I have no idea how and can't see any videos on YouTube, unless I'm searching for the wrong thing?


There isn't much to it to be honest, for the first time ever I don't have any CO2 problems in my tank, pearling every day, no more cleaning of diffusers either. I did notice a reduction in flow but my filter is rated at 1850lph so not much to be honest, not sure how it will affect slower filters or how efficient it will be on slower flows.

There is a video on post #5   CO2 Reactor UK sellers?

Oh yeah, and no more algae!!


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## dcurzon

With my quick improv sugar/yeast co2 going into the reactor, I'm getting a pale green d/c, despite not being able to see any bubbles in the reactor.

To purge the air out, just remove the co2 pipe and the air starts getting pushed out of the co2 inlet. You can control how quickly that happens but screwing in or out the valve  Once done (IE water starts coming out),  screw in the valve, then reattach co2 pipe. Then open the valve again.


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## Zeus.

Mine turned up today




They seem a flimsy, but should be fine, will have a play with them soon.


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## LondonDragon

Mine is turning green, will need a clean soon, but CO2 has been perfect since I have been using it, no algae in sight now for the first time ever


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## Zeus.

LondonDragon said:


> Mine is turning green, will need a clean soon



I did clean my APS EF2 a couple of times and they was pretty clean when I did them, so stopped doing them for over 18 months and when I took them off when I moved they was still well acceptable, the dirtiest thing was the hoses inside.


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## Zeus.

Fitted them this afternoon, mainly for water leak test, no CO2 on them yet as still need to sort parts for venturi,

Made two vids of them running from first fill to show the flow though them with FX6 with and without bypass, second vid show the swirl they create that I have been after after seeing @foxfish CO2 reactor vid. Thought folks might find them insightful.


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## LondonDragon

Nice videos mate  at least you got round to making some, I have been way too lazy!! get some CO2 in there and with that amount of flow you won't need any venturi's!


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## Zeus.

LondonDragon said:


> at least you got round to making some, I have been way too lazy!!



I've finally mastered the uploading to YouTube- Take vid on phone- lets vid sync to Chromes photos, download them to directory, open YouTube -create vid- select file to upload- YouTube does the rest, just select make them public and tick 'suitable for kids'. As for editing them and making them look better I just go with the first take as it is, just need to try and move phone slowly when taking them. Then when you watch them don't judge the sound of your own voice as it never sounds good 😂.



LondonDragon said:


> get some CO2 in there and with that amount of flow you won't need any venturi's!


 Might do, not after running tank with CO2 yet as its fairly stable as low tech, need to make a new solid base with brick walls as that room can flood when the river comes up, plus the floor isn't level anyway.


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## LondonDragon

Zeus. said:


> I've finally mastered the uploading to YouTube- Take vid on phone- lets vid sync to Chromes photos, download them to directory, open YouTube -create vid- select file to upload- YouTube does the rest, just select make them public and tick 'suitable for kids'. As for editing them and making them look better I just go with the first take as it is, just need to try and move phone slowly when taking them. Then when you watch them don't judge the sound of your own voice as it never sounds good 😂.


You can upload to Youtube straight from the phone using the Youtube App  much easier if no editing needed, thats what I do!


Zeus. said:


> Might do, not after running tank with CO2 yet as its fairly stable as low tech, need to make a new solid base with brick walls as that room can flood when the river comes up, plus the floor isn't level anyway.


sounds like it will be a while then  if mine floods (4th floor) then the whole of the country is in trouble!


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## Zeus.

LondonDragon said:


> Youtube App  much easier if no editing needed, thats what I do!



Hate using phone for doing stuff, much prefer PC/Laptop with keyboard and mouse, even prefer them for 'Whatsapp'


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## foxfish

I am an iPad man when it come to editing YouTube….. by the by if you click safe for children it auto shuts off comments on YouTube which you may not want


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## Wookii

LondonDragon said:


> Nice videos mate  at least you got round to making some, I have been way too lazy!! get some CO2 in there and with that amount of flow you won't need any venturi's!



Got my two units last week - I reckon a venturi or something will still be required, as there such a large cavity between the top lid and the inlet. Either that, or I did wonder about cutting/sanding down the inlet spigot on the lid so you can push the clear input elbow tight up to the underside surface of the lid.

Or I wondered if you could inject the CO2 somewhere else (like the inlet hose) and use the CO2 inlet on the reactor as the venturi, with a piece of tubing inside, looping up to the surface of the lid?



LondonDragon said:


> You can upload to Youtube straight from the phone using the Youtube App  much easier if no editing needed, thats what I do!



That's what I do, it's fairly straight forward, even for a video-phobe like me! lol


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## Zeus.

Wookii said:


> I wondered if you could inject the CO2 somewhere else (like the inlet hose) and use the CO2 inlet on the reactor as the venturi,



I plan to have the twin CO2 going straight into the Venturi CO2 feed, cant see a good reason why it would not work!





Single venturi for both CO2 reactors so both will be working when one or both CO2 injection is on.


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## Wookii

Zeus. said:


> I plan to have the twin CO2 going straight into the Venturi CO2 feed, cant see a good reason why it would not work!
> 
> View attachment 172404
> 
> Single venturi for both CO2 reactors so both will be working when one or both CO2 injection is on.



I guess you'd have to try it to be sure, but I'd wonder is the pressure from the gas inlet would stop the venturi from drawing the gas out of the reactor?

Why not just use something like this further up the hose to inject the CO2?:


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## Zeus.

Wookii said:


> but I'd wonder is the pressure from the gas inlet would stop the venturi from drawing the gas out of the reactor?



Once the CO2 enters the tubing they will be at the same pressure, adding another inlet further on piping will only give the CO2 one extra journey in the pipework to the reactor, whereas the venturi has the CO2 constantly circulating until it is all dissolved, so I don't think an extra inlet will make much if any difference, plus more joints more chances of leaks and cost.
connectors for the CO2 tubing is cheap and easy one four way junction, one tee will be all that I need and the bespoke venturi


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## Wookii

Zeus. said:


> Once the CO2 enters the tubing they will be at the same pressure, adding another inlet further on piping will only give the CO2 one extra journey in the pipework to the reactor, whereas the venturi has the CO2 constantly circulating until it is all dissolved, so I don't think an extra inlet will make much if any difference, plus more joints more chances of leaks and cost.
> connectors for the CO2 tubing is cheap and easy one four way junction, one tee will be all that I need and the bespoke venturi
> View attachment 172412



Fair enough - can you post here when you have it working. Keen to see it in action 👍🏻


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## Zeus.

Got round to making my venturi, lucky for my @Andrew Butler gave me loads of fittings (many thanks again Andrew) which did the trick 1/2 bit of tubing and fittings from 1/2 inch thread to 20mm connectors drilled a 6.5mm hole and a dab of solvent cement.





Think the 6mm push fit adaptor will work well, filed a little chamfer to one side of adaptor/venturi inlet












Need a few 25mm fittings and should be good to go


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## foxfish

Looks good.
You could just drill a 4.5mm hole and pull some 6mm silicone tube through the hole?

You used to be able to buy very neat 1/2” 3/4 and 1” venturies from the big marine stores, they had been optimised with cone shaped waist, made from injection moulding, complete with screw end fittings.
Another way as I remember is to heat a piece of pipe and stretch it out so the middle part contracts into a lovely taper Edit I found a picture ….


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## Zeus.

Have also ordered 3/4" Irrigation Venturi Fertilizer Mixer Injectors £5 




worth a try also but not sure how good flow will be


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## foxfish

That looks very good!


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## LondonDragon

I upped the CO2 a little bit and it started build up a little and be a little noisy, will be interested on the best way to create a venturi on standard filter pipe.
Will I need to drill any extra holes into the reactor? as the CO2 seems to build up a little higher than the CO2 input. cheers


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## Zeus.

LondonDragon said:


> Will I need to drill any extra holes into the reactor?



Should get my parts this week, so should be able to see if using the input CO2 port on the reactor for the feed for the venturi and CO2 from the CO2 reg works. Personally I cant see why we need two ports ( one for CO2 from reg and another for feed for venturi). So I would hold off a little - will post if it works or if it doesn't.




With my present attempts the venturi hasnt worked ( sorry haven't updated pic above yet), but I think the back pressure from my heaters may be causing a minor issue or attempts at a DIY venturi failed, think its the later and think the off the self venturi should be fine (and cheaper, ordered the wrong size first time 😅)


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## Zeus.

Just a quick update as busy, but 1/2" 3/4" 1" Irrigation Venturi Fertilizer Mixer Injectors Garden Water Tube ~BX is working as a venturi and with the CO2 injection from the same tube , almost a little too good as it was quite noisy, did have the needle valves fully open all the same. Will fine tune and post soon


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## Wookii

Zeus. said:


> Just a quick update as busy, but 1/2" 3/4" 1" Irrigation Venturi Fertilizer Mixer Injectors Garden Water Tube ~BX is working as a venturi and with the CO2 injection from the same tube , almost a little too good as it was quite noisy, did have the needle valves fully open all the same. Will fine tune and post soon



Would like to see a video of it working along with the reactors if you have time Karl. 👍

Edit: Also, do you have a link to the matching 3/4" BSP female to 16/20 hose connectors?


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## Zeus.

Wookii said:


> Also, do you have a link to the matching 3/4" BSP female to 16/20 hose connectors?



Should I come round and fit it as well 🤣

Have got half the vid done but need to test it a bit as well, digging drains ATM


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## Wookii

Zeus. said:


> Should I come round and fit it as well 🤣



Yeah, if you could clean the car and mow the lawn too, that'd be great! 😜



Zeus. said:


> Have got half the vid done but need to test it a bit as well, digging drains ATM



Pull yer finger out!


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## Zeus.

Bench test Vid - sorry about holding phone wrong way 


Still not had time to test further on tank also


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## Wookii

Zeus. said:


> View attachment 173815
> Bench test Vid - sorry about holding phone wrong way
> 
> 
> Still not had time to test further on tank also




Was kind of waiting for you to start playing it like a didgeridoo! 😂 . . . but at least it worked as a proof of concept - looking forward to seeing it working installed and the properly working reactors 👍🏻


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## Zeus.




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## John q

That's an impressive set up you've got there zeus, I'm especially envious of that bank of sockets. 😀


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## Zeus.

John q said:


> That's an impressive set up you've got there zeus, I'm especially envious of that bank of sockets. 😀


Thank you , the real beauty off them is they all work on a timer as well via PLC, plus with @ian_m 'TankyMyTank' software design adjusting times as a dream as you change the on/off time and everything else adjusts to suit.


