Aquamedic CO2 Reactor Quesions

[Ryan Stewart]

First off thanks for having me!

I currently have a 55 gallon planted tank that I'm running pressurized CO2 and dosing with the EI regiment. It has a finnex panted plus 24/7 running the 24/7 cycle and a dual 48" T5HO fixture that is on for 6 hours a day.

I run the CO2 reactor off of a spare fluval 204 canister filter that I have taken the media out of and I have noticed that I am not getting the best CO2 distribution inside the tank.

My CO2 comes on 1.5 hrs before my lights and by the end of the photo period I have a good 3-4 in of built up gas inside the reactor. I have been doing a little searching and I think the issue is I am not putting near enough the 250 GPM minimum flow that the reactor requires. My question is 2 fold: 1. I bought an external pump that runs up to a max of 354 GPM (based on my head losses I should fall at about 310 GPM on the manufacturer's pump curve), should I make the switch and set it up with the higher flow?

2. My bioballs inside the reactor do not move at all with their current flow should they move a little to break up the co2 coming into the reactor? I am putting about 2 BS through the reactor at this point.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Ryan Stewart]

ohh I forgot one more question. I have my reactor up at the top of my tank should it be located down closer to the filter under the tank

 

[foxfish]

Hi Ryan, welcome to the forum.
I am not sure what a ’finnex panted plus 24/7 running the 24/7 cycle’ means?
Most C02 reactors work best with an adjustable flow facilities so you can fine tune them.
A T from a powerful filter line, or an independent pump with an adjustable valve might help to get the reactor running at its best.

 

[Zeus.]

Hi Ryan

I'm using APS reactors with a very high BPS and have a crystal; clear tank CO2 wise

and I use the bioballs too, flow is pretty low in my reactors too as I use a bypass on the reactors too

Some pics of your setup would help. Are you using atomisers pre reactor or direct injection?

 

[Ryan Stewart]

Hi Zeus,

Thanks for the reply, here are some pics of my setup.

Overall view of the tank:

IMG_0484 by Ryan Stewart, on Flickr

And a close up of my reactor

IMG_0485 by Ryan Stewart, on Flickr

I'm looking to optomize my setup as I don't think I'm getting enough CO2 into the tank.

 

[Zeus.]

Most folk have CO2 coming on 2hrs before lights, I have my CO2 on my 50l tank coming on 3hrs before lights. My [CO2] is pretty high so takes longer. Do you have a Drop Checker (DC) to measure the [CO2] of the water, if not it would be handy. Also a pH pen is very useful to measure the pH drop which will give you a very useful guide to how long it takes to get your pH drop and if the pH drop is stable. A pH pen is fairly cheap of amazon and helps massively to find out how stable to pH drop is. Having the pH drop at its optimum level when lights on is critical to make the most out of the CO2 and then it needs to be stable for the rest of the photo period. I have my CO2 going off 2hrs before lights off depends whos advise you listen too. Doing a pH profile taking pH reading throughout the CO2 on till lights off is the best way to go making a graph, if you are using CO2 to get the most out of it it needs to be done well and stable. Plants dont like it when the CO2 fluctuates.

As to your reactor I have no personal experience of that model, but it looks like it works of direct injection (it has no atomiser) which can work well if setup right with the CO2 injection point is before a restriction 'Venturi' in the pipework. But some do need quite a bit of pressure to work well and can be noisy from what I have read which put me of getting one. Lowering the reactor would increase the pressure in the reactor which in theory should help. you could always add an inline atomisers pre reactor close to the filter and the reactor may work better. I would be tempted to add just the course filter media back in the filter then it would then minimise the amount of cleaning the reactor would need, just clean the filter.

Cheaper to buy an inline atomiser than a pump

I am putting about 2 BS through the reactor at this point.

I take it your injection rate is 2 Bubbles Per Second (BPS). Hard to compare one bubble to another for many factors affect bubble size and hence CO2 volume its just an easy way to help you adjust the CO2 rate, but if you are using 2BPS for a 250l tank it sounds like its a little on the low side to me, a DC would help you confirm what the approx [CO2] is. DC take about 2hrs to change colour, but when used in combination with a pH pen which gives instant results a good CO2 profile can be achieved.

