# Co2 reactor air



## rebel (14 Nov 2021)

Holla everyone,

I have been playing with this CO2 reactor and elongated the inlet by adding a piece of air tube. Since I reconnected it, it refuses to fill to the top. Seems to cause an air lock each time I try.

Is this due to some leak or other reason? Thanks.


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## CMooner (14 Nov 2021)

It should have or needs an air bleed at the top. Is this homemade or what brand of reactor?


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## Gorillastomp (14 Nov 2021)

rebel said:


> Holla everyone,
> 
> I have been playing with this CO2 reactor and elongated the inlet by adding a piece of air tube. Since I reconnected it, it refuses to fill to the top. Seems to cause an air lock each time I try.
> 
> Is this due to some leak or other reason? Thanks.


How is your reactor connected ?

The transparent pipe should be the path to the aquarium and the water from the aquarium should come from the top of the reactor (from photo i would assume its the right side).

If its connected properly, it may be that your injection rate is too high for the flow inside the reactor.


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## rebel (14 Nov 2021)

CMooner said:


> It should have or needs an air bleed at the top. Is this homemade or what brand of reactor?


This has an air bleed but its where you inject the co2. I modified it by attaching an airline to carry the co2 to about 3/4 way down so that it can rise up. 

Not sure of brand but it is from ebay. 

Thanks.


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## rebel (14 Nov 2021)

Gorillastomp said:


> How is your reactor connected ?
> 
> The transparent pipe should be the path to the aquarium and the water from the aquarium should come from the top of the reactor (from photo i would assume its the right side).
> 
> If its connected properly, it may be that your injection rate is too high for the flow inside the reactor.


Yes the connection is right. The transparent pipe is connected to aquarium


I am not injecting yet. This is how it looks with the filter running over night. I couldnt get the air bubble to dissapear.


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## MrClockOff (14 Nov 2021)

Hi, I’ve got exactly the same reactor connected to Oase BioMaster 850 outlet. Every time when I do filter maintenance reactor will end up exactly the same state as on your pictures. In such case I’m waiting until filter will burb all the air from inside then I turn reactor up side down to release the air through reactor’s outlet pipe and all done.


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## Zeus. (14 Nov 2021)

You could always thicken the hose by adding some tape to where the hose meets the fitting - once its up the 22mm it should work fine or a suitable jubilee worm drive


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## rebel (14 Nov 2021)

MrClockOff said:


> Hi, I’ve got exactly the same reactor connected to Oase BioMaster 850 outlet. Every time when I do filter maintenance reactor will end up exactly the same state as on your pictures. In such case I’m waiting until filter will burb all the air from inside then I turn reactor up side down to release the air through reactor’s outlet pipe and all done.


THANKS!

I can't really turn it upside down due to stiff pipes but will patiently wait for the air to dissapear. I just thought it was a bit wierd how it seems so resistent to filling up.


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## rebel (14 Nov 2021)

Zeus. said:


> You could always thicken the hose by adding some tape to where the hose meets the fitting - once its up the 22mm it should work fine or a suitable jubilee worm drive


I have been out of the game a little and don't understand that last bit of your sentence. Is this some sort of aquarium lingo or PBS space time sort of lingo??


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## rebel (14 Nov 2021)

I labelled the input and output in red and the extended airline CO2 input in yellow. I extended it to improve dwell time of the bubble. I am not really getting enough co2 dissolution with this reactor yet. My Eheim 2213 may not have enough ooomph perhaps!

Maybe I will add an airstone to the end of this line to break up the bubbles but hope they remain big enough to rise against the current downwards.

Hope that makes sense.


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## Gorillastomp (15 Nov 2021)

Is the filter working in that reactor photo ?


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## rebel (15 Nov 2021)

Gorillastomp said:


> Is the filter working in that reactor photo ?


Yes. Since yestersay the level has increased slightly. Filter flow appears to be normal. 2213 is not that strong at the best of times.


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## MrClockOff (15 Nov 2021)

rebel said:


> THANKS!
> 
> I can't really turn it upside down due to stiff pipes but will patiently wait for the air to dissapear. I just thought it was a bit wierd how it seems so resistent to filling up.


I see.. my filter is only 3 weeks old and the pipes are still soft. I also have extended CO2 inlet up to a half of reactor but with my flow rate (low) it doesn't make any difference.. when my pipes will harden like yours I probably will end up removing CO2 inlet extension and use the valve as air release valve


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## jolt100 (15 Nov 2021)

By extending the CO2 inlet you can't let the air out . Airlock.
I set mine up without any modification so by removing the CO2 line the valve allows all the air out.  I find it works great , there is a small headspace of CO2 and no bubbles in the tank. Quiet operation with just occasional tinkling noises.
Have you tried filling the reactor before putting the top on?


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## bazz (15 Nov 2021)

Hi,
Your water inlet hose adapter looks a bit precarious compared to the outlet.
I have one of these although I not have not used it yet, but before extending the CO2 inlet did you not try having the transparent 90° elbow angled over inlet aperture so as to break up the CO2 on entry and create a vortex?
Cheers!


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## jolt100 (15 Nov 2021)

That's how I set mine up.👍


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## Gorillastomp (15 Nov 2021)

rebel said:


> Yes. Since yestersay the level has increased slightly. Filter flow appears to be normal. 2213 is not that strong at the best of times. View attachment 177297


There is something not working properly, the water should swirl in the reactor. I feel now the water is just "running down" the reactor's walls slowly. This will make your co2 mixing poor, so this might be your issue.

