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Dissolving CO2 with a reactor

Jaap

Jaap

Member
Joined
30 Sep 2011
Messages
1,068
Location
Nicosia
Hello,

apparently I still have problems with my CO2 and I am currently disappointed and baffled with the whole situation.

I use an external reactor (12mm/16mm) connected to an external filter (16mm/22mm) via connectors. The filter throttle is somewhat less than 1000 L/h so the flow is high. Even though the number of bubbles per second is countless (some people say bps isn't an indication) my plants melt and its an indication of bad CO2 or low flow. People using such a reactor use a lower bps rate for bigger tanks than my 40L one and still they manage to keep plants more successfully than I do. So I am advised to increase the CO2 and I do but when I do half of the reactor fills up with CO2. I run though a 3kg bottle of CO2 in 21 days! I don't have any leaks since the CO2 gets build up in the reactor.

So apparently I am incapable of using an external reactor since I dumped 3kg of CO2 in 21 days and I am still low on CO2....oh what a joy!

If you were in my situation.....what would you do? Enlighten me! Because I cannot succeed even if my life depended on it!

Increase flow? Wouldn't that be great? If my 40L tank needs a Fluval of 1000L/h then I wonder what a 100L tank requires!

Pump more CO2? Unless I am connected with a gas company to provide abundant CO2, pumping more CO2 into the reactor will both push all the water out of the reactor and I will need a 3kg bottle every 2 weeks.

So YES! The plants need CO2....even though I dose 5ml of Excel daily and even though my LED TMC Grobeam 600 is at 30% intensity and 55cm above substrate, the plants need more CO2 like crazy....and I explained the situation above.

What do I do now? I am open to suggestions! Anything...its very difficult for me to grasp the concept of me adding so much CO2 and someone else adding 1-2 bps of CO2 and they are more successful than I am!
 
Ok I do understand the temperature factor.....tell that to Tom Barr and Mike....

Tom Bar: I have it outside in 45 degrees Celsius

Mike: http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/junglerino.34238/ - 60l with one 18W T8, 15cm above the water level, it's an experiment I've run for the last year to prove people and myself that there's no such thing as not enough light. Had also 30-32 degrees for two weeks with an average around 26-27 this year, when I saw the first signs of melting I just needed to crank up the CO2, as the temperature rises less CO2 remains in the water.

Some people say its temperature others say its not.....still at 29 degrees Celsius the CO2 should have been more than enough.....10 bps is ridiculous!
 
Hi there,

yes CO2 is a pain.... If I will be you I will look on distribution first.... With so much CO2 I will think about death spots.

After that you might consider better way to dissolve CO2. I used to use that reactor and It's great do not take ne wrong bit I will not use it with pressure CO2 as there are many better ways.

Vaz
 
Vazkez said:
Hi there,

yes CO2 is a pain.... If I will be you I will look on distribution first.... With so much CO2 I will think about death spots.

After that you might consider better way to dissolve CO2. I used to use that reactor and It's great do not take ne wrong bit I will not use it with pressure CO2 as there are many better ways.

Vaz
Click to expand...
Circulation is very good....spraybar on the back of the tank....all plants moving under water shows circulation everywhere....hell this is a 40L tank hooked on 1000L/h filter! When water level is lowered this is what circulation looks like

127949b62684361adca8b9e82df9fa58.jpg
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At the moment I can't find a chiller that is small enough not to take so much space....I would like something small for a 40L tank....lets hope that the temps will fall now that is autumn. Any chillers to suggest?

Secondly I am contemplating on setting my up atomizer just under the inlet of my filter. I will not disconnect the reactor even though I will not inject CO2 to it. Lets see how that works out.
 
Jaap said:
Ok I do understand the temperature factor.....tell that to Tom Barr and Mike....

Tom Bar: I have it outside in 45 degrees Celsius

Mike: http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/junglerino.34238/ - 60l with one 18W T8, 15cm above the water level, it's an experiment I've run for the last year to prove people and myself that there's no such thing as not enough light. Had also 30-32 degrees for two weeks with an average around 26-27 this year, when I saw the first signs of melting I just needed to crank up the CO2, as the temperature rises less CO2 remains in the water.

