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DIY Project DIY Reactor - pictures, assembly and testing

Just out of curiosity why the bend at the outlet? I was told that any bending in that is not linear will slow the rate of flow down by a lot. Wouldn't it look better make it with the same connector as the one you have in the inflow area rather than the bend?

Sorry if I've missed this but was there silicone applied around the bleeding valve? If not, would siliconing it down not solve the problem or is there another issue here that I'm missing out on?

What about instead of using the valve in the setup, you drilling a hole and put something like this in it and connect the valve externally with an airline?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hose-Tails-1-8-BS ... 27af58902f
 
When I made mine I had a bend at the bottom, I saw it as an advantage meaning I wouldn't have to rig up some way of holding the reactor in mid air, the reactor can just rest on the floor. also it is unlikely people will be able to have the reactor directly above their filter so there will be a bend, be it on the reactor or the return pipe.
 
daniel19831123 said:
Just out of curiosity why the bend at the outlet? I was told that any bending in that is not linear will slow the rate of flow down by a lot. Wouldn't it look better make it with the same connector as the one you have in the inflow area rather than the bend?

Sorry if I've missed this but was there silicone applied around the bleeding valve? If not, would siliconing it down not solve the problem or is there another issue here that I'm missing out on?

What about instead of using the valve in the setup, you drilling a hole and put something like this in it and connect the valve externally with an airline?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hose-Tails-1-8-BS ... 27af58902f
Click to expand...

The valve was bleeding from the valve itself, not where it was attached so silicone wouldn't have solved the problem. Apart from attaching something like what you linked I still can't find a suitably reliable, cheap enough alternative but when I get time I will sort it out. I just don't have any time at the moment.

The bend at the bottom was for two reasons.
The first was to make the pipe back to the tank come off at a better angle as you need a bend and you will restrict the flow a lot less with a large diameter bend than a small one.
The second was to also help prevent CO2 bubbles return to the tank. When the water enters the bottom area the bubbles will collect and rise up without fighting the flow like they would if the water was going straight down. Not a big difference probably but every bit helps IMO.
 
Thanks for the quick explanation. Was hoping to build one similar to your initially till I saw your post. I was considering the use of acrylic tubing instead of PVC tubing as they are much much more dearer. I was thinking of construction a linear one without a bend as I've got a 2 tier tank rack with no where to place the reactor under the tank! Another changes that I was thinking of doing was to install a airline connector through the PVC tubing but connect it with a short airline with an atomiser at the end. Was hoping that if you've got smaller bubble to start with, the length of the tube can be shortened to maybe 25-30cm? Just my 2 cent
 
daniel19831123 said:
Thanks for the quick explanation. Was hoping to build one similar to your initially till I saw your post. I was considering the use of acrylic tubing instead of PVC tubing as they are much much more dearer. I was thinking of construction a linear one without a bend as I've got a 2 tier tank rack with no where to place the reactor under the tank! Another changes that I was thinking of doing was to install a airline connector through the PVC tubing but connect it with a short airline with an atomiser at the end. Was hoping that if you've got smaller bubble to start with, the length of the tube can be shortened to maybe 25-30cm? Just my 2 cent
Click to expand...

If you go with acrylic pipe then you won't be able to join it to PVC fittings so it will restrict your choice of fittings.

As long as you inject the CO2 into an area of fast flow then I don't think you need to break the bubbles up. In my design the flow does this so there's no fine atomiser that needs cleaning, but your idea should work too. I'm not sure it'll make much difference to the size you need, but this length was just designed to reduce the microbubbles in the tank and allow you to inject loads of CO2 for big tanks.
 
Ed Seeley said:
As long as you inject the CO2 into an area of fast flow then I don't think you need to break the bubbles up.
Click to expand...