Could you try it without anything in your filter and see if it swirl into the reactor ? I feel the flow is too low for the size of the reactor because even though you have an airlock,  it should dissolve after couple hours.

P.S I know you elongated your co2 tubing inside to help for the dissolution, but it won't help much. Usually you do this to "count" the co2 bubble rate. What will dissolve the co2 at best is the swirling in the reactor.


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## lazybones51 (15 Nov 2021)

rebel said:


> My Eheim 2213 may not have enough ooomph perhaps!


This could be the issue. I added a CO2 reactor (water filter/cerges type) to the Eheim 2217 I was using at the time, and it just didn't have the power for it to work properly.


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## rebel (16 Nov 2021)

MrClockOff said:


> my filter is only 3 weeks old and the pipes are still soft. I also have extended CO2 inlet up to a half of reactor but with my flow rate (low) it doesn't make any difference


Hmm Thanks. Yes my pipes are hard and I am terrified of causing a slow leak when I am not there. I will have to give up the tank if the floor gets permanent water damage... 



jolt100 said:


> I set mine up without any modification so by removing the CO2 line the valve allows all the air out. I find it works great , there is a small headspace of CO2 and no bubbles in the tank. Quiet operation with just occasional tinkling noises.
> Have you tried filling the reactor before putting the top on?


I filled it up but due to air lock it naturally has to empty fully (ie I have to manually start flow by siphoning the tank inlet (ie CO2 reactor outlet) house before the filter starts to work!!! IE you start with full reactor but end up with almost empty!



bazz said:


> Your water inlet hose adapter looks a bit precarious compared to the outlet.
> I have one of these although I not have not used it yet, but before extending the CO2 inlet did you not try having the transparent 90° elbow angled over inlet aperture so as to break up the CO2 on entry and create a vortex?


Point taken on the different fit. I will double check as I do not want a flood.

I will try the 90 degree trick. I like it's simplicity and logic.




Gorillastomp said:


> There is something not working properly, the water should swirl in the reactor. I feel now the water is just "running down" the reactor's walls slowly. This will make your co2 mixing poor, so this might be your issue.
> 
> Could you try it without anything in your filter and see if it swirl into the reactor ? I feel the flow is too low for the size of the reactor because even though you have an airlock, it should dissolve after couple hours.
> 
> P.S I know you elongated your co2 tubing inside to help for the dissolution, but it won't help much. Usually you do this to "count" the co2 bubble rate. What will dissolve the co2 at best is the swirling in the reactor.


You are right about water just dribbling down the sides of the reactor!!! That's what it is.
I suspect this configuration might be a good for oxygenation though?

I will revise the CO2 tube. I can already see that the bubbles just rise up unceremoniously....

Stay tuned for a filter clean and reset.....



lazybones51 said:


> This could be the issue. I added a CO2 reactor (water filter/cerges type) to the Eheim 2217 I was using at the time, and it just didn't have the power for it to work properly.


I am going to clean this filter and see whether I can get better flow. 


Thanks heaps for all your answers!!! I will report back.


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## Fred13 (17 Nov 2021)

Zeus. said:


> You could always thicken the hose by adding some tape to where the hose meets the fitting - once its up the 22mm it should work fine or a suitable jubilee worm drive


I was always curious what the results would be If you put an inline difusser prior to the external reactor to "atomize" the bubbles.
Do you have any experience on that ?


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## Djoko Sauza (18 Nov 2021)

Fred13 said:


> I was always curious what the results would be If you put an inline difusser prior to the external reactor to "atomize" the bubbles.
> Do you have any experience on that ?


That's what I use and in my case it works good (injecting 2bps and low flow inside the reactor).
I see only the very smallest of bubbles in the water column and very few at that.

If you are using a powerful filter and/or a small reactor I could see most of the bubbles, being tiny in size, flowing right through the reactor and ending up in the tank, thus defeating the purpose of the reactor.


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## lazybones51 (18 Nov 2021)

Fred13 said:


> I was always curious what the results would be If you put an inline difusser prior to the external reactor to "atomize" the bubbles.
> Do you have any experience on that ?


I do this and it seems to work well. I don't sufferer with a build up of CO2 in my reactor, however I do get a small amount of bubbles making it in to the tank.


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## Gorillastomp (18 Nov 2021)

If you get a reactor long enough you dont get any bubble into the aquarium. The co2 fully dissolve which make it easier to move around the tank.

You may need a bigger pump with a bigger reactor since the flow is reduced due to the lenght of the path the water have to travel.

Bigger the size of the bubble of co2, the quicker it reach to top of the tank so less available to the plants.


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## Zeus. (18 Nov 2021)

Fred13 said:


> I was always curious what the results would be If you put an inline difusser prior to the external reactor to "atomize" the bubbles.
> Do you have any experience on that ?


Yes I have done that.

It can work well however if bubbles are to small they can get passed the reactor - which is flow dependant. Bigger bubbles less likely to get through but CO2 uptake is slower esp if agitation in the reactor is low, which is why @foxfish had great success with his reactor and the vortex of uptake IMO


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## rebel (20 Nov 2021)

Fred13 said:


> an inline difusser prior to the external reactor to "atomize" the bubbles.


This was my previous setup but all my plastic atomisers kept leaking!!! During the operation, it looked like there was some bubble escape to the tank. It all depends on flow, size of reactor and bubble size etc therefore no harm in experimenting.


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## MMonis (22 Feb 2022)

Would this external reactor work well for a 54 litre tank with a Oase Biomaster 250 thermo filter rated at 900 litres per hour and a spray bar output ensuring sufficient surface agitation as well ?


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