----------



## Zeus.

Little update and a bubble counter mod which demonstrates how well its working


----------



## foxfish

Great stuff mate, I did not realise that was your plan at all!
I thought you were going to inject the main  gas feed into the Venturi and just return any gas build up into the main flow just before the Venturi device.
That is how I have done it before, I found  that a simple loop of airline from the top of the reactor back in to the flow just befor the Venturi has worked without Venturi suction assistance, as the pressure increases the gas is simple forced out, you just need to be conscious of angle of returns.
Not to say that would work in your case as my systems are more based on a vortex .
I am in hospital with limited internet and not paper but if I can, I will post a basic pic of what I mean….


----------



## Zeus.

foxfish said:


> I will post a basic pic of what I mean….


Sounds great M8- no rush


foxfish said:


> I am in hospital with limited internet


Nothing serious for you, family and friends I hope 😬


----------



## foxfish

Yeah pretty serious, I have had my left kidney removed via robotic surgery.
That was four days ago and I am due to fly back home tomorrow evening from Southampton.
I feel like I have been hit by a train but there are many worse off folk in the ward around me and the surgery went as  planed so it could be a lot worse!


----------



## Zeus.

foxfish said:


> Yeah pretty serious, I have had my left kidney removed via robotic surgery.
> That was four days ago and I am due to fly back home tomorrow evening from Southampton.
> I feel like I have been hit by a train but there are many worse off folk in the ward around me and the surgery went as  planed so it could be a lot worse!


, really sorry to hear than M8, getting out of hospital is always a good sign. Hope you have swift recovery to the new 'normal'.
Had Bacterial Meningitis in Egypt a few years back, wife went back to hotel on first night not knowing if I would still be alive in morning, I was well out of it, few days a later I was up and about. Having a close call changes your perspective on life big time.


----------



## Zeus.

Just had a close call with the [CO2], was thinking it would take 20 - 30 mins to get 1.0pH drop, had to step in at 10 mins as it had already got 1.0pH drop and turn the flow off though the reactors and CO2 off as well, pH kept dropping, lights was on and fish gasping at surface, kept dropping till about 1.6pH drop, all fish have settled down and waiting for [CO2] to drop more ATM.

But the other side is it as shows how well the venturi is working recirculating the CO2, just need to turn down the twin injection a bit


----------



## foxfish

No 1 is something I have done, no 2 would be miles better but I dont know if it would work?


----------



## MrClockOff

@foxfish wishing you a swift recovery ❤️‍🩹 

To all of you just wanted to ask if reactor gets a good water flow and slow CO2 injection (say it’s relatively small fish tank like up to 20g) would the undissolved CO2 still build up inside the reactor? Is Venturi line more common on larger tanks where injection rate is insane?


----------



## foxfish

It is probably easier to set up a small tank and get a good even flow but in every case you need to think about the equipment and match it to the tank.
Generally speaking you will get more issues with a small reactor on a large tank than a large reactor on a small tank but some of  us just like to mess around and do things for fun as much as do things the easy way.


----------



## Zeus.

foxfish said:


> No 1 is something I have done, no 2 would be miles better but I dont know if it would work?


No 2 the recirculation will be going to the highest pressure before the venturi IMO 😬

No 1 why did you have the CO2 injection/feed from rg entering at venturi ? I would of thought there is no need as this CO2 is at pressure (or will be given a little time)

I am trying to do it with the minimum of ports for recirculation and injection





Its working well as injected CO2 is going though venturi and it is also recirculating well - well almost too well, can be a be noisy when CO2 and water is recirculated at times, been playing with needle valves on these reactors also.

Might work better with just one reactor also 🤷‍♂️


----------



## Wookii

Sorry to hear of your health issues @foxfish I hope you make a speedy recovery from the surgery.

Does the venturi not dissolve the CO2 bubbles faster than a simple recirculating inlet? My understanding of the physics is GSCE grade at best, but I have a vague recollection there was something about the change in pressure immediately after the venturi that forces gas into solution faster than standard inlet. Whether that is still the case on a small relatively low pressure set-up like this I'm not sure.


----------



## foxfish

Thanks for the positive vibes, I have to deal with a six week recovery including the next 10 day of doing virtually nothing!
I have always enjoyed making reactors, I absolutely loved messing with protein skimmers but I only have one low tech tank running nowadays so my reactors days may be over… not to say I dont enjoy watching you guys doing your thing 
I will be more able to participate  in conversion in a couple of days when I am back home.


----------



## Zeus.

Took one reactor out and see how it goes after all its dealing with 350litres not the 500L when full, plus with one reactor will be easier as no need to balance the recirculating CO2


----------



## Wookii

Zeus. said:


> Took one reactor out and see how it goes after all its dealing with 350litres not the 500L when full, plus with one reactor will be easier as no need to balance the recirculating CO2
> 
> View attachment 174003



Do you literally get no bubbles free floating in the vortex inside the reactor then? I has assumed with all that water flow there'd be a little spiralling whirlpool of bubbles all the way down the reactor.

Also, have you modified then gas outlet on the inside of the reactor with any tubing to reach right to the top of the reactor?


----------



## Zeus.

Wookii said:


> Do you literally get no bubbles free floating in the vortex inside the reactor then?


I did when I used then as designed but when I had the two attached and venturi working the flow wasn't enough to create a vortex, how ever this morning after removing one reactor after fitting the vertex returned as one reactor was getting all the flow.


Wookii said:


> have you modified then gas outlet on the inside of the reactor


No mods done to the reactor at all, which is a plus-plus IMO. Done little vid so you/folk can see the inside of reactor


----------



## Wookii

Ah ok, I was planning on adding a little U-shaped bit of tubing to the inside of the reactor, on the output to the venturi, so that the gas pocket inside is sucked out almost completely, as there must be a good half inch of gas left otherwise.


----------



## Zeus.

Wookii said:


> Ah ok, I was planning on adding a little U-shaped bit of tubing to the inside of the reactor, on the output to the venturi, so that the gas pocket inside is sucked out almost completely, as there must be a good half inch of gas left otherwise.



@Hanuman when he did his reactor did a lot of reading around, he found the advice from Barr Report was to have a pocket of CO2 at the top of the reactor as they worked better, maybe this creates more pressure on the CO2 in side the reactor and gets the CO2 going to the DIY venturi better ? With the Ebay venturi I got there is no issue with the suction from the venturi at all except maybe too good. Plus the E Bay venturi is cheaper than making your own


----------



## dw1305

Hi all, 


Wookii said:


> but I have a vague recollection there was something about the change in pressure immediately after the venturi that forces gas into solution faster than standard inlet.


I think gases will be more soluble at higher pressure, so the venturi itself will lower solubility (although I'd guess not significantly), but you would have more gas in solution.......... I'll stop there because I realise I'm well out of my depth.

cheers Darrel


----------



## Zeus.

There will be a pay off between surface area of CO2 in contact with water, pressure of water and also water flow near the surface area, as in the later CO2 diffuses 10,000 times (Ten Thousand) slower in water than air, so the higher the flow/turbulence at the water/air interface the flow/turbulence will help maintain a better diffusion gradient. IMO thats why @foxfish reactor worked so well with the 'Vortex of Death'


----------



## Zeus.

Its a bit noisy ATM, but vortex is bad at all

Just done another mod which has resolved the noise, will post vid as soon as its ready


----------



## Zeus.

Spot the leak 😬


further mod and no leak and less noise


----------



## Hanuman

Zeus. said:


> @Hanuman when he did his reactor did a lot of reading around, he found the advice from Barr Report was to have a pocket of CO2 at the top of the reactor as they worked better, maybe this creates more pressure on the CO2 in side the reactor and gets the CO2 going to the DIY venturi better ?


The pocket of gas accumulating is just a by-product of the CO2 and other gases not being able to dissolve fast enough in the water. Now, to improve dissolution I figured that it would be best to have a conical shaped top which would force CO2 to constantly force its way against the incoming water. Having a flat top made some of the gases stagnate at the top uselessly. That was the primary purpose, it was not to have the ventury work better. In fact in a highly efficient reactor you would hardly need a ventury port. Reality is that I hardly see much of Co2 accumulating at the top although the Co2 injection rate is quite high. I can't count the bubbles. It's a constant flow. Whatever accumulates ends up being dissolved after the CO2 has been switched off. And I see no significant flow variation between Co2 on and off, because that's actually the only purpose of having a ventury port. To prevent back pressure and consequently water flow slowing down.


----------



## Hanuman

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I think gases will be more soluble at higher pressure, so the venturi itself will lower solubility (although I'd guess not significantly), but you would have more gas in solution.......... I'll stop there because I realise I'm well out of my depth.
> 
> cheers Darrel


I think you are right. My new designed has a conical shaped top and I am injecting CO2 as a higher rate than before, yet I am seeing less CO2 accumulating at the top vs when my reactor has a flat top.

I am note sure of this but I think water temperature also plays a role in CO2 solubility so at identical CO2 and water rates, any given reactor could have more or less CO2 accumulating at the top. I could be wrong.


----------



## dw1305

Hi all,


Hanuman said:


> I am note sure of this but I think water temperature also plays a role in CO2 solubility so at identical CO2 and water rates, any given reactor could have more or less CO2 accumulating at the top. I could be wrong.


No, you are right. All gases are less soluble <"as the temperature rises">.

cheers Darrel


----------



## Zeus.

Hanuman said:


> In fact in a highly efficient reactor you would hardly need a ventury port.



Agree 100%

Without an air/CO2 pocket there would be no need of a venturi.
Venturi is just a means of increasing the surface area the gas has to diffuse though.


----------



## Hanuman

Zeus. said:


> Without an air/CO2 pocket there would be no need of a venturi.


Indeed. The thing is that even if the pocket remains small you don't actually need a ventury port. I would say it would only be useful if you have large amount of CO2 accumulating.



Zeus. said:


> Venturi is just a means of increasing the surface area the gas has to diffuse though.


My understanding is that Tom Barr's initial intention was nothing more than just releasing the back pressure as it would only kick in once accumulation at the top of the reactor happens at a certain depth and by the second half part of the day. The way you are using the venturi port is different as it looks like you are basically injecting CO2 straight to the venturi bar and any CO2 that would accumulate in the reactor would then be sent back to the venturi bar.

Have you tried without the venturi to see how efficient your reactor is and if there is was any CO2 accumulating throughout the day? If no accumulation happens or very minimal then I would think a venturi is redundant. In my case, my venturi was home made and is in fact quite weak. I am in fact considering removing it as it introduces complexity and a potential point of failure. I recently noticed some of the epoxy delaminating and I am concerned a leak could soon appear.


----------



## Zeus.

Hanuman said:


> The way you are using the venturi port is different as it looks like you are basically injecting CO2 straight to the venturi bar and any CO2 that would accumulates in the reactor would be then sent back to the venturi bar.


Correct 



Hanuman said:


> I would say it would only be useful if you have large amount of CO2 accumulating.



