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CO2 Reactor UK sellers?

Here's some feedback for you all. Not very positive.
1. Noise. It's interesting to hear the noise but I am sure in a week time I'll be deeply annoyed by this;
2. Less efficient combo. In my case the efficiency has decreased and I see plenty of tiny bubbles leaving the reactor. PH drop is slower. My flow rate is somewhere ~800 L/hr which is not that much, so people not seing any bubble whatsoever probably have a much lower flow rate in the reactor (either canister is slower or bypass in place). I don't think I want to sacrifice my flow rate with this reactor for better dissolution. I would either need to put that reactor on a separate loop with its own pump or switch back to my DIY reactor (which is probably what is going to happen). Another reason for these tiny bubbles being created is my venturi. I used a rather small tube size which is probably breaking CO2 a lot.

Some pics for the posterity. Don't mind the home made deflector and teflon. You got to do with what you have!
IMG_6810.jpg
IMG_6812.jpg

 
Apologies for a sort of "thread hijack". I would potentially like to run an external reactor but don't have an external filter for flow (my tank, a Fluval Flex, has internal baffled filters and pumps). Do you believe a modification to use a powerhead on something like this would work? I'd be quite open to a DIY version as well, wondered if anyone had done something like this?
 
Hi all,

I hope everyone is well

Long story short. Since planning my new aqua scape I was absolutely sure I don’t want to see any bubbles in the water anymore so I was looking for CO2 injection methods and I found this thread which cheered me up.
So new scape and Yidao reactor connected to Oase BioMaster Thermo 850. At first all looking good but then I have discovered that the filter is burping air and slowly fills the reactor with that air..
I wonder if anyone who’s using this reactor came across this issue and found the solution?
My last resort is using separate loop and the powerful pump like Eheim CompactOn 3000 but I just don’t wanna add more energy to my already high energy tank.. what are your thoughts please help

Cheers
 
So new scape and Yidao reactor connected to Oase BioMaster Thermo 850. At first all looking good but then I have discovered that the filter is burping air and slowly fills the reactor with that air..
I wonder if anyone who’s using this reactor came across this issue and found the solution?
That seems to be a common occurrence with that filter. You need to find out where your canister is letting air in. I have read somewhere that the issue is usually the head seal which is not sitting well or the pre-filter seal. You might want to add some silicon grease to those o-rings to make sure all is good. Also check on your line if all connections are tight.
 
So new scape and Yidao reactor connected to Oase BioMaster Thermo 850. At first all looking good but then I have discovered that the filter is burping air and slowly fills the reactor with that air..
Was thinking about this issue myself, do you have an inlet with a surface skimmer fitted? this my be drawing/sucking air. @Hanuman sounds like it may have the problem is filter based, I would follow his suggestions ;)
 
That seems to be a common occurrence with that filter. You need to find out where your canister is letting air in. I have read somewhere that the issue is usually the head seal which is not sitting well or the pre-filter seal. You might want to add some silicon grease to those o-rings to make sure all is good. Also check on your line if all connections are tight.
@Hanuman thank you. So there is what I did so far to find the cause:

Just before starting the filter for first time and using silicone grease
  • lubricated main head gasket
  • lubricated pre-filter seal
  • lubricated heater o-ring
  • lubricated in/outlet valve o-rings

After finding the issue and using silicone grease
  • lubricated generously heater o-ring
  • lubricated generously pre-filter seal
  • lubricated generously in/outlet valve o-rings
  • lubricated generously priming button seal

I'm thinking during the next maintenance I'll re-lube everything again including head gasket.

Also I'll re-check the inlet pipe connections to make sure all is tight. From top of my mind when I was assembling the pipes I did push them on to the connection fully and locked with nut so hard that it was almost impossible to undo the nuts. But I’m going to double check that. I’ve seen Green Aqua is suggesting to use clumps. The only weak connections I’ve found are the reactor in/outlet where the nut is slightly too loose. Perhaps couple of clumps should sort this too.

Also I’m going to increase pre-filter flow by increasing the size of the pipe and adding more holes. I hope this will help the head to move the water from inlet to outlet with less effort
 
Was thinking about this issue myself, do you have an inlet with a surface skimmer fitted? this my be drawing/sucking air. @Hanuman sounds like it may have the problem is filter based, I would follow his suggestions ;)
@Zeus thanks. I'm using original Oase inlet and outlet pipes with spray bar. No skimmer.
 
Im bringing this thread back up again 😊
How are you all finding this reactor? Still happy with it?
I have mine set up and I am considering not modifying it further after hearing the noise of the DIY internal venturi (thanks for the video @Hanuman :thumbup:)
Is sanding down the beige sticky-out bits where the water enters and CO2 enters not an option?
 
How are you all finding this reactor? Still happy with it?
Still using mine, I did add a mod but that made it more noisy so I have removed that and run it as stock, so far so good, although my plants are on the low demanding side when it comes to CO2 and my light levels are not very high either!

But was the best move I made as I never had any more fluctuations of CO2, all my algae disappeared within 2 weeks and I only have to clean in when I clean the pipes once a month! so happy days :) no more clogged stones for me!
 
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Interesting! I don’t have auto-translate on my phone, and copying any pasting some text into Google Translate doesn’t reveal much. They claim very high dissolution rates, but I can’t find any detail of what is physically inside the mystery cylinder?
Their website carries a review published in a German aquatic magazine which describes the construction. I don’t have time to translate it today, but may get around to it.

Dissolution rates seem insane, so I figure that for normal use it would be fine.
 

Thanks Miranda - I did translate that bit, but it still doesn’t detail what’s going on inside the reactor part. It can’t just be stuffed with plastic filter media like the Aqua Medic ones, there must be more too it given the dissolution rates they quote (25bps).

I’m wondering if they have some sort of spiral inside to increase the path, like the old style Aqua Medic and JBL in tank ones?
 

Nice one, good find @Maf 2500

Hmm. Would it be wrong then to say that it is a slightly domed top reactor, short but wide, with a disc placed right under the inlet and a sponge in the lower part to catch any bubbles?

That would seem to be the long and short of it.
 
Hi all, my reactor developed a couple of small cracks around the CO2 inlet and the check valve supplied started leaking from the edge.🤢
I tried epoxy but that didn't work, might have another go with pvc pipe adhesive but I've decided to diy a cerges , at least the experience has convinced me a reactor will work with my setup.👍
Glad I kept the inline diffuser😀
Cheers
 
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