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CO2 reactor advise

omen

omen

Member
Joined
19 Jun 2009
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102
Wil be building a co2 reactor soon, and mostly following the excellent write up by Ed Seeley in the pinned DIY projects. I currently feed co2 via a UP atomizer and fluval 405, and while excellent, I would like to get as close to 100% dissolved as possible. The constant fine mist is something I live with, but would prefer not to have.

Mainly wondering if there would be any issues continuing to use the UP atomizer, but run the water through the c02 reactor in the hope of dissolving all those fine bubbles? Is it feasible?
 
Yes it would be feasible and I've read a few posts where people do that. However a reactor alone if built right will completely dissolve the co2 anyway this eliminating the need for the up atomiser and one less thing to have to run I line. And you'll also not need to run the co2 at such s higher pressure either.


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Cheers Alastair, and kudos on your reactor build! It was your journal that has actually convinced me to have a go.

My thinking is that the weak point in a co2 reactor will always be the point that the co2 is fed from. And as I already have everything up and running, I figure it may be an easy way to get fully dissolved co2. My thinking was 60-70cm pvc pipe should suffice? With a much smaller bubble size being forced in with the water at the top of the reactor do you think the smaller bubble size may stop the bubbles being able to rise against the flow and effectively dissolve?
 
That should work fine. As long as you introduce the CO2 ahead of the reactor and then make sure the water enters the reactor at the top and enters at the bottom it should work fine. The only thing that might cause you issues is the smaller bubbles will float further down the reactor compared to just introducing large bubbles as my design did.
 
Excellent, many thanks guys!

I'll let you all know how I get on.
 
I run a cerges style reactor (clear housing) on my set up and it is fed Co2 via an up atomiser (i thought about feeding Co2 direct but my regulator pressure it set high and cant be changed) so i figured if the atomiser is sending out small bubbles why not use them.
It has been running for amonth or so with no problems (just the odd gurgle every now and then near the end of the Co2 period which is desolved by lights off)
 
Good to know Robbowal. And you manage to achieve 100% dissolved co2?

Does anyone know where I could buy the parts off the shelf? Plumbing centre have pvc pipe ok, but not the other parts it would seem.
 
That'd be amazing Alastair! I'm a bit of a DIY junky, so prefer building my own tbh.
 
Hi Alastair, do you mind me asking how you rate the sera co2 reactor?
I'm looking at buying a reactor at the moment and have narrowed it down to the Sera or the AM 1000.
Many thanks

Stu.
 
Hi stu, it's a great reactor and much smaller than most reactors. Almost silent too. I got a very quick colour change on my drop checker too. The only reason I'm selling it is my filter is far too powerful for it and can't suffer by turning flow down as my tanks BIG!
The added bonus of the sera is that you don't lose flow compared to other reactors.


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omen said:
Good to know Robbowal. And you manage to achieve 100% dissolved co2?

Does anyone know where I could buy the parts off the shelf? Plumbing centre have pvc pipe ok, but not the other parts it would seem.
Click to expand...

yep 100%

are you referring to the parts for the cerges reactor if so search ebay for 10" water filer housing 3/4" fittings or 1" will do.
both links below carry different size fittings.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-FILTER-CLE ... 35b32b9576
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-2-BSP-Male- ... 1c17d0c00c

For the cerges reactor you will need to place a pipe in the centre with holes drilled round the base with a pot scrubber round that pipe near the bottom (to prevent micro bubbles entering the outflowpipe). one tip use more plumbers tape that you would think when fitting this together at least 10-12 turns
They do gurgle a little if mounted level but if its in a cabinet its not that bad (one way to solve it is to place the reactor at a 45 Deg angle with the water inlet lower than the outflow side that way the Co2 bubble is not trapped near the inlet. this will make it difficult to bleed so make sure it can be unmounted from the cabinet to bleed out air after cleaning.)
hope that helps
Robert
 
Thanks for the reply Alastair, I'm only a few posts away from being able to access the classifieds will have a look at your listing.

Stu.
 
Think I'm going to crack up! Just spent 2 hrs figuring out how to reduce 2" pvc pipe to 12mm barbed connectors, came up with:
4 50mm x 1" PVC Male Threaded Adaptor
2 50mm x 50mm PVC 90 degree Elbow
4 1" FBSP Multi Stage Hose Adaptor

Proceeded to checkout, and it turns out they don't deliver to N Ireland!!!

Any recommendations on where to get fittings would be greatly appreciated, would B&Q or the likes maybe have them?
 
Looking for some guidance if possible...............

Im thinking about setting up a cerges reactor for my 90*45*45 size tank. The problem im having is what size water filter housing would work best, should i go for a 10inch unit or a 20inch unit with 1inch ports (4.5 inch width) ?

Also where can i buy a CLEAR water filter at a good price, been looking around the tinternet and not seen any good prices on nthe clear units.

I will be running this from my sump on its own pump, any ideas what would be suitable size pump for the cerges

Mark
 
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