Which is what I had with the APS EF2


Hanuman said:


> Have you tried without the venturi to see how efficient your reactor is and if there is was any CO2 accumulating throughout the day?


Not yet but have planned to try it 



Hanuman said:


> a potential point of failure.



Yes, if not needed, better with fewer joints.

It wouldn't surprise me to find below a certain size tank which will be pH drop/light/flow dependant there wasn't any benefit for using a venturi. If the CO2 reactor creates enough turbulence/vortex etc that will be enough and simply things


----------



## Hanuman

Zeus. said:


> APS EF2


What is this?


----------



## Zeus.

Hanuman said:


> What is this?


My mistake APS EF2 ( All Pond Solutions - External Filter 2)





Did blow the lid off a couple of times when filling tank and not isolating then first 🤣, but apart from that they worked well for me, same the bottom wasn't clear


----------



## Hanuman

That's actually a rebranded Sun Sun 603B filter. First pre-filter I ever bought. It leaked. Bought a second one. Also leaked 😅. Since then only bought proper brands.


----------



## Zeus.

foxfish said:


> No 1 is something I have done, no 2 would be miles better but I dont know if it would work?





Tried method 2 and was it was very noisy, didnt bother to see how well it worked as the noise was unacceptable IMO. Think the niose was due to the CO2 bubbles being at high pressure then expanding in the area of low pressure in the venturi.
Vid of noise below


----------



## Hanuman

Me says that venturi of yours is simply overkill/overpowered for the intended purpose. That venturi is for mixing fertilizer in an irrigation system. You would need to either use that venturi to simply take care of the CO2 accumulation at a certain depth OR use a weaker venturi to reduce the noise.


----------



## Zeus.

Hanuman said:


> Me says that venturi of yours is simply overkill/overpowered for the intended purpose. That venturi is for mixing fertilizer in an irrigation system. You would need to either use that venturi to simply take care of the CO2 accumulation at a certain depth OR use a weaker venturi to reduce the noise.


The noise in Vid was when the CO2 was injected before the venturi, when injected CO2 and the recirculated CO2 use the same port on the venturi it isnt an issue at lower flow rates and just use the needle valve on the Vidao CO2 reactor to regulate the recirculation of CO2, seems to work well. I am getting a CO2 pocket build up about 100mm, so have ordered another venturi and will have twin venturi/reactors and try cross over feeds.
Trying to get them as quiet as my APS EF2 was which you couldn't hear at all, except when the CO2 came on at first and the atomisers use to make a 'pop' when clearing the water.


----------



## Hanuman

Zeus. said:


> I am getting a CO2 pocket build up about 100mm, so have ordered another venturi and will have twin venturi/reactors and try cross over feeds.


🤯 - looks complicated. How many liters is your tank again?


----------



## foxfish

Excellent work Zeus, keep up the good work and experimenting.
Of course some reactors rely on a build up of gas in the chamber to operate as they are designed to do but I dont like that idear on a C02 reactor.
If you could achieve that vortex cyclone effect it might solve that build up, my main concerns are about the amount of flow restriction the Venturi is causing, I wonder if a 25mm version might be worth trying ?


----------



## Hanuman

foxfish said:


> If you could achieve that vortex cyclone effect it might solve that build up


That would be difficult with that reactor he has because the top of the reactor is recessed compared to where the water arrives and so there will always be a pool of CO2 at the top. I think he would need to mod the top for all that CO2 to properly be mixed.
That's exactly why I did a new reactor with a conical shape top which basically does the same thing as a vortex which is to increase contact time between water and CO2. I have shut down the venturi port for the past 2 days and so far each time I open the venturi valve late afternoon before CO2 shutdown, I see no CO2 being sucked which tells me that no real accumulation happens. My CO2 flow is pretty high with a 1.2PH drop.



foxfish said:


> my main concerns are about the amount of flow restriction the Venturi is causing


Exactly my concern as well. In fact if I was Zeus I would have done a reactor with a jumbo 20 inch water filter instead of 2 reactors which will reduce flow with all the piping and fittings etc.


----------



## Hanuman

@Zeus. Also something you might want to consider is to have the CO2 reactor in a separate loop from the filter by using a small pump. If I had the space that's what I would do. Most plant growers I know have it set it up this way as it allow better control and also preserves your filter flow.


----------



## Zeus.

Hanuman said:


> How many liters is your tank again?


When full 500litres, at the moment about 350litres. I was able to drop 1.4pH with full tank with APS AF2 and twin CO2 injection with PLC controlling CO2 timings


Hanuman said:


> looks complicated



Its simple when its in front of you and easy to change/modify with the 6mm push fit connectors. The tank base has a short least of life as one flood in cellar and it wont last anyway. Do plan to make a solid base for 500litre and go for a smaller tank in main house, could also then have reactors in cellar with a 2.0meter drop on the between the venturi and reactor!. So its more of a proof of concept ATM. Plus once I have the injection rates that suit the Venturi that yield a stable pH/CO2 then I will try the reactors without venturi with CO2 being injected direct into Vidao reactor

Just got a new BNC pH probe for monitoring pH levels, as present one is a few years old



foxfish said:


> Excellent work Zeus, keep up the good work and experimenting.



Thank you, like yourself I find it interesting and do like the challenge also



foxfish said:


> If you could achieve that vortex cyclone effect it might solve that build up


With that comes noise as well - but would work well if in different room



foxfish said:


> my main concerns are about the amount of flow restriction the Venturi is causing, I wonder if a 25mm version might be worth trying ?



Well I have both the 1/2inch and 3/4inch venturi's and the venturi restriction is the same diameter. The use of a bypass would also help keep the flow high as well similar in design to pic below



my present bypass, bypasses the CO2 reactors altogether, old design below with Vidao reactors in place of APS EF2.




It would be good 'if' we could find a cheap system that works well that others could install easy also with parts off the shelf.

High flow may be the answer and skip the venturi altogether, but will try the ideas I have with the plumbing I have at present. The venturi from E bay was cheap and easy to fit/mod/remove


----------



## Zeus.

Hanuman said:


> @Zeus. Also something you might want to consider is to have the CO2 reactor in a separate loop from the filter by using a small pump. If I had the space that's what I would. Most plant growers I know have it set it up this way as it allow better control and also preserves your filter flow.


Had thought of that also , trying to keep parts/cost down also so more can use same system. PLC's are great for controlling fish tank but very costly


----------



## Wookii

As I posted earlier in this thread, could you not use a straight pipe fitting rather than the venturi? As @foxfish mentioned previously, the water pressure should be sufficient to force the excess gas back up into the inlet tubing, and it may eliminate some of the issues with the venturi?


----------



## Hanuman

Hanuman said:


> with a jumbo 20 inch water filter


@zeus This is a fellow hobbist CO2 reactor on a 120 gallon tank.


----------



## Hanuman

Wookii said:


> As I posted earlier in this thread, could you not use a straight pipe fitting rather than the venturi? As @foxfish mentioned previously, the water pressure should be sufficient to force the excess gas back up into the inlet tubing, and it may eliminate some of the issues with the venturi?


My opinion is this will not work unless you have quite some pressure buildup in the reactor. Reason being that with this fitting you will also have an inverse water pressure coming out of the smaller barbed connector. That is why I created a homemade "ventri". This greatly reduces the water pressure coming out from the smaller fitting and acts as a weak venturi.


----------



## LondonDragon

What did I start? haha looks like that venturi adapter will restrict flow quite considerably! I have tweaked mine so the tank gets enough CO2 without a build up


----------



## foxfish

Ha ha look what you started…its great!
A Venturi might restrict flow but that is hardly and issue if you have a successful reactor  and still have enough flow.


----------



## Zeus.

foxfish said:


> Ha ha look what you started…its great!
> A Venturi might restrict flow but that is hardly and issue if you have a successful reactor  and still have enough flow.


and 'if' its quieter as well


----------



## Hanuman

LondonDragon said:


> I have tweaked mine so the tank gets enough CO2 without a build up


Yeap, same here. I am not seing the need for a venturi anymore after my new reactor design. @Zeus. I think I initially implanted the idea of a venturi in your mind like in Inception, come back to reality 😂


----------



## Zeus.

Hanuman said:


> Yeap, same here. I am not seing the need for a venturi anymore after my new reactor design. @Zeus. I think I initially implanted the idea of a venturi in your mind like in Inception, come back to reality 😂


Still in testing phase m8 , if a few of us independently, try the same idea, even without controls and not in a scientific way and come to the same conclusion then it adds weight to our findings

Today I had planned to take the ebay venturi out and try the reactor in a with my DIY venturi which didn't recirculate the CO2 very well but had better flow though it. I was away overnight last couple of days and came back to a reactor full of air/CO2 so the present setup/venturi is drawing air (no leaks) - the venturi recirculation port wasn't quite tight enough!!! haven't checked it yet today.


----------



## Hanuman

I am not surprised considering all the tubbing connectors you have there. I like to keep those to a bear minimum to avoid these type of issues. I like the push/fit connectors for liquids but not so much when gas is involved. I think there are not fully air tight specially if your tubbing is not cut at 90 degree angle and firmly pushed to the bottom. I have had some leaks in my RO unit due to those in the past.


----------



## Zeus.

Hanuman said:


> I have had some leaks in my RO unit due to those in the past.


Never had an issue with push fit fittings in past over many years with water or air, the leak wasn't coming form them it was from the fitting on the venturi wasn't tight enough - I had changed things about a little, or the leak was from the resin bonded 6mm tubing to the venturi. Have got a fix for either if I choose that route - used need one or tow fittings.

Agree with the less fittings the better also 

Little vid as a little surprise result with my DIY venturi and one reactor


In the vid I had all the output of FX6 going though Vidao reactor


----------



## Zeus.

Zeus. said:


> Never had an issue with push fit fittings in past over many years with water or air, the leak wasn't coming form them it was from the fitting on the venturi wasn't tight enough - I had changed things about a little, or the leak was from the resin bonded 6mm tubing to the venturi. Have got a fix for either if I choose that route - used need one or tow fittings.
> 
> Agree with the less fittings the better also
> 
> Little vid as a little surprise result with my DIY venturi and one reactor
> 
> 
> In the vid I had all the output of FX6 going though Vidao reactor



Worked well all day and a steady pH/[CO2], the output from the filter was taking a hit, so fitted the second Vidao reactor at end of CO2 period and both seem to be working well not to noisy either and seemed to be sharing the same CO2 injection as well reasonably well from a little test, the real test will be when its on tomorrow. But with both Vidao reactors fitted their was a better output from the filter as well


----------



## Zeus.

Wookii said:


> As I posted earlier in this thread, could you not use a straight pipe fitting rather than the venturi? As @foxfish mentioned previously, the water pressure should be sufficient to force the excess gas back up into the inlet tubing, and it may eliminate some of the issues with the venturi?


