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DIY Project Co2 reactor build for Fluval FX5

I don't suppose anyone has one of these diy reactors not being used anymore?
send it to me and ill pay the full price.
or if you have the spare parts you can make it for me and again ill pay the full price, and it wont cost you anything or very little if you already have most or all of the parts.
if not ill give it a go myself
 
Jason Stanford said:
I don't suppose anyone has one of these diy reactors not being used anymore?
send it to me and ill pay the full price.
or if you have the spare parts you can make it for me and again ill pay the full price, and it wont cost you anything or very little if you already have most or all of the parts.
if not ill give it a go myself
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I gave mine away to soneone on here cant remember who. They are extremely easy to make jason but if you get no joy and dont feel comfortable making one if you order the parts and have them shipped to me ill make it for you gladly but you'd have to then pay for shipping back you see...
Give it a try it really is simple

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2
 
Zanguli, I trust you sorted on the DIY reactor front, as wondered how safely we could ship to the Congo from way down South. We are making some fine looking acrylic transparent ones here, but guess you well sorted by now ? I just had one made up, not cheap at about R900, but looks really pro and well made. I'ts only been in a week so I'm still playing some bubble games with my FX5, but the diffusion is much better already. My FX5 is a bit maxed out on a heavily planted 760L, so might opt for an external pump on the reactor rather than mess about with the Fluval.

Can get some pics up of the reactor..
 
Alastair said:
Just pm me if your struggling
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'struggling' a bit here, but early days ...got my reactor installed on the Fx5 over the week end, the diffusion is certainly better, but still have too many micro bubbles imo, plus the canister is now making a slight droning sound compared to its normal quite self, not sure if this is just coincidental and if the impeller just needs a clean. 😵
 
The build looks great! I'll give it a go! But I have a hard time deciding if an Eheim 2076 will be able to run it with it with its 1.700 liters per hour. My tank will have ~150-170 liters of water that needs to be moved when substrate and rocks are subtracted (or do you use the total tank volume when checking if the "10x liters per hour" rule is observed?).

An alternative could be that I bought an Eheim Compact pump that will work dedicated to run the reactor.

Do you have an estimate on how much flow the reactor will eat? If it is too much for the Eheim 2076 does anybody have guess on what liters per hour to aim for with the Eheim Compact?

Thanks!
 
TimT said:
The build looks great! I'll give it a go! But I have a hard time deciding if an Eheim 2076 will be able to run it with it with its 1.700 liters per hour. My tank will have ~150-170 liters of water that needs to be moved when substrate and rocks are subtracted (or do you use the total tank volume when checking if the "10x liters per hour" rule is observed?).

An alternative could be that I bought an Eheim Compact pump that will work dedicated to run the reactor.

Do you have an estimate on how much flow the reactor will eat? If it is too much for the Eheim 2076 does anybody have guess on what liters per hour to aim for with the Eheim Compact?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Hi Tim
Just go for a shorter 30cm length reactor snd smaller hose tails and it should be fine.
 
I've just ordered the parts today. I've also ordered a 4mm threaded barb to attach the co2 hose, (drill a 3mm hole into pipe tap hole with 4mm tap, fit barb with a little cement applied to the thread to seal). I'm using it on a Maidenhead Aquatics EFX600, 2200LPH pump, I am going to fit the reactor so it fits in the cabinet of my Juwel Rio 300. I will take a pic when its done. 🙂
 
Scootbog said:
I've just ordered the parts today. I've also ordered a 4mm threaded barb to attach the co2 hose, (drill a 3mm hole into pipe tap hole with 4mm tap, fit barb with a little cement applied to the thread to seal). I'm using it on a Maidenhead Aquatics EFX600, 2200LPH pump, I am going to fit the reactor so it fits in the cabinet of my Juwel Rio 300. I will take a pic when its done. 🙂
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Just been referred to this thread and going to start getting the parts together to build one of these myself - what diameter pipe are you going to use?
 
Nice job !

With that length of a reactor you should be fine, anything below say 18" in length with that diameter pipe becomes a problem given the strong flow of the FX5. I only had space in my tank cupboard for a 16" long reactor and given the space the FX5 U bends were taking, as shown in the pic. The flow was too strong for the C02 bubbles in the reactor and many were not broken up and were simply blown into the the tank. I'm currently getting a wider reactor (4") made up to reduce the flow rate in the chamber, so hoping things improve and the return flow of the FX5 is not reduced back into the tank..

5D1canonselectsdownload004.jpg
 
Trevor.

Few quick questions.

1. Which fitting did you use to get the CO2 inside or did you just do the hole with air tubing pulled through.
2. Which clips you using to hold the reactor to the side.
3. Are the diffuser needed. Have an extra lying around to experiment with.

Busy building myself a 700mm / 50mm reactor but using it on a lower flow canister.


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Hi Rudolph, I see you are also from the Cape !

1) have included a wider pic to show the acrylic/plastic rod that was used with a brass tightening clamp that seals things. This enables you to move the rod up and down the chamber until you have found the sweet spot.
2) They brackets were bought at Sams irrigation shop, they had various other sizes available.
3) Good question and one I asked as well, as some folk say that with not using a diffuser the bigger Co2 bubbles explode and break down better..

I know another guy down here that makes very good reactors cheaply if that helps, let me know ?

5Dcanon1selectsdownload003.jpg
 
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