# Aquamedic AM1000



## Calzone (8 Dec 2011)

I am considering buying the aquamedic am1000 in line CO2 reactor for use with my new eheim 2180 filter.  I'd prefer to avoid mist in the tank from an atomiser etc.  However I do have a concern about flow reduction and fitting it to the pipes.

As far as I can tell from the various sales sites, the reactor comes with 12/16mm fittings, but my pipes will be 16/22mm, so realistically, its not going to fit without some form of bore reducing fitting, right?  And if I do that I'm going to get a substantial reduction in flow as far as I can see.

Have seena  number of other posts in here and other forums suggesting the reactor's fittings actually have a number of diameter options and you cut them to fit your pipes.  Can anyone confirm the situation either way?  Also, what sort fo flow reduction can I expect?  There are even posts suggesting the reactor doesn't work too well with filters with too much or too little flow.  Is this the case?

I've looked at going the DIY route, but I'm struggling to navigate my way through the complexities of PVC pipe fittings and finding 5/8" connectors is non-trivial.....

Nick


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## Gary Nelson (8 Dec 2011)

I fitted an AM1000 a few weeks back and I use 16/22mm hose - all you have to do is hacksaw the 12/16mm hose tails off, I then secured my hose with 2 jubilee clips - works perfect


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## freelanderuk (8 Dec 2011)

i can second that , i have just fitted 2 reactors to my tank to do away with the mist , the pipe connectors on the reactor re cut to accept the size of pipe your filter uses m ine is 16/22mm on eheim pro filters , i have noticed a small reduction in flow with all the balls removed , i think if you left the balls in you would notice a large reduction in flow, no mist and drop checkers a nice lime green


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## Gary Nelson (8 Dec 2011)

freelanderuk said:
			
		

> i can second that , i have just fitted 2 reactors to my tank to do away with the mist , the pipe connectors on the reactor re cut to accept the size of pipe your filter uses m ine is 16/22mm on eheim pro filters , i have noticed a small reduction in flow with all the balls removed , i think if you left the balls in you would notice a large reduction in flow, no mist and drop checkers a nice lime green




I removed the bio balls from mine and filled it with 'sera siporax' I have noticed only a tiny amount of loss on the flow... I don't get any co2 bubbles at all in the display now - I have noticed you have to pump more co2 in the reactor though and I'm running at 4BPS now on my 180l


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## Quetzalcoatl (8 Dec 2011)

As the others have stated it`s a simple hacksaw job! Just make sure that those jubilee clips are secure? I had a little seepage with mine after I modified it!! 

Don`t know about anyone else but I was quite suprised by the size of the unit. When I ordered mine I had never actually seen one "In the flesh" and when it arrived I was quite suprised by it`s size.   I don`t have a large cabinet and struggled to get it posistioned!! Persistance paid off though and am very happy with the results. I hated the mist from the UP Atomizer, never much liked glass diffusers, and as for my JBL Spiral reactor, I won`t even go there  

As my reactor came with no media I was unsure of what to use, I played around with different media but have now settled on using shower scrunchies, like a mesh netting. It works great, flow is reduced but not as much as it was using bioballs, siporax etc. 

Buy one, you won`t regret it. Never seen my plants pearl so much!


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## Calzone (9 Dec 2011)

Awesome feedback, many thanks.  Defeats me why the sales blurb doesn't make this obvious - clearly a design that can support both 12mm and 16mm is a selling point...

I don't mind a bit of flow reduction since I have a v chunky filter, but reducing to 12mm is nearly half the tube cross-sectional area so it seemed likely to have a big impact on flow.

On the issue of media - some seem to go with nothing, others pack it.  Is the issue that no media doesn't always work, depending in your flow (I can imagine high flow and high bubble rate could lead to bubble entrainment which defeats the object)?

Nick


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## Quetzalcoatl (9 Dec 2011)

I use 16/22mm hoses with my reactor and when I first set it up I was unaware of the modification needed. I initially ran it with the standard 12mm attachment, flow was drastically reduced, that`s when I started asking questions here and was soon put right. Like you say though, no mention of the option to accomodate either hose is a little unusal, as a consumer spending a fair bit of money on a product you don`t feel comfortable hacking it to bits when you get it home, unless you are told it`s ok to do so by the manufacturer?

As for media, I tried mine without, and it did not work for me? I was not achieving full dissolution, my co2 entered the reactor at the bottom and was just carried straight through and back into the tank. I found that the netting breaks the bubbles path and holds onto them as it trys to exit the reactor giving it time to diffuse. Others on here however do use there`s with no media, but for me it didn`t work.


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## Calzone (12 Dec 2011)

Just a further clarification, if someone generously has the time.  When I look at the manual for this on the aquamedic website, and the photos of the reactor, I can't see where to apply the cut to the hose barbs.  It looks very much like these barbs are constant diameter all the way down, so it seems that cutting it wouldn't achieve any increase in diameter.  What am I missing?  Have they changed the design?  Or is it the case that the "barbed" bit of the hose connector has a smaller internal diameter than the straight bit and you just can't tell from the photo?