Seeing how well mine is working this fitting might actually work well, it wont work as a venturi but it will force water down to the reactor via the CO2 inlet in the Vidao reactor, add CO2 injection and it creates a jet of CO2 bubbles in the vertex when CO2 is on.

This isn't what I expected to happen but it seems to work well and relatively quiet as well


----------



## Wookii

Zeus. said:


> Seeing how well mine is working this fitting might actually work well, it wont work as a venturi but it will force water down to the reactor via the CO2 inlet in the Vidao reactor, add CO2 injection and it creates a jet of CO2 bubbles in the vertex when CO2 is on.
> 
> This isn't what I expected to happen but it seems to work well and relatively quiet as well


Is there a way to convert it to have a slight venturi effect? 

I wondered if I could insert a length of 4mm stainless tube inside the gas inlet, and notch the end that sits inside the main tube to let the gas out?

Amazon product


----------



## Zeus.

Wookii said:


> Is there a way to convert it to have a slight venturi effect?
> 
> I wondered if I could insert a length of 4mm stainless tube inside the gas inlet, and notch the end that sits inside the main tube to let the gas out?
> 
> Amazon product




Think it will need more of a constriction to create the pressure drop (suction) for a venturi to work. The trouble with the constriction is it reduces flow so you get less water though the reactor and less swirl. As @Hanuman was saying he has come to the conclusion that with his cone top reactor the venturi isn't really needed and he is getting the same performance out of his reactor without the venturi.

Most folk will want to keep good flow also for tank turnover.

I am moving over to Hani's conclusion also that the venturi isn't needed if you have a cone like he has or a decent swirl in the CO2 reactor. If I remember correct when @foxfish had his pump and reactor with great swirl the CO2 in the reactor disappeared within 10-15mins after CO2 went off which suggests the swirl was working well.

Little Vid of double vortex in my twin Vidao reactors


I think if water is being forced along with the CO2 into the reactor it is creating more CO2 bubbles in the reactor also.

I was tinkering last nigh and by mistake I fitted the power to the solenoid for the high injection rate (as only using the low injection rate at the moment). Got lucky and 35mins after CO2 had come on had a 1.5pH drop . Got lucky and lost no livestock  - a few fish was gasping

@Wookii did you get one of the Vidao reactors ?


----------



## Wookii

Zeus. said:


> @Wookii did you get one of the Vidao reactors ?



Yeah, I’ve got two boxed up ready to try when I have time. I just want a way to draw the excess CO2 that will obviously collect at the top of the reactor, into the flow given the outlet inside the reactor is so far below the top of the lid.

I did also wonder if you could create a Venturi inside the reactor - similar to the air bubblers you get on the outlet pipe of some internal filters and skimmers - that use a short tube to draw air from the surface into the filter outflow. If you could get that working inside the reactor it would be self contained.


----------



## Zeus.

Wookii said:


> I just want a way to draw the excess CO2 that will obviously collect at the top of the reactor


Will a few cc (cubic centimeters) of CO2 at the top of the reactor make much difference ? I don't think it would make a great difference ! With an in tank diffuser or inline atomiser (without reactor) it would be lost when it hits the surface. My APS EF2 use to get well full of CO2.

If the Vidao reactor was getting a large pocket of CO2 having a venturi makes sense, but not a few cc.

I will be testing with a very high injection rate soon to get a fast pH drop, so it will be interesting how large a CO2 forms at the top of the Vidao reactors - will keep you posted m8


----------



## Hanuman

@Wookii


Zeus. said:


> Think it will need more of a constriction to create the pressure drop (suction) for a venturi to work.


You don't need much of a restriction. Let me show you how you can make a venturi like device without restriction. <This is from Tom Barr's initial idea>. I quote:


> Another simpler idea for the venturi: simply drilling a hole into the return line right after the filter, placing a good seal and tapering the tip of 3/16" rigid tubing that goes into the return line, make it very fine by heating the tip and then stretching the tip out. Much like pulling pizza cheese etc apart. It should get progressively smaller.


Here is what Tom Barr means:



I could not find any rigid tubing where I am so I reverted to my version of venturi which is weak but also does work. In my version it is *PARAMOUNT* that the small insert is cut to an angle of ~60 degrees facing away from the flow. That's how you create the low pressure point.


----------



## Zeus.

Hanuman said:


> @Wookii
> 
> You don't need much of a restriction. Let me show you how you can make a venturi like device without restriction. <This is from Tom Barr's initial idea>. I quote:
> 
> Here is what Tom Barr means:
> View attachment 174402
> I could not find any rigid tubing where I am so I reverted to my version of venturi which is weak but also does work. In my version it is *PARAMOUNT* that the small insert is cut to an angle of ~60 degrees facing away from the flow. That's how you create the low pressure point.


The DIY venturi I made worked when I blown air though it it would draw a little water up a 6mm tube but not much. It does work when I get the flow right but the vortex in the reactor isn't very impressive, more flow and it doesn't work which may be due to the post reactor plumbing and/or inline heaters, which is probably creating some resistance/back pressure
The insert at an angle makes sense, haven't read all the thread at Barr report, but I think you did say the venturi was added to prevent the build up of CO2, however if the build-up of CO2 is minimal due to the efficacy of the reactor there is no need for a venturi which simplifies the design and less potential leaks.


----------



## Wookii

To clarify, this would be my idea of inserting the this stainless tube inside the gas inlet (I may have the sizes slightly wrong, as I don't have the T-pipe fitting to hand):




Looks like it would provide a decent sized restriction - though I'm not sure if the rounded shape of the tube would create the right kind of low pressure area behind to generate the venturi effect?


----------



## Zeus.

That might work enough, might start with smaller hole/holes then 1.5mm more like 0.5mm


----------



## Wookii

Zeus. said:


> Will a few cc (cubic centimeters) of CO2 at the top of the reactor make much difference ? I don't think it would make a great difference ! With an in tank diffuser or inline atomiser (without reactor) it would be lost when it hits the surface. My APS EF2 use to get well full of CO2.
> 
> If the Vidao reactor was getting a large pocket of CO2 having a venturi makes sense, but not a few cc.
> 
> I will be testing with a very high injection rate soon to get a fast pH drop, so it will be interesting how large a CO2 forms at the top of the Vidao reactors - will keep you posted m8



It does make a difference . . .  to me 😂 (the OCD effect!)

If we want to get technical, the outlet inside the reactor sits about 20mm from the top of the lid. Given the internal diameters, I work that out at about 328 cubic cm of gas that can potentially be trapped at the top if its full. I'm not sure how many bubbles of CO2 that would represent - say a bubble is 3mm diameter, that's 0.014 cubic cm, so at, say 5bps, that 328 cubic cm is about 1 hr 20 mins of gas injection. So by having that gas pocket at the top of the reactor you would be delaying your effective CO2 switch off point a fair bit, as it continues to be absorbed into the water long after the solenoid switches off.

 . . . . Now I'm going for a lie down! 😅


----------



## Wookii

Zeus. said:


> That might work enough, might start with smaller hole/holes then 1.5mm more like 0.5mm



Yeah, I started at 0.5mm, as I thought it would be give smaller bubbles. I just increased to 1.5mm to try and maintain the same internal open area as the tube diameter, as the 0.5mm holes restrict the open area to less than half. I don't know if that matters, but it will increase the back pressure?


----------



## Hanuman

@Wookii If I was you I would not make multiple holes. I am not a fluid dynamic specialist but my initial thought would be that multiple holes might interact between each other canceling the effect. I would go with only one to generate a maximum of low pressure in one point.


----------



## Wookii

Hanuman said:


> @Wookii If I was you I would not make multiple holes. I am not a fluid dynamic specialist but my initial thought would be that multiple holes might interact between each other canceling the effect. I would go with only one to generate a maximum of low pressure in one point.



Well, if it works, the beauty of it is I can try loads of different design 'inserts' very easily by just swapping them out.


----------



## Wookii

I still can’t help thinking though it might just be easier to create something inside the reactor, simply by adding a bubbler line to the inlet tube, so gas is drawn and bubbled back into the flow.


----------



## Zeus.

Wookii said:


> I still can’t help thinking though it might just be easier to create something inside the reactor, simply by adding a bubbler line to the inlet tube, so gas is drawn and bubbled back into the flow.


That might work, I did try something simular with my APS EF2 which worked but made very little performance difference.

I do find having the elbow pointed so the water goes right over the CO2 inlet port does generate a better vortex and the turbulence seems to create more bubbles as well (which I am sure is how you planned to fit it m8 )


----------



## Wookii

Zeus. said:


> I do find having the elbow pointed so the water goes right over the CO2 inlet port does generate a better vortex and the turbulence seems to create more bubbles as well (which I am sure is how you planned to fit it m8 )
> 
> View attachment 174429



To be honest mate, no, I’ve ordered some 5mm O/D plastic tube - my plan is to extend that CO2 inlet down to the bottom of the reactor as @LondonDragon has done, so hopefully bubbles get caught in the vortex for longer - it’ll double up as a bubble counter too possibly.

Then if I can some sort of bubbler/Venturi working inside the reactor to deal with the gas collection at the top as I mentioned above, I’ll have everything self contained inside the one unit for a simple clean install.


----------



## Zeus.

Wookii said:


> To be honest mate, no, I’ve ordered some 5mm O/D plastic tube - my plan is to extend that CO2 inlet down to the bottom of the reactor as @LondonDragon has done, so hopefully bubbles get caught in the vortex for longer - it’ll double up as a bubble counter too possibly.
> 
> Then if I can some sort of bubbler/Venturi working inside the reactor to deal with the gas collection at the top as I mentioned above, I’ll have everything self contained inside the one unit for a simple clean install.


If it works you can make some for me too  😘


----------



## Wookii

Zeus. said:


> If it works you can make some for me too  😘



It’d be my pleasure hunny-bun 😘


----------



## X3NiTH

Rather than cobbling something together for the Venturi has there been any discussion about ‘Venturi Eductors’ because chances are you may find a suitable candidate out there to buy.