Also when using CO2 it is advised to aim for a pumps output per hour to be x10 the tank volume

Hope that helps

Zeus

 

[Ryan Stewart]

Hi Zeus,

I do have a drop checker, I question how good my 4dkh solution is however as I made it myself, I have some on order and have ordered PH pen so I can create a log of my ph when it is on. I had a spare pump that is rated for 354 USGPM so i made a small closed loop system to run the co2 and it seems to give me a lot more flow. I've noticed that my swords have started pearling so I think I'm getting some decent amount of CO2 in now. I have also changed my timer so that the CO2 comes on 2 hrs before the lights to make sure that I have enough in there when the lights come on. This coming weekend I am also going to play around with my bubble counter to see if I can up the bps rate. From the research I have done my bps rate of 2 is pretty low for this size tank. I want to be around when I do this however so I don't gas my fish!

Most folk have CO2 coming on 2hrs before lights, I have my CO2 on my 50l tank coming on 3hrs before lights. My [CO2] is pretty high so takes longer. Do you have a Drop Checker (DC) to measure the [CO2] of the water, if not it would be handy. Also a pH pen is very useful to measure the pH drop which will give you a very useful guide to how long it takes to get your pH drop and if the pH drop is stable. A pH pen is fairly cheap of amazon and helps massively to find out how stable to pH drop is. Having the pH drop at its optimum level when lights on is critical to make the most out of the CO2 and then it needs to be stable for the rest of the photo period. I have my CO2 going off 2hrs before lights off depends whos advise you listen too. Doing a pH profile taking pH reading throughout the CO2 on till lights off is the best way to go making a graph, if you are using CO2 to get the most out of it it needs to be done well and stable. Plants dont like it when the CO2 fluctuates.

As to your reactor I have no personal experience of that model, but it looks like it works of direct injection (it has no atomiser) which can work well if setup right with the CO2 injection point is before a restriction 'Venturi' in the pipework. But some do need quite a bit of pressure to work well and can be noisy from what I have read which put me of getting one. Lowering the reactor would increase the pressure in the reactor which in theory should help. you could always add an inline atomisers pre reactor close to the filter and the reactor may work better. I would be tempted to add just the course filter media back in the filter then it would then minimise the amount of cleaning the reactor would need, just clean the filter.

Cheaper to buy an inline atomiser than a pump



I take it your injection rate is 2 Bubbles Per Second (BPS). Hard to compare one bubble to another for many factors affect bubble size and hence CO2 volume its just an easy way to help you adjust the CO2 rate, but if you are using 2BPS for a 250l tank it sounds like its a little on the low side to me, a DC would help you confirm what the approx [CO2] is. DC take about 2hrs to change colour, but when used in combination with a pH pen which gives instant results a good CO2 profile can be achieved.

Also when using CO2 it is advised to aim for a pumps output per hour to be x10 the tank volume

Hope that helps

Zeus

 

[Ryan Stewart]

Ok a little update.

I have had my new PH fen calibrated and and its working correctly now. So what I am seeing is an off-gassed PH of about 7.6 (I let a cup of tank water sit for 24 hrs and tested it). After my entire lighting period I see a ph in tank of about 6.4-6.5. I checked my hardnesses as well and I think my KH is a little low:

Readings were:

GH - 12 Drops = 240 mg/l (ppm) = 14.4 dgh
KH - 4 drops = 40 mg/l (ppm) = 2.23 dkg

The only other readings that seemed off were my phoshates which were way off the charts (>5 mg/l) dark blue on the tester.

I have adjusted my timer and have my CO2 coming on 2 hrs before lights on to see if I can get the 1 PH drop right when the lights come on. I have also noticed an increase in green spot algae which I have read can be a result of inconsistent CO2.

Anything jump out at anyone here?

I am open to suggestions on how to improve my CO2 useage

Thanks!

 

[Zeus.]

I have adjusted my timer and have my CO2 coming on 2 hrs before lights on to see if I can get the 1 PH drop right when the lights come on. I have also noticed an increase in green spot algae which I have read can be a result of inconsistent CO2.

Correct

I am open to suggestions on how to improve my CO2 useage

Do a pH reading for the whole CO2 and photoperiod. every 30mins make a graph and when does it peak is it stable the graph will show this.

Is 2hrs before lights on enough ? one of my tanks take 3hrs
Plus any adjustments take time to show - weeks
Is you tank turnover enough?

 

[Ryan Stewart]

I'll start making the graph now. My turnover is plenty. I have an FX4 that is the main filter on the tank and a separate external pump running the reactor. Does my GH and KH look ok? or is my KH a little low

 

[Zeus.]

Never bother testing kH or gH or any tests. I EI dose 50% WC weekly and have my DC light yellow, photo period 6hrs 30mins starting low intensity going higher after 30mins 1hr then dimming off once CO2 off 2hrs before lights off.

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