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Changed to a Sera Co2 Reactor 1000. Gave up on inline diffuser for my planted tank.

Carl Whitbread said:
when I placed my purigen bag into my filter and switched my filter on I noticed some clouding. I did not worry about it too much but within 4 hours had list 50% of my fish stock and I had ammonia and everything else going off.
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It must have been quite frightful to see your fish dying in front of you.:eek:

Carl Whitbread said:
Instead clean it with Hydrogen Peroxide which is also good at getting rid of BBA
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You mean clean the inline diffuser using Hydrogen Peroxide?if so how do you go about doing that? I did post about this in this forum but sadly no one replied to that. Guess everyone is using bleach!
So what do you use to clean your Purigen now?
Cheers
 
foxfish said:
Did ou manage to get the tube over the threads?
I think it would definitely be worth trying without the blades, you will get more flow and it will be quieter but whether it will be more or less efficient I can't say....
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Hi foxfish
No, I haven't found the time yet. Maybe in 1 or 2 days time. I'll definitely try that before getting any connection nozzle.

The reason I asked about taking out the blades was that the Seara reactor looks very similar to a cerges reactor which has also no moving parts.

Have a nice weekend.
Cheer
 
Zak Rafik said:
It must have been quite frightful to see your fish dying in front of you.:eek:

It was dreadful and I can not believe I recited so many swear words in such a short time.

You mean clean the inline diffuser using Hydrogen Peroxide?if so how do you go about doing that? I did post about this in this forum but sadly no one replied to that. Guess everyone is using bleach!
So what do you use to clean your Purigen now?
Cheers
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My inline has a removeable cermaic so I take mine out and spray it with hydrogen and then soak it. As for bleach no way will I ever use that mehtod ever again and as for the purigen I will just replace it when it is exhausted. The bad thing is that I read on other forums (cant recall which ones now) about people having similar problems when using bleach with purigen. I just did not learn from someone elses trauma. I just felt so sorry for ths fish an felt irresponsible but I thought it was clean enough - well we cant see bleach so you will only ever know when you put it back into the filter. ARe you prepared tp take a chance and see all your good bacteria wiped out as well as 50% worth of fish stock. Oh by the way I have stopped using my inline now and have swapped back to my TMC Diffuser. The justy for me is still out on the Sera. I have asked Bhu how he is getting on with it and will wait to see what he says.

The best solution for you may be to just buy another Sera. Was it expensive for you?
 
Carl Whitbread said:
My inline has a removeable cermaic so I take mine out and spray it with hydrogen and then soak it. As for bleach no way will I ever use that mehtod ever again and as for the purigen I will just replace it when it is exhausted. The bad thing is that I read on other forums (cant recall which ones now) about people having similar problems when using bleach with purigen. I just did not learn from someone elses trauma. I just felt so sorry for ths fish an felt irresponsible but I thought it was clean enough - well we cant see bleach so you will only ever know when you put it back into the filter. ARe you prepared tp take a chance and see all your good bacteria wiped out as well as 50% worth of fish stock. Oh by the way I have stopped using my inline now and have swapped back to my TMC Diffuser. The justy for me is still out on the Sera. I have asked Bhu how he is getting on with it and will wait to see what he says.

The best solution for you may be to just buy another Sera. Was it expensive for you?
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Ok now it makes sense to me with regards to your inline diffuser. Mine is the type which is glued on both sides. The only option I have to clean the insides would be to inject Hydrogen peroxide solution using a syringe.

As for Purigen, it seems that it's quite cheap enough for you to replace the whole bag. Unfortunately here it's a bit $$$. :(

As for Seara reactor, I'm a DIY kind of guy. I'll try to salvage it as much as possible before retiring it to the trash bin. :)
 
[quote="As for Seara reactor, I'm a DIY kind of guy. I'll try to salvage it as much as possible before retiring it to the trash bin. :)[/quote]

Good luck with the repair mate I have seen some suggestions to you on how to fix it so I am sure with a bit of perserverance you may get there. As for Purigen I doubt that I will continue to use it once it is all used up. - I will watch the thread to see how you get on. In the meantime I really wish you the best with the repair and a Happy New Year
 
[quote="Mine is the type which is glued on both sides. The only option I have to clean the insides would be to inject Hydrogen peroxide solution using a syringe.[/quote]

Or you could buy the inline cleaner from CO2 Art - Just don't use bleach...
 