----------



## LondonDragon

Wookii said:


> It’d be my pleasure hunny-bun 😘


Want one of those too


----------



## John q

Wookii said:


> It’d be my pleasure hunny-bun 😘





LondonDragon said:


> Want one of those too


Room booked 😚


----------



## Hanuman

As I have been quietly predicting all will end with no venturi... 😂


----------



## Zeus.

Hanuman said:


> As I have been quietly predicting all will end with no venturi... 😂


Which will be a good result, as we would have all found that it isn't needed. You just happen to start your latest CO2 reactor with venturi sooner thats all


----------



## jolt100

Hi all, i've been following this thread with interest from the start and got my reactor a few weeks ago. 
I was waiting for the verdict on the venturi but set it up on my 350l as it comes out of the box. My CO2 is on a separate loop to my filter driven by a 3000 l/hr pump and I have always had micro bubbles whichever diffuser i've used .
I connected up and tweaked the inlet to achieve the best vortex and did the usual pH profile. Took about 2 hrs for a drop of 1pH. No bubbles in the tank and just few in the reactor initially but after a couple of weeks it was difficult to see any in the reactor. I don't see any build up of gas at the top of the reactor , just inside the dome.
I have kept the pump on full speed to maintain the throughput but might experiment with reducing the speed to see if that affects the buildup in the reactor. 
Hope this is useful to somebody thinking of trying a reactor without having to modify anything.
Cheers
John


----------



## Zeus.

jolt100 said:


> Hi all, i've been following this thread with interest from the start and got my reactor a few weeks ago.
> I was waiting for the verdict on the venturi but set it up on my 350l as it comes out of the box. My CO2 is on a separate loop to my filter driven by a 3000 l/hr pump and I have always had micro bubbles whichever diffuser i've used .
> I connected up and tweaked the inlet to achieve the best vortex and did the usual pH profile. Took about 2 hrs for a drop of 1pH. No bubbles in the tank and just few in the reactor initially but after a couple of weeks it was difficult to see any in the reactor. I don't see any build up of gas at the top of the reactor , just inside the dome.
> I have kept the pump on full speed to maintain the throughput but might experiment with reducing the speed to see if that affects the buildup in the reactor.
> Hope this is useful to somebody thinking of trying a reactor without having to modify anything.
> Cheers
> John


Thanks for your input , it all helps


----------



## Zeus.

X3NiTH said:


> Rather than cobbling something together for the Venturi has there been any discussion about ‘Venturi Eductors’ because chances are you may find a suitable candidate out there to buy.


Like this which I had from @Andrew Butler







Two down sides IMO
1. Restriction the flow (diameter) though the venturi Eductor is similar to the venturi I had purchased from e bay
2. Once fitted the CO2 pocket would be larger than before.

TBH I had forgot I had it, I may try it at some point


----------



## Andrew Butler

Zeus. said:


> TBH I had forgot I had it, I may try it at some point


There was a bit of a variety in the box if I remember correctly, there might be another but still the same problem, I can't remember where I got it from but the 

I've not read the thread properly to be honest but I'm unsure of the internals this inline Venturi has if it helps at all.





						Sorry we have closed our doors :(
					

Sorry we have permanently closed the shop.



					www.atomic-reactor.co.uk
				



I know you would still need some extra pieces, even if this worked but you might be able to find a piece that simply screws onto the venturi inlet and the 3/4" BSP you will get to a barb quite cheaply and easily.
Chris is/was the guy at A-R and quite helpful, he might be able to sort something for you if you are looking more at a finished unit but remember water pushing through and Venturi or  any body of water will put excess force on your filter pump and is more suited to a separate pump, probably why they are not commonplace.


----------



## Zeus.

Andrew Butler said:


> but remember water pushing through and Venturi or any body of water will put excess force on your filter pump and is more suited to a separate pump



Absolutely correct, have been using the Vidao reactors without venturi and like @Hanuman said with his, if the turbulence is good enough in the reactor the need for a venturi seems to be not required which avoids the extra load on the pump and keeps flow higher


----------



## Hanuman

Zeus. said:


> which avoids the extra load on the pump


and noise


----------



## Wookii

OK, so @Zeus has inspired me to have a hack around with my reactor. As I mentioned above I wondered if it were possible to build a venturi/bubbler inside the reactor to draw the gas pocket at the top into the main inflow, eliminating the need for anything external to address this.

I also decided to modify the inlet as I didn’t like how the plastic elbow fires straight at the side of the reactor and forces water upwards and downwards, and wanted it pushing more downwards to enhance the vortex.

So I used a spare deflector, bonded it to the existing elbow, and drilled a hole to take 5mm O/D Perspex tube to act as the Venturi:





The finished inlet with deflector and Venturi tube in place, with a piece of CO2 tubing to reach up to the concave centre of the reactor head:





As it turned out, I only needed the Perspex tube to project into the inlet by 2-3mm to get the venturi effect to work, which is great as it means minimal effect on flow:





I used more of the 5mm tube to create an inlet for the CO2 lower down in the reactor to increase contact time, and also act as a bubble counter if needed. The tube was very difficult to heat and bend successfully, so it ended up more like a deformed hockey stick 😂 , but it works to release the bubbles centrally in the reactor:





Here I tested the inlet in the sink hooked up to a little 1000 lph pump, to ensure the venturi worked as planned:



Here is everything installed in the reactor head:









This is it working. When the video starts the reactor is completely full of water, with no air at the top. I use the CO2 inlet and manually blow some air into it to get it to start working.



I tried to zoom in a bit in this video - the camera focuses in the wrong place, but you can just about see the stream of air being pulled in by the Venturi in the background:


----------



## foxfish

Excellent, resourceful job, I hope the experiment works for you…..


----------



## Zeus.

That seems to work really well 👍


----------



## Zeus.

@Wookii if you can find the time m8, can you block the venturi so it wont work and repeat the running water and blowing air in. This would help confirm how well the venturi is working 

Also what was the output of the pump you used?


----------



## Wookii

Zeus. said:


> @Wookii if you can find the time m8, can you block the venturi so it wont work and repeat the running water and blowing air in. This would help confirm how well the venturi is working
> 
> Also what was the output of the pump you used?



I probably won't get chance mate - it was a bit of an effort hooking it all up. The next time I hook it up, with be to the actual tank.

I can see the air being drawing into the venturi (you can just about see it in the last video on my post, out of focus at the rear of the reactor). There is no other way for the air to be drawn into the flow as the deflector prevents the outlet flow of water snagging onto any of the air pocket. All the bubbles you are seeing in the video are from the venturi exclusively, if that is what you were wondering. You can also see in my first video of the test in the sink, when I dip the venturi under the water the bubbles stop, and then start back up again when it is lifted out.

I used a little Maxijet pump, rated at 1000 lph - though I doubt its delivering anywhere near that. It's probably representative of the output from the average canister filter - through there will be a lot more throughput when I strap my Vectra S2 onto it, and probably would be with your FX filter - though in both cases, that should make both the venturi and the vortex more effective.


----------



## Hanuman

@Wookii If you want to push this even further you can reduce the venturi tube size by slightly melting it to reduce its diameter. Alternatively you could simply use a valve like this and slightly close it.



This will have the effect of making much finer bubbles hence increasing the contact area of CO2 vs water.


----------



## Wookii

Hanuman said:


> @Wookii If you want to push this even further you can reduce the venturi tube size by slightly melting it to reduce its diameter. Alternatively you could simply use a valve like this and slightly close it.
> View attachment 174785
> This will have the effect of making much finer bubbles hence increasing the contact area of CO2 vs water.



Thanks @Hanuman I might try and give this a go at the inlet end of the venturi, as finer bubbles would be good. I did try this at the outlet end of the venturi inside the clear elbow, by partially blocking the end of the tube, and I couldn't get it to draw air.


----------



## Hanuman

Wookii said:


> I did try this at the outlet end of the venturi inside the clear elbow, by partially blocking the end of the tube, and I couldn't get it to draw air.


That's because you created a weak venturi. I think the only way this would work at the outlet end is if you did something like this:



But at this stage your setup work pretty well and reducing the inlet end of the venturi may or may not work but something worth trying and easy to do.


----------



## Wookii

Hanuman said:


> That's because you created a weak venturi. I think the only way this would work at the outlet end is if you did something like this:
> View attachment 174786
> But at this stage your setup work pretty well and reducing the inlet end of the venturi may or may not work but something worth trying and easy to do.



Yeah, I can give it a go. The increased pump power might help that too, as the pressure differential will be greater, but to be honest I'm just pleased (semi-amazed!) it worked at all - it means I can draw that main gas pocket back into the flow on a continuous basis, and it's completely self contained within the reactor with presumably negligible effect on flow. So mission accomplished for what I set out to achieve.


----------



## MrClockOff

Wookii said:


> I used more of the 5mm tube to create an inlet for the CO2 lower down in the reactor to increase contact time


I love your experiment 👍 awesome work! That 5mm tube is that OD? Is that exact match so that tube doesn’t need glueing?


----------



## Wookii

MrClockOff said:


> I love your experiment 👍 awesome work! That 5mm tube is that OD? Is that exact match so that tube doesn’t need glueing?



Thanks 👍🏻 Yeah, 5mm OD and it’s an exact match for the CO2 inlet inside the reactor. Bought it from Fleabay:

EBay

Here the deflector if anyone wants it - it’s not a tight fit, but holds with a bit of glue:

[Amazon product]


----------



## Hanuman

Wookii said:


> Yeah, 5mm OD and it’s an exact match for the CO2


This is acrylic which should be a good choice and resist acidity. I used some flexible CO2 tubbing in my reactor and now I am noticing some micro cracks all over the tube. Seems the acidity of the water is attacking it. I'll have to remove it.


----------



## Zeus.

Wookii said:


> Here the deflector if anyone wants it - it’s not a tight fit, but holds with a bit of glue:
> 
> Amazon


Link is NBG


----------



## Hanuman

Zeus. said:


> Link is NBG


Amazon product


----------



## Wookii

Zeus. said:


> Link is NBG



Is that "No Bloody Good" or "Nasty But Good"? 😂

I've fixed it, though @Hanuman beat me to it!


----------



## LondonDragon

Wookii said:


> I also decided to modify the inlet as I didn’t like how the plastic elbow fires straight at the side of the reactor and forces water upwards and downwards, and wanted it pushing more downwards to enhance the vortex.


That is freaking awesome  where is mine? 

That is a very tidy venturi system, I am going to mod mine at the weekend  I do not care for the reflector! just going to add the tube to suck the CO2 back down again!


----------



## Wookii

LondonDragon said:


> That is freaking awesome  where is mine?
> 
> That is a very tidy venturi system, I am going to mod mine at the weekend  I do not care for the reflector! just going to add the tube to suck the CO2 back down again!



I would have thought with your 3D printing wizardry you’d have created something purpose built?


----------



## LondonDragon

Wookii said:


> I would have thought with your 3D printing wizardry you’d have created something purpose built?


hmmmm now that you mention it!!
I will take it apart as I need to clean it now (3 months running) and will measure it all and time to design!!


----------



## Hanuman

Wookii said:


> Thanks 👍🏻 Yeah, 5mm OD and it’s an exact match for the CO2 inlet inside the reactor. Bought it from Fleabay:
> 
> EBay


I looked around. You can find the same for half the price on Aliexpress.