Some people say its temperature others say its not.....still at 29 degrees Celsius the CO2 should have been more than enough.....10 bps is ridiculous!
Click to expand...
Yes ok, but Tom Barr is one of the best aquatic plant growers on the planet and his co2 application is second to none IMHO, also as mike stated he sees melt and cranks up the co2, you obviously feel your co2 is adequate but your plants are showing you it can be improved.
 
tim said:
Yes ok, but Tom Barr is one of the best aquatic plant growers on the planet and his co2 application is second to none IMHO, also as mike stated he sees melt and cranks up the co2, you obviously feel your co2 is adequate but your plants are showing you it can be improved.
Click to expand...

Would setting my up atomizer just under the inlet of my filter be a good move? I will not disconnect the reactor but I will not inject CO2 to it since i will now have th UP atomizer. How does that sound...
 
tim said:
Worth a try, the reactor may restrict flow but with 1000 lph on a 40ltr that shouldn't be an issue, you will find a solution, make the change and give it a week to see if there's an improvement, in all honesty your flow/ distribution does look good.
Click to expand...

If I keep the reactor wouldn't the CO2 build up in there again? Coming from the diffuser into the filter into the reactor....
 
That flow looks very powerful but your bar definitely looks to low!
I think to get a really good circular flow you will need to raise the bar.
All the same it can be very frustrating when you seem to have all the right factors in place & slow growth.
I do wonder if your flow might be to much, just a suggestion but the C02 need to have contact time with the plants & perhaps the water is churing to fast & gassing off on the surface?
First I would move the bar up to just under the surface & then maybe reduce the flow a little to see if that helps.
 
foxfish said:
That flow looks very powerful but your bar definitely looks to low!
I think to get a really good circular flow you will need to raise the bar.
All the same it can be very frustrating when you seem to have all the right factors in place & slow growth.
I do wonder if your flow might be to much, just a suggestion but the C02 need to have contact time with the plants & perhaps the water is churing to fast & gassing off on the surface?
First I would move the bar up to just under the surface & then maybe reduce the flow a little to see if that helps.
Click to expand...
I raised the spray bar and increased co2 injection

01faf5558bac63df389516bc32169fbd.jpg
 
Most strange.... I just bubble Co2 straight into the inlet of my filter, no diffuser, reactor or anything...2 BPS in a 400ltr tank....worked for years

I'm also thinking maybe you have too much circulation causing aeration to remove to CO2 as fast as it's added. I'd suggest losing the spray bar, halving the flow and having the outlet pipe a little below the surface circulating the water far more gently around the tank without too much surface rippling. Double check KH and Ph and if that is all fine then the problem is elsewhere...
 
Chris Jackson said:
Most strange.... I just bubble Co2 straight into the inlet of my filter, no diffuser, reactor or anything...2 BPS in a 400ltr tank....worked for years

I'm also thinking maybe you have too much circulation causing aeration to remove to CO2 as fast as it's added. I'd suggest losing the spray bar, halving the flow and having the outlet pipe a little below the surface circulating the water far more gently around the tank without too much surface rippling. Double check KH and Ph and if that is all fine then the problem is elsewhere...
Click to expand...
The is not much water agitation to be honest...just underwater circulation...unless that causes problems I dont think I am losing co2 from there...

Maybe the high temperature drives co2 requirements up OR water circulation is high and plants are unable to come to contact with co2 and nutrients due to fast moving unterwater currents....however I am just contemplating about the second part and I am not sure its true!
 
Hi, well I've just found the main thread about this tank of yours and it seems you're getting plenty of good advice already and I'm not sure I have much more to add. High temp is certainly a variable that maybe contributing and one that fewer people have experience with. High circulation maybe stressing the plants perhaps?
 
How much co2 are you aiming for ? with your consumption it must be waay above 100 ppm.. If thats not your aim go fix your co2 leak. You consume more than i do in my 576 Liter + 128 Liter sump..

how you conclude to have no co2 leak is way too easy.
 
I think the second propeller of the reactor isn't spinning...does that play a huge difference?
 
Put it in a bucket of water to identify leaks. Check all connectors. Add nutes and co2. Amount of light will affect speed of growth. remember plants cant move around to reach the nutricients so have enough circulation to make tank free of deadspots. i drop my PH from 7,4 to 6,2. no definitive answer but atleast it is an indication of co2.

if you only keep slow growing plants things will go slow. i stopped reading all these forums and followed one guide alone to make it abit easier in the beginning.

Keep faith and be dedicated following same procedures. it often takes some time for changes to show. i.e i dose macro + micro every day. water changes on same intervals.
 
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