I've always used bleach for my diffuser cleaning. I just make sure to have it soaking in new water everyday for over two weeks after using bleach. I also add prime to the water. I also let it dry out in the middle of the two weeks for a day. Not sure if that helps or not. I also connect it to a spare co2 line and blow it out in clean water with prime. In case any bleach somehow is stuck in the pores of diffuser, this should help. I do it all within two weeks after bleach cleaning. Never had a problem.
 
mlongpre said:
I also connect it to a spare co2 line and blow it out in clean water with prime.
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This is exactly what I'm doing now too.

I have also observed that the co2 bubbles tend to be bigger as it exits into the tank when my chiller is on (temp set to 25c). Once the chiller switches off after 40minutes, the bubbles get more finer. I wonder if this will lead to fluctuation of co2 in the tank.? Comments anyone?
Cheers
 
Zak Rafik said:
This is exactly what I'm doing now too.
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Well good luck. I used Prime to clean my Purigen and did the same as above with the cleaning and soaking etc but still had the issue. But hey we are talking about two different products here and Purigen balls cannot be compared to cleaning a Diffuser. Just remember you can not over do the rinsing.

By the way I have decided to order my Sera after all. I will remember to soak the co2 in hot water first to soften it before I connect it to the Sera so I don't suffer your fate with yours. I have stopped using my Inline and switched to my external TMC Diffuser 1000. By doing this I have eliminated the 7up mist effect but I am not convinced the CO2 is dissolved as good as a reactor. My bubble count must be now about 10 - 12 bps and I am getting a dark green on my drop counter. But my observations on the fish is more important than the colour of fluid in a drop counter and I have installed an airline inside the tank incase I accidentally overdose the CO2. I will keep you updated. It will be very interesting to see the difference between the TMC Diffuser and the Sera. I will be using the same set bps so the comparrison will be interesting to see especially as the TMC was on about £15.

I asked Phu how he was getting on with his Sera but no reply as yet. Perhaps he is away on a lovely holiday somewhere.....
 
foxfish said:
So there is still a bit left in place, it is difficult to see exactly what has broken but there is still hope.
Can you push the co2 line over the threads, you may need to sand off the threads but super glue will bond PVC air line to the reactors plastic very well. The other option is to fill the hole and feed to co2 into the main flow or even into the pump inlet.
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Ok I managed to find the time to fix the Sera reactor 1000. :)
I'll be connecting the reactor maybe this weekend. Hope there'll no leaks.
I also intend to remove the blades inside the reactor and see how it goes.

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b631/Zak_Rafik/Reactor-fix-01_zpsed3e4325.jpg
http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b631/Zak_Rafik/Reactor-fix-02_zps96104c17.jpg
http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b631/Zak_Rafik/Reactor-fix-03_zps93ed0f4f.jpg
http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b631/Zak_Rafik/Reactor-fix-04_zpse8e2199d.jpg
http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b631/Zak_Rafik/Reactor-fix-05_zps040439c0.jpg
 
Cyanoacrylate wont bond to the polyurethane of your CO2 tubing or in fact any plastic that is flexible, so polythene and polypropylene are included as well.

Best solution would be no glue and stainless steel jubilee clip.
 
OK, the tubing is not likely one of those plastics I mentioned. Polythene and polypropylene are certainly a no go with superglue (as are most plastics with added plasticiser) and flexible PVC and polyurethane are a "not recommended", but as you have proved, well tested.

Personally I wouldn't use glue, use circlips or jubilee clips so can be easily taken apart for cleaning and/or super glue strength demonstrations....:cool:
 
ian_m said:
Cyanoacrylate wont bond to the polyurethane of your CO2 tubing or in fact any plastic that is flexible, so polythene and polypropylene are included as well.
Best solution would be no glue and stainless steel jubilee clip.
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Hi ian_m:)
To tell the truth, I did not even have to use glue. The Co2 hose is very rigid and and was very difficult to push though the nozzle during the dry test. I boiled the hose for 2 minutes just to get it to be supple enough to push through.
But you'r right about the Cyanoacrylate. I got to now about it in my work related project. By the same token, I do have some "soft" plastic tube, very similar to what foxfish showed in his photos. Once bonded it was next impossible to take it apart.
I think ADA's Co2 hose are of similar material. Maybe?:geek:

foxfish said:
Best try and pull it off to see how well it has stuck.
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Hi foxfish
I dare not try that.:eek: That's how I broke the original nozzle in the first place. I'm pretty sure the fit is quite tight. I'll keep this post updated once I've installed the reactor.:thumbup:
 
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