						8.93￡ |3mm 4mm 5mm 6mm 7mm 8mm 9mm 10mm od plexiglass tube organic glass tube lucite tube PMMA pipe pmma tube Acrylic transparent tube|Pipes|   - AliExpress
					

Smarter Shopping, Better Living!  Aliexpress.com




					www.aliexpress.com


----------



## Wolfie

Have been reading all notes on this and was wondering if this would work for a smaller filter? I see that you guys are running bigger filters 1800L + but mine is rated at 700lph but we all know that its  not a tin of ronseal so what you see on the label is NOT what you get, ive only got a 46L tank but am feed up with the mist and bubbles in the tank and also would like to use less c02, so was just wondering is there a smaller option of reactor or if the reactor in the videos would be ok to run with my size filter?
Or even if there is a diy version that wohld work.


----------



## Zeus.

Wolfie said:


> Have been reading all notes on this and was wondering if this would work for a smaller filter? I see that you guys are running bigger filters 1800L + but mine is rated at 700lph but we all know that its  not a tin of ronseal so what you see on the label is NOT what you get, ive only got a 46L tank but am feed up with the mist and bubbles in the tank and also would like to use less c02, so was just wondering is there a smaller option of reactor or if the reactor in the videos would be ok to run with my size filter?
> Or even if there is a diy version that wohld work.


Its may be a bit of overkill, but I cant see any reason why it shouldn't work. Having space to fit it in your setup may be an issue also there's the reduced filter output from your present filter with the reactor fitted may be an issue also.


----------



## Wolfie

Zeus. said:


> Its may be a bit of overkill, but I cant see any reason why it shouldn't work. Having space to fit it in your setup may be an issue also there's the reduced filter output from your present filter with the reactor fitted may be an issue also.


I would try and fit it in cupboard underneath so that shouldn't be a problem.
As regards to flow i do run a Eheim skimmer 350 which ads flow to the tank but i am now considering changing from lilly pipe to a spray bar at the back, or getting a small external filter and just run the reactor just on that with nothing inside


----------



## LondonDragon

I tried @Wookii hack by just adding the little tube at the top of the 90 degree pipe, that works great to be honest and it's such a simple mod, the only downside is that it make the reactor noisier when there is build of air at the top.


----------



## Wolfie

LondonDragon said:


> I tried @Wookii hack by just adding the little tube at the top of the 90 degree pipe, that works great to be honest and it's such a simple mod, the only downside is that it make the reactor noisier when there is build of air at the top.


If been searching through utube and have found some good reviews on the ista max mix which would sit nice under tank, some good tips about set ups and preventing any possible leaks so may consider using that item as a few had them running on ehiem classic 250 which is rated at 440lph and im running 700lph Ehiem experience, less normal flow out put then the less flow through reactor im guessing flow to be around 5 to 550lph which should be enough flow to run reactor plus maintain good turn over rate for 45x40x30 tank, lets face it if i dont try it i will never know lol and not an expensive outlay if it doesnt work, fingers 🤞


----------



## Wolfie

Also may change lilly pipe to a noe plus outlet i think it is as it has that little skimmer attachment so i can then get rid of that horrible 350 skimmer


----------



## Hanuman

LondonDragon said:


> I tried @Wookii hack by just adding the little tube at the top of the 90 degree pipe, that works great to be honest and it's such a simple mod, the only downside is that it make the reactor noisier when there is build of air at the top.


Annoyingly noisier or withstand-ably noisier?


----------



## LondonDragon

Hanuman said:


> Annoyingly noisier or withstand-ably noisier?


Burping noise every couple of minutes, quite noticeable!


----------



## Hanuman

Ok so I bought the infamous Yidao CO2 reactor to compare with my DIY reactor. I did all the mods as per @Wookii. I tested the reactor in my sink with a 1200L/h pump. Seems to work nicely but as @LondonDragon has also noted the noise is rather intense once the internal venturi kicks in and gas builds up at the top. I can attribute that to 1 thing: the flimsy and thin plastic. The larger volume of the reactor also amplifies the sound.
I will test it for real in my tank but if the noice bothers me I will revert to my trusty DIY which is very silent and probably works just as well.

Another mod I did was to sand down the opposite side of the hose connectors that contact with the o-rings. I noticed they were poorly finished. Although screwing hard would provide a decent seal I preferred making sure both surfaces were as flat as possible so that I wouldn't need to screw too hard since the quality of the plastic is pretty poor in my opinion. I started with 320 grit sand paper working my way up to 1200. 5 minutes job. This gave me a smooth finish. I'll be adding silicon grease too all o-rings before putting the reactor in service.


----------



## Hanuman

Here's some feedback for you all. Not very positive.
1. Noise. It's interesting to hear the noise but I am sure in a week time I'll be deeply annoyed by this;
2. Less efficient combo. In my case the efficiency has decreased and I see plenty of tiny bubbles leaving the reactor. PH drop is slower. My flow rate is somewhere ~800 L/hr which is not that much, so people not seing any bubble whatsoever probably have a much lower flow rate in the reactor (either canister is slower or bypass in place). I don't think I want to sacrifice my flow rate with this reactor for better dissolution. I would either need to put that reactor on a separate loop with its own pump or switch back to my DIY reactor (which is probably what is going to happen). Another reason for these tiny bubbles being created is my venturi. I used a rather small tube size which is probably breaking CO2 a lot.

Some pics for the posterity. Don't mind the home made deflector and teflon. You got to do with what you have!


----------



## mangeltrueman

Apologies for a sort of "thread hijack". I would potentially like to run an external reactor but don't have an external filter for flow (my tank, a Fluval Flex, has internal baffled filters and pumps). Do you believe a modification to use a powerhead on something like this would work? I'd be quite open to a DIY version as well, wondered if anyone had done something like this?


----------



## MrClockOff

Hi all,

I hope everyone is well 

Long story short. Since planning my new aqua scape I was absolutely sure I don’t want to see any bubbles in the water anymore so I was looking for CO2 injection methods and I found this thread which cheered me up.
So new scape and Yidao reactor connected to Oase BioMaster Thermo 850. At first all looking good but then I have discovered that the filter is burping air and slowly fills the reactor with that air..
I wonder if anyone who’s using this reactor came across this issue and found the solution? 
My last resort is using separate loop and the powerful pump like Eheim CompactOn 3000 but I just don’t wanna add more energy to my already high energy tank.. what are your thoughts please help

Cheers


----------



## Hanuman

MrClockOff said:


> So new scape and Yidao reactor connected to Oase BioMaster Thermo 850. At first all looking good but then I have discovered that the filter is burping air and slowly fills the reactor with that air..
> I wonder if anyone who’s using this reactor came across this issue and found the solution?


That seems to be a common occurrence with that filter. You need to find out where your canister is letting air in. I have read somewhere that the issue is usually the head seal which is not sitting well or the pre-filter seal. You might want to add some silicon grease to those o-rings to make sure all is good. Also check on your line if all connections are tight.


----------



## Zeus.

MrClockOff said:


> So new scape and Yidao reactor connected to Oase BioMaster Thermo 850. At first all looking good but then I have discovered that the filter is burping air and slowly fills the reactor with that air..


Was thinking about this issue myself, do you have an inlet with a surface skimmer fitted? this my be drawing/sucking air. @Hanuman sounds like it may have the problem is filter based, I would follow his suggestions


----------



## MrClockOff

Hanuman said:


> That seems to be a common occurrence with that filter. You need to find out where your canister is letting air in. I have read somewhere that the issue is usually the head seal which is not sitting well or the pre-filter seal. You might want to add some silicon grease to those o-rings to make sure all is good. Also check on your line if all connections are tight.


@Hanuman thank you. So there is what I did so far to find the cause:

Just before starting the filter for first time and using silicone grease

lubricated main head gasket
lubricated pre-filter seal
lubricated heater o-ring
lubricated in/outlet valve o-rings

After finding the issue and using silicone grease

lubricated generously heater o-ring
lubricated generously pre-filter seal
lubricated generously in/outlet valve o-rings
lubricated generously priming button seal

I'm thinking during the next maintenance I'll re-lube everything again including head gasket. 

Also I'll re-check the inlet pipe connections to make sure all is tight. From top of my mind when I was assembling the pipes I did push them on to the connection fully and locked with nut so hard that it was almost impossible to undo the nuts. But I’m going to double check that. I’ve seen Green Aqua is suggesting to use clumps. The only weak connections I’ve found are the reactor in/outlet where the nut is slightly too loose. Perhaps couple of clumps should sort this too.

Also I’m going to increase pre-filter flow by increasing the size of the pipe and adding more holes. I hope this will help the head to move the water from inlet to outlet with less effort


----------



## MrClockOff

Zeus. said:


> Was thinking about this issue myself, do you have an inlet with a surface skimmer fitted? this my be drawing/sucking air. @Hanuman sounds like it may have the problem is filter based, I would follow his suggestions


@Zeus thanks. I'm using original Oase inlet and outlet pipes with spray bar. No skimmer.


----------



## Hufsa

Im bringing this thread back up again 😊
How are you all finding this reactor? Still happy with it?
I have mine set up and I am considering not modifying it further after hearing the noise of the DIY internal venturi (thanks for the video @Hanuman )
Is sanding down the beige sticky-out bits where the water enters and CO2 enters not an option?


----------



## LondonDragon

Hufsa said:


> How are you all finding this reactor? Still happy with it?


Still using mine, I did add a mod but that made it more noisy so I have removed that and run it as stock, so far so good, although my plants are on the low demanding side when it comes to CO2 and my light levels are not very high either!

But was the best move I made as I never had any more fluctuations of CO2, all my algae disappeared within 2 weeks and I only have to clean in when I clean the pipes once a month! so happy days  no more clogged stones for me!


----------



## hypnogogia

Anyone come across or used this one before?

Amazon product






						JDAquatec - UNSERE PRODUKTE
					

Vorsprung durch Ideen



					www.jdaquatec.de


----------



## Wookii

hypnogogia said:


> Anyone come across or used this one before?
> 
> Amazon product
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> JDAquatec - UNSERE PRODUKTE
> 
> 
> Vorsprung durch Ideen
> 
> 
> 
> www.jdaquatec.de




Interesting! I don’t have auto-translate on my phone, and copying and pasting some text into Google Translate doesn’t reveal much. They claim very high dissolution rates, but I can’t find any detail of what is physically inside the mystery cylinder?


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## hypnogogia

Wookii said:


> Interesting! I don’t have auto-translate on my phone, and copying any pasting some text into Google Translate doesn’t reveal much. They claim very high dissolution rates, but I can’t find any detail of what is physically inside the mystery cylinder?


Their website carries a review published in a German aquatic magazine which describes the construction. I don’t have time to translate it today, but may get around to it.

Dissolution rates seem insane, so I figure that for normal use it would be fine.


