ForestDave
Member
I previously had been taking @Magoo “Anybody use this Chinese External CO2 reactor” but thought I should start a new post.
I am sure there are much quicker ways to skin a cat but I have at last fitted my DIY CO2 reactor. I set it up yesterday and am really happy with it. It’s pretty much silent apart from a little bit of quiet gurgling in the first 30-60mins. If I put my ear next to it I can hear things going on but you would struggle to notice it much. I managed a 0.9ph drop in 2.5 hrs on a 200L tank and it’s bottomed out there so I’ve just turned the CO2 up a smidge. The tank water is crystal clear without a bubble in sight, (Unfortunately this shows up even more of the of tiny uninvited random snails! 🙄).
The Venturi isn’t working yet. I will shorten the Venturi pipe in the reactor tomorrow and see if that helps. It also has an internal Venturi for any gas which gets trapped around the outside of the cone cylinder. I put a purge valve before the inlet pipe at the top as I reasoned that as the reactor was an inverted cone inside any trapped air would bubble up the pipe. Tbh I used it for a tiny bit of gas yesterday when setting up but it seemed to clear itself although it was louder for the first 30mins or so yesterday.
All in all, it was a bit of fun and kept me entertained. I had to keep fighting the thought, "why on earth didn’t I just adapt a 2ltr coke bottle or some other bottle shape," but once I realized the original flat-topped cylinder design wasn’t working for various reasons (see other thread), it made sense to keep playing around with what I had in front of me.
My tank waters clear though and it’s quiet. Thanks to @Hanuman and @Zeus. for the much-appreciated tips!
I am sure there are much quicker ways to skin a cat but I have at last fitted my DIY CO2 reactor. I set it up yesterday and am really happy with it. It’s pretty much silent apart from a little bit of quiet gurgling in the first 30-60mins. If I put my ear next to it I can hear things going on but you would struggle to notice it much. I managed a 0.9ph drop in 2.5 hrs on a 200L tank and it’s bottomed out there so I’ve just turned the CO2 up a smidge. The tank water is crystal clear without a bubble in sight, (Unfortunately this shows up even more of the of tiny uninvited random snails! 🙄).
The Venturi isn’t working yet. I will shorten the Venturi pipe in the reactor tomorrow and see if that helps. It also has an internal Venturi for any gas which gets trapped around the outside of the cone cylinder. I put a purge valve before the inlet pipe at the top as I reasoned that as the reactor was an inverted cone inside any trapped air would bubble up the pipe. Tbh I used it for a tiny bit of gas yesterday when setting up but it seemed to clear itself although it was louder for the first 30mins or so yesterday.
All in all, it was a bit of fun and kept me entertained. I had to keep fighting the thought, "why on earth didn’t I just adapt a 2ltr coke bottle or some other bottle shape," but once I realized the original flat-topped cylinder design wasn’t working for various reasons (see other thread), it made sense to keep playing around with what I had in front of me.
My tank waters clear though and it’s quiet. Thanks to @Hanuman and @Zeus. for the much-appreciated tips!
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