Nick


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## mdhardy01 (12 Dec 2011)

Have you already got the am1000? 
If you have you will see the hosetails get fatter half way down
If you haven't got it yet and are just looking on the website don't panic am updated the hosetails about 2 years ago bot not the website
Matt


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## Calzone (12 Dec 2011)

I haven't bought it yet, tank not arrived yet.  But it's good to hear the design is changed.  You'd think aquamedic would employ someone with some marketing nous but it appears not!!  Your experience much appreciated as its good to be confident before dropping 60 notes on a big plastic tube!!
Nick


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## BillyB (23 Jan 2012)

Hi Nick
I've bought one of these and plumbed it in to my Eheim 2180, but left the plastic balls in...i've not got to the stage of switching on the gas, as its not planted yet, but flow is def. reduced, despite cutting the hosetails down to suit the 16/22mm eheim tubing..have you bought yours, connected and noticed this also, or did u leave it empty?
Many thx for update!
Nick


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## Alastair (23 Jan 2012)

I removed the bio balls to improve flow and it did just that but flow is still reduced slightly...


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## Quetzalcoatl (23 Jan 2012)

Hi Alastair. 

Just out of interest, did you have a hard time priming your filter when you were using the AM? I nearly broke my thumb trying to get it to prime on several occassions  

Noticed you`ve got a thread advertising yours for sale? Why did you end up removing it from your system? Mines been removed also. Flow was far to restrictive!


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## Calzone (23 Jan 2012)

Mine's fitted and running though not putting CO2 in yet, as regulator not arrived and am cycling tank without plants to start with.  Sawed off the hosetails just before the narrowing, though the inner diameter is still less than 16mm so there will certainly be a flow restriction.  I have half a bath scrubber/scrunchy in mine, nothing else.  My 2180 eheim is packed full of media and the spray bar must be a good meter above the filter, and I would say flow is about 60% according to the flow gauge on the top.  I never ran it without the AM1000 so can't say how much is due to that and how much due to the media and head height.

Does anyone else isolate the am1000 with eg double taps?  Expensive.  I ask because hose cleaning will be a nightmare...


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## Alastair (24 Jan 2012)

Quetzalcoatl said:
			
		

> Hi Alastair.
> 
> Just out of interest, did you have a hard time priming your filter when you were using the AM? I nearly broke my thumb trying to get it to prime on several occassions
> 
> Noticed you`ve got a thread advertising yours for sale? Why did you end up removing it from your system? Mines been removed also. Flow was far to restrictive!



Hi mate. I found I has problems priming if I didn't open the air release valve on the reactor first to allow the trapped air to escape whilst I primed the filter...other than that it worked great. It did reduce flow like I said...but for clear bubble less water and a quicker dissolved rate it's by far a great piece of kit. 
The sera reactor was better in my opinion, smaller, didnt reduce flow at all due to the hosetails actually being 16mm internal. 
I'm only selling as I have a big tank and have had to switch to spray bars along the back wall and to have one reactor on one side and inline diffuser the other would give very uneven co2 and growth 


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## Ady34 (24 Sep 2015)

Hello,
does anyone suffer horrendous noise from their reactor when full with the bioballs?
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## REDSTEVEO (24 Sep 2015)

Hi Ady34,

Its all down to playing with your bio balls!

You can chop them in half or you can mix balls and Siporax together until you get the right balance. That said when I used to use one of these reactors I found that the Siporax got dirty and turned yellow / brown quite quickly, so then you have got the maintenance issue of disconnecting it and cleaning the media, so the in line isolation connectors were a must for me. But then these are just one more bit of kit that can effect the flow.

Steve


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## Iain Sutherland (24 Sep 2015)

Just take the media out, unless the flow or injection rate are really high then it works just as well with less flow reduction 


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## Ady34 (24 Sep 2015)

Hi, yeah it can be a pain to disconnect as I've just discovered! The noise was just horrendous, hard plastic balls rattling around, but with no media in I'm getting bypass. I think I'll try the bath scrunchies, soft so won't rattle and cheap  strangely the media seemed to make no difference to flow rate though.
Cheerio
Ady


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## viktorlantos (25 Sep 2015)

Ady34 said:


> Hi, yeah it can be a pain to disconnect as I've just discovered! The noise was just horrendous, hard plastic balls rattling around, but with no media in I'm getting bypass. I think I'll try the bath scrunchies, soft so won't rattle and cheap  strangely the media seemed to make no difference to flow rate though.
> Cheerio
> Ady



We do use mesh in some of our AM1000. Runs super silent. But then depend on the mesh strength after a few months the flow can push the mesh into the outflow and the reactor will stuck.
Some harder mesh resist a but longer like dryvit mesh etc, but the water will shape them after many months of use. With mesh it gets dirty earlier, but no sound at all.

So it is up to you to hear it but not clean it  Or... 

Flow reduction does not matter if you have a bypass.


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## Ady34 (25 Sep 2015)

Thanks Victor, it was the noise really with the supplied media balls. Read many threads suggesting no media but I need something as there is bypass without. I am worried about the media blocking the out pipe so suggestions as to how many bath scrunchies are welcome.....im guessing finding a balance of too compact (reducing flow) and too loose (threat of blockage) will be slightly trial and error.....will get a few and try. Maybe cut up cubes of filter foam may work also. I won't mind cleaning it if it is quiet and effective


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## Ady34 (25 Sep 2015)

so I've added a scrunchy....not even a whole one. I cut the string which holds it together, unravelled it and it was like a long sock. I cut about 1/3 off and tucked it into itself forming a sausage shape. I tied the end off and then stuck it into the reactor. I thought that it may get forced to the bottom of the reactor due to water flow, so to try and alleviate the possibility of it clogging or blocking the out pipe i added a filter guard to the inner bottom fitment before refitting which keeps the scrunchy away from the out pipe 
Very minimal bypass now and just about silent too......just need to dial in an injection rate through trial and error.




 

Here you can see the filter guard i added to the inner fitment:


 

Cheerio,
Ady.


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