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## MirandaB

Wookii said:


> Interesting! I don’t have auto-translate on my phone, and copying and pasting some text into Google Translate doesn’t reveal much. They claim very high dissolution rates, but I can’t find any detail of what is physically inside the mystery cylinder?


Here you go @Wookii


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## Wookii

MirandaB said:


> Here you go @Wookii View attachment 181782



Thanks Miranda - I did translate that bit, but it still doesn’t detail what’s going on inside the reactor part. It can’t just be stuffed with plastic filter media like the Aqua Medic ones, there must be more too it given the dissolution rates they quote (25bps).

I’m wondering if they have some sort of spiral inside to increase the path, like the old style Aqua Medic and JBL in tank ones?


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## MirandaB

Can't seem to find any internal views of how it works at all.


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## Wookii

MirandaB said:


> Can't seem to find any internal views of how it works at all.



No, neither could I - I’m hoping there is some sort of description in the German review article that @hypnogogia mentioned, here:






						JDAquatec - PRESSE
					

Vorsprung durch Ideen



					www.jdaquatec.de


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## Maf 2500

@Wookii @MirandaB @hypnogogia  Here is a google translate of the German patent, should explain the workings some.

DE202016002927U1 - Co2-Reaktor für Aquarien Gerät zum Einbringen von gasförmigen Co2 in das Aquariumwasser          - Google Patents


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## Hufsa

Hmm. Would it be wrong then to say that it is a slightly domed top reactor, short but wide, with a disc placed right under the inlet and a sponge in the lower part to catch any bubbles?


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## Wookii

Maf 2500 said:


> @Wookii @MirandaB @hypnogogia  Here is a google translate of the German patent, should explain the workings some.
> 
> DE202016002927U1 - Co2-Reaktor für Aquarien Gerät zum Einbringen von gasförmigen Co2 in das Aquariumwasser          - Google Patents



Nice one, good find @Maf 2500 



Hufsa said:


> Hmm. Would it be wrong then to say that it is a slightly domed top reactor, short but wide, with a disc placed right under the inlet and a sponge in the lower part to catch any bubbles?



That would seem to be the long and short of it.


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## jolt100

Hi all, my reactor developed a couple of small cracks around the CO2 inlet and the check valve supplied started leaking from the edge.🤢
I tried epoxy but that didn't work, might have another go with pvc pipe adhesive but I've decided to diy a cerges , at least the experience has convinced me a reactor will work with my setup.👍
Glad I kept the inline diffuser😀
Cheers


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## Stu1407

I would really like to understand more about the Reactor. There is a link on the website to Amazon Germany Amazon.de : JDAquatec.de but I don't speak German. Edit. Being Amazon it translates to English.


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## hypnogogia

Hufsa said:


> Hmm. Would it be wrong then to say that it is a slightly domed top reactor, short but wide, with a disc placed right under the inlet and a sponge in the lower part to catch any bubbles?


That’s about the size of it, with some form of baffle to create a vortex to dissolve the CO2. The review about it was very positive.


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## Wookii

OK, on my PC today, so this is easier to sort. This the magazine review from their website here: Testlauf

The below is A la Chrome Translate from German to English:

*


*

The important plant nutrient carbon dioxide is supplied to the aquarium most economically in gaseous form. The CO2 must be dissolved in the aquarium water using suitable technology.
This is most effective in what are known as reactors, which are usually installed outside the basin. Here the gas is fed into a container in parallel or counter-current to the aquarium water.

This container is filled with a medium (plastic carrier, baffle plates) so that there is a strong turbulence of gas and water. This more or less completely dissolves the CO2. Such reactors are mostly used in larger aquariums.
When I got the CO2 reactors from Jörg Düren to test six months ago (two models with different hose connections), I was a bit skeptical at first, because the construction made of glued PVC parts did not allow a look inside, and the devices could be opened neither. All reactors that I know of can be disassembled for cleaning and are visible so that you can monitor their operation.

The Düren reactor consists of a cylindrical vessel with a hose connection piece placed in the middle at the top and bottom. There are versions for 12/16 and 16/22 millimeter hoses. The socket for connecting a 4/6 millimeter standard CO2 hose is attached to the side at the top and is equipped with a hose lock.

Because I really wanted to know how exactly the reactor works and how it differs from conventional models, I researched on the Internet. There I came across Düren's patent application, which describes the structure and mode of operation of the reactor.
Carbon dioxide and water enter the reactor from above (vertical installation is important). The water is deflected horizontally by a baffle plate, creating a horizontal ring vortex. The gas bubbles are broken up and largely dissolved through intensive contact with the water. The vortex also ensures that the gas that is not immediately dissolved remains in the upper part of the reactor (gas bubble) and is continuously mixed with fresh water. The H2O enriched with CO2 is guided downwards laterally through a grid and/or sponge system and exits there again via the outlet connection. Due to the design and arrangement of the baffle plate, central tube and grid-sponge system, the reactor is virtually self-regulating: the more gas that is fed in, the more carbon dioxide is released. With this model, Düren dissolved up to 5,000 CO2 bubbles per minute with a pump capacity of 500 liters per hour. That's a lot for such a small reactor (compared to other models with similar power).

Now, of course, I was curious to see whether the reactor would prove to be as good in practice as the description promised. My largest aquarium (200 x 60 x 60 centimetres, 720 liters) served as the test tank. Previously, a Dennerle Maxi pinball machine (for aquariums up to 600 liters) was responsible for dissolving the gas in the aquarium water. The flipper is only designed for tanks up to 600 liters, but I wasn't aiming for high CO2 concentrations, a basic supply of around ten milligrams per liter was enough for me. The number of bubbles required for this was 140 per minute (9 °KH). With this setting, I had the impression that the CO2 was almost completely dissolved: the bubbles rising in the pinball machine became visibly smaller, and only tiny bubbles made it to the top. A three-chamber biofilter is attached to one of the two short sides of the aquarium, which I operate with a pump capacity of 1,000 liters per hour. When I asked, Jörg Düren confirmed that the power for the reactor was OK, so I didn't have to work with a bypass. The device with a diameter of ten and a height (without socket) of 13 centimeters should be accommodated in the clear water chamber. Since space is unfortunately very limited here, the installation was tricky. The reactor is designed in such a way that the CO2 and water inlets must be from top to bottom (in cocurrent). Because the water in a biofilter is pumped from the bottom up, the installation was a bit cumbersome. The construction just barely fit into the filter chamber. To avoid the transmission of vibrations, I inserted pieces of filter mat as padding.

First I had to vent the reactor. To do this, I put the filter pump into operation, but the CO2 connection piece remained unoccupied. Only when all the air had escaped through the nozzle did I connect the CO2 hose. However, it is not a problem if some air remains in the reactor. Jörg Düren assured me that it will be held after a short time. As with any CO2 fertilization system, a non-return valve and a bubble counter must be installed between the gas cylinder (with pressure reducer and fine needle valve) and the reactor.

First, I kept the previous bubble count (140 per minute). After two hours, the plants showed clear signs of increased assimilation. Numerous oxygen bubbles formed on the underside of the leaves of my spotted water lily (Nymphaea micrantha "Spotted") and pearled upwards. The endurance test then confirmed that the dissolved CO2 concentration in the aquarium had already risen from ten to around 20 mg/l.
The next day the value was 40 mg/l (measurement via the pH value using an electrode and via the carbonate hardness) - high time to reduce the number of bubbles! It is currently set at about 55 bubbles per minute. With this I achieve a CO2 concentration of 20 mg/l, so the reactor dissolves the gas much more effectively than my previous pinball machine.

The reactor has now been in operation for six months. I haven't done any maintenance yet. Jörg Düren confirmed to me that cleaning or venting during his previous test phase (two years) was also not necessary and probably will not be in the future either. If you still want to clean, the materials used allow treatment with hot water and vinegar. Backwashing is also conceivable.

An acquaintance who runs a 2,500 liter aquarium previously used a large external reactor installed above the biofilter tank for the carbon dioxide input. After the installation of the Düren reactor, a lower CO2 consumption could also be determined here (the supply is regulated via the pH value). The tiresome changing of the bottles now has to be done much less frequently than before. I wanted to know from Jörg Düren whether he had a small reactor for my wall aquarium (90 x 20 x 25 centimetres). Here I was not happy with all the entry systems I have tried so far:

• Ceramic frits have an enormous back pressure and are very difficult to adjust. They always dosed either too much or too little CO2.
• With a suitable pinball machine, the bubble dwell time was practically zero (in Dennerle's mini pinball machine, the bubble takes less than a second to get from the bottom to the top
), so the entry is anything but efficient.
• Even a self-made diffuser (tube with a cigarette filter) was not optimal. Here the back pressure was negligible, but the dwell time of the generated gas bubbles was also very short due to the low height of the aquarium.

Unfortunately, Jörg Düren only had one large model. But because my inquiry kept him busy, he developed a small reactor that he let me test. I connected the six-by-eight-centimeter device to the outlet of my tubular reactor. Since then, the CO2 value has been easy to set and I'm happy with the much lower consumption! According to Düren, this new mini-reactor is suitable for aquariums up to 1,000 liters and releases up to 400 bubbles per minute.
In addition, Jörg Düren expanded his product line with another reactor ("Midi", 7.5 x 10.5 centimeters, for aquariums up to 3,000 liters, maximum 1,500 bubbles per minute).

In conclusion, the advantages of the Düren CO2 reactor can be summarized as follows: extremely high efficiency even with high bubble counts; low flow resistance; simple, maintenance-free and safe design; installable inside (biofilter) or outside the aquarium; cheap to buy.

Petra Fitz


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## Wookii

These reactors are impossibly small as well. The Mini for up to 6bps is only 8cm x 6.5cm dia., and the Midi for up to 16bps is only 10.5cm x 7.5cm dia. - these two models should cover 95% of tanks on here!


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## Hanuman

I'll be honest, I am not convinced with that reactor. I always tend to be very skeptical of products that look too good to be true.
1. Why the need to hide and obfuscate the internals and make it non-mantainable . Physics are the same no matter the reactor so that's that.
2. If what that translation says is right, having a sponge (or tight grid/mesh) in there is BAD in my opinion. In my DIY reactor I added a sponge half way as a test a few months back to slow down flow and prevent very small bubbles to flow out. I cleaned the reactor 1 week ago. Needless to say, the sponge was quite dirty and so I decided to remove it entirely. Glad my reactor can be unscrewed for easy cleaning.
3. I read no mention if smaller bubbles are able to pass through or not. That is a major information that should have been mentioned to assess the product at a specific flow rate.

Both Cerges and Griggs reactors have proven their efficacy so why reinvent the wheel?


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## Hanuman

Looking at the link in german, if that thing costs 29 Euros I would be willing to buy one to dissect it.


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## Hanuman

jolt100 said:


> Hi all, my reactor developed a couple of small cracks around the CO2 inlet and the check valve supplied started leaking from the edge.


Which reactor is that? The chinese one? If so, not surprised. The plastic used in that reactor is flimsy and from the day I bought that reactor for testing I had the feeling the plastic was going to be an issue. My opinion is that a reactor should be constructed out of PVC or similar hard plastics. At least plastic should be thick enough which is not the case with that reactor.


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## Hanuman

This answers pretty much my questions about bubbles and the fact that this is yet another attempt to make a bubble free reactor which clearly the reactor is not able to do. Now I am not saying it's all bad, but that combined with the fact that one cannot open the reactor for cleaning is not a good starter to me.  Only positive part I see is the size. It's rather small comparatively to other solutions but that again is a relative benefit as one would need to see how much CO2 can be dissolved at specific flow rates.

Also something very odd is that there is virtually no other videos or articles talking about this reactors. If it was a beast I guess that by now everyone should know about it. It was released in 2016.


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## palcente

Reviving an old thread, but maybe this will be helpful to some... My Yidao reactor started leaking co2. I accidentally spilled some water and noticed that some of the gas (strangely not a drop of water, even when co2 was off) was getting out from between the plastic container and the metal valve. I tried to tighten it as there is a nut, but that failed. I decided that the worst case scenario is put my inline diffuser back on and proceeded to unscrew it all together. Basically the plastic lid is just fine threaded and the metal valve was covered in some kind of rubbery glue that disintegrated between my fingers  - what could go wrong with this design? I decided to try and mend it... I threw one small o-ring to the bottom of the hole in the lid and wrapped the thread of the valve with PTFA tape , then added another o-ring on top of the valve - for good measure. Tightened it, and checked in the bucket of water this time- no gas is leaking - at least for now.  Worth checking your reactors for any insidious leaks... 





Spoiler: pics here


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## Zeus.

palcente said:


> Reviving an old thread, but maybe this will be helpful to some... My Yidao reactor started leaking co2. I accidentally spilled some water and noticed that some of the gas (strangely not a drop of water, even when co2 was off) was getting out from between the plastic container and the metal valve. I tried to tighten it as there is a nut, but that failed. I decided that the worst case scenario is put my inline diffuser back on and proceeded to unscrew it all together. Basically the plastic lid is just fine threaded and the metal valve was covered in some kind of rubbery glue that disintegrated between my fingers  - what could go wrong with this design? I decided to try and mend it... I threw one small o-ring to the bottom of the hole in the lid and wrapped the thread of the valve with PTFA tape , then added another o-ring on top of the valve - for good measure. Tightened it, and checked in the bucket of water this time- no gas is leaking - at least for now.  Worth checking your reactors for any insidious leaks...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Spoiler: pics here



Thanks for the 'heads up'


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## Andy Taylor

Well that's one item off my wish list.


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## LondonDragon

Mine is still working great, I have cleaned it 3 times also, the seal design could be a lot better as when you put it back together you gotta be careful for it not to leak. But so far has been the best CO2 reactor I have used. No more blockages and fluctuations on the CO2!


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## Wookii

LondonDragon said:


> Mine is still working great, I have cleaned it 3 times also, the seal design could be a lot better as when you put it back together you gotta be careful for it not to leak. But so far has been the best CO2 reactor I have used. No more blockages and fluctuations on the CO2!



Have you had any gas leak issues like @palcente found above?


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## LondonDragon

Wookii said:


> Have you had any gas leak issues like @palcente found above?


Not aware of any issues, as it doesnt create any pressure other than the water flow, hard to see why it would develop a leak! There is nothing there to block it or create any pressure on the CO2 tube!


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## KirstyF

I’ve also got two of these, both had a couple of cleans. No problems, no leaks. All good here!


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## LondonAquascaper

I also have one, its great - but I did find that water sloshes around because some of the co2 is getting sucked into the water inside the reactor and creating bubbles that spin around.

Has anyone else found this?


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## KirstyF

LondonAquascaper said:


> I also have one, its great - but I did find that water sloshes around because some of the co2 is getting sucked into the water inside the reactor and creating bubbles that spin around.
> 
> Has anyone else found this?



Yes, I’m injecting loads of bubbles and both of mine slosh. I’m not finding the noise particularly offensive tbf but it is definitely audible.


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## Hufsa

Same here, permanent babbling brook sounds in the living room at the moment, will need to figure out a way to fix it or replace the reactor at some point, SO is okay with it for now but not sure if it will fly long term


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## Wookii

Can you guys identify exactly what is making the noise? Is it the bubbles being pushed around the canister, or something else.

Is the water inlet inside the reactor below the water surface level inside, or does the gas build up enough to expose it?

If anyone wants to make a little video, it would be useful to see  . . .


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## LondonDragon

Wookii said:


> Can you guys identify exactly what is making the noise?


It's the build up of gas at the top of the cannister, when it builds quite a bit and catches the water flow it creates noise.
I tried a venturi on the outflow bend inside the reactor, by drilling a hole in it and attaching a bit of CO2 tube to the top of the chamber, the water flow pulled the bubble down the tube and out the water flow, but this actually made it noisier.
I remove the venturi but the hole I had made for the venturi I left it there, weird enough since then it's not as noisy as it used to be before!  I can barely ear it these days!


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## NorthernDan

Does the flow impact the noise at all? I was watching a video by Green Aqua a while back and they mentioned you normally need far more flow to run these correctly.
I'm planning on running one in a sumped system with a 3500 lph pump (not necessarily running full blast) and was hoping for a relatively quiet system.


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## KirstyF

Mine are 1500lph. I think @Zeus ran a couple on FX6’s which are 3500lph but I recall he had bypass’s and all sorts of lovely stuff. Maybe he can comment!


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## Hanuman

Hanuman said:


> Here's some feedback for you all. Not very positive.
> 1. Noise. It's interesting to hear the noise but I am sure in a week time I'll be deeply annoyed by this;
> 2. Less efficient combo. In my case the efficiency has decreased and I see plenty of tiny bubbles leaving the reactor. PH drop is slower. My flow rate is somewhere ~800 L/hr which is not that much, so people not seing any bubble whatsoever probably have a much lower flow rate in the reactor (either canister is slower or bypass in place). I don't think I want to sacrifice my flow rate with this reactor for better dissolution. I would either need to put that reactor on a separate loop with its own pump or switch back to my DIY reactor (which is probably what is going to happen). Another reason for these tiny bubbles being created is my venturi. I used a rather small tube size which is probably breaking CO2 a lot.
> 
> Some pics for the posterity. Don't mind the home made deflector and teflon. You got to do with what you have!
> View attachment 176284 View attachment 176285




@Wookii  I made a video some time ago.


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## LondonAquascaper

I don't have a second Co2 pipe that goes into the water, it just comes out the top.

The sound is caused by the spinning vortex of water sucking in some air bubbles, which then spin around inside the reactor. It's not offensive but definitely audible and I like my systems silent.


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## MMonis

Would the Yidao CO2 reactor be an option for a 54 litres aquarium running a OASE Biomaster 250 Thermo filter ?


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## LondonAquascaper

MMonis said:


> Would the Yidao CO2 reactor be an option for a 54 litres aquarium running a OASE Biomaster 250 Thermo filter ?


It would be totally over the top in my opinion. An inline diffuser would be a much better option.

Also, I am not sure that filter would handle the extra effort of pushing water through the reactor too well, as the Oase filters already have flow that drops off quite quickly.


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## LondonDragon

LondonAquascaper said:


> The sound is caused by the spinning vortex of water sucking in some air bubbles, which then spin around inside the reactor. It's not offensive but definitely audible and I like my systems silent.


Since I added the little tube on the CO2 inflow inside the reactor so the bubbles drop down half way down the reactor, it has been pretty much silent! I did try the venturi also to suck the bubbles at the top of the reactor back into the water inflow but that made it very noisy so I have removed that again.


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## Chrispowell

Afternoon all,

I ordered myself a reactor and first impressions are quite good. 
Build quality looks reasonable to me.

I am also getting the build up of gas at the top of the reactor and every now and then get a rush of bubbles up and outlet and into the tank. 

I am going to order a peice of stainless steel tube to fit inside the reactor and force the co2 bubbles lower into the reactor.
As for a vortex.. I cant see much happening inside the reactor, is this because my flow is too low?

Thanks

Chris


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## Chrispowell

So I adapted mine by adding a stainless steel tube...

It's running silent now and no visible bubbles or mist from the filter outlet.


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## plantnoobdude

Chrispowell said:


> As for a vortex.. I cant see much happening inside the reactor, is this because my flow is too low?


how low are we talking? my tank filter is pretty small (eheim 2213 440lph)
has anyone tried this reactor with a lower flow? thanks!


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## Chrispowell

Interestingly mine seems to be less efficient.. I'm turning co2 on 6 hours before lights with a high bubble count (can't count per second). Anyone else experience this?


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## LondonDragon

Chrispowell said:


> Interestingly mine seems to be less efficient.. I'm turning co2 on 6 hours before lights with a high bubble count (can't count per second). Anyone else experience this?


for me CO2 has been stable since I installed it, I do not have a bubble counter or drop checker, I just see all plants pearling away like crazy and no algae in sight so I leave as is


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## Chrispowell

I added both (bubble counter and drop checker. I aim for a decent shade of green come lights on but am experiencing hair algae.. as I'm led to believe its normally a co2 issue I  continue on this route for now


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## LondonDragon

Might need to up the co2?


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## Chrispowell

LondonDragon said:


> Might need to up the co2?


Yep, that's the plan. Perception is everything..  maybe loads to me is not enough. 

I do prefer the reactor, it's just trial and error to get it working spot on


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## LondonDragon

Chrispowell said:


> Yep, that's the plan. Perception is everything..  maybe loads to me is not enough.
> I do prefer the reactor, it's just trial and error to get it working spot on


Did take me a while to adjust it and get it right, but since then I just forget it's there (apart from the once a month cleaning), having to clean diffusers every week was a pain!


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## jolt100

Chrispowell said:


> Interestingly mine seems to be less efficient.. I'm turning co2 on 6 hours before lights with a high bubble count (can't count per second). Anyone else experience this?


This happened to me , after running ok for six months I had to start upping the bubble count then eventually found a leak from a crack next to the CO2 inlet. 
It might just be CO2 finding its way past the gasket have you tried the soapy water test?


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## Chrispowell

jolt100 said:


> This happened to me , after running ok for six months I had to start upping the bubble count then eventually found a leak from a crack next to the CO2 inlet.
> It might just be CO2 finding its way past the gasket have you tried the soapy water test?


Thanks for the advice, yes I tried this after previously having thar issue on a bubble counter.


I'm using this on a 90H tank so it could just be me forgetting the additional water volume as apposed to my 45H or other smaller aquariums.

I will update after a week to see what's happening


----------