I agree.
I have built my own reactor, with a similar design to Ed's, and found this to be true IME. The bubles dissolved completely.
My reactor was quite large as well, this could also have helped.
It was so efficient I had to half my bubble rate so as not to gas the fish :thumbup:
 
a1Matt said:
I agree.
I have built my own reactor, with a similar design to Ed's, and found this to be true IME. The bubles dissolved completely.
My reactor was quite large as well, this could also have helped.
It was so efficient I had to half my bubble rate so as not to gas the fish :thumbup:
Click to expand...
When are you going to build me one? 😛
 
LondonDragon said:
a1Matt said:
I agree.
I have built my own reactor, with a similar design to Ed's, and found this to be true IME. The bubles dissolved completely.
My reactor was quite large as well, this could also have helped.
It was so efficient I had to half my bubble rate so as not to gas the fish :thumbup:
Click to expand...
When are you going to build me one? 😛
Click to expand...

I know Paulo. I'm really sorry to you and the others who asked for one.

I can build the reactor body no problem at all, it's the inlets for CO2 and outlets for bleeding that are causing the issues still.

The best solution I can think of at the moment involves adding a shepherds crook piece of pipe of the right diameter and drilling and glueing in fittings to that for the CO2 and bleed valve. How does that sound to those who wanted one?
 
So long as it does the job it sounds fine by me 🙂
 
Ed, you've done a great job with this reactor. Wouldn't it be possible to use the John Guest fittings for the inlet for CO² and outlet bleed valve?

John Guest Fittings

Just thinking you could use a 1/4" connector for the inlet and another for the outlet with a short piece of hose connected to the end and a 1/4" ball valve connected to the other end for the bleed valve?
 
Ed Seeley said:
I know Paulo. I'm really sorry to you and the others who asked for one.
Click to expand...
Was not having a dig at you mate 😉 was asking Matt to make me one lol
 
LondonDragon said:
Ed Seeley said:
I know Paulo. I'm really sorry to you and the others who asked for one.
Click to expand...
Was not having a dig at you mate 😉 was asking Matt to make me one lol
Click to expand...

Didn't think you were mate, no worries! I am just annoyed with myself that it all ground to a halt! I will get them done at some point. Was hoping to get on with them this half term but I've got so much work to do I don't think I'll get the chance. Maybe Easter!
 
Ed Seeley said:
Didn't think you were mate, no worries! I am just annoyed with myself that it all ground to a halt! I will get them done at some point. Was hoping to get on with them this half term but I've got so much work to do I don't think I'll get the chance. Maybe Easter!
Click to expand...
No worries mate, when you have time. I have tried so many diffusers that I lost count haha in the reverted back to my old Hydor mini pump diffuser just under the filter intake, seems to do the job ok for now.
 
Hang in there Ed, I am sure you will get it cracked sooner or later 😀

LondonDragon said:
Ed Seeley said:
I know Paulo. I'm really sorry to you and the others who asked for one.
Click to expand...
Was not having a dig at you mate 😉 was asking Matt to make me one lol
Click to expand...

No chance! :lol:
DIY is not my strongpoint it was a blooming nightmare to build just one of them :evil: :lol:
Plus no bleed valve on mine, I just let the flow slowly push any air out the system.
I will dig it out of the loft and bring it on Sat so you can have a gander at it.
 
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Brand-New-1-5L-Ex ... 3a4a907190

Just wondering if there is anyone out there that has bought this unit and converted into a CO2 reactor. I was thinking of buying it and drill a small hole to fit a non return valve in the chamber and seal it with silicone and then connect it to the CO2 tubing. Surely it's the same concept just save me the hassle of needing to build all the parts up myself. lol
 
Ed Seeley. I built a reactor to your design and it appears to be working ok. Thanks for the info you supplied.
I used clear acrylic pipe (perspex) bought from E-Bay and pvc fittings from LBS Garden warehouse at
Colne, Lancs. I live within a few miles of this supplier and found the gentleman at the trade counter extremely helpful and obliging with the result that I was able to buy all[/u] the fittings in one place at some cost saving. I notice some of you have doubts about cementing acrylic to pvc so you may be interested
to know that polyester resin (car body glassfibre kits such as Fastglass) does the trick! I made a bleed valve by drilling a .8mm hole through an M4 brass bolt and screwing this into the base of the hosetail. A short piece of silicone tube closed with a small G clamp seals it once the air has been bled off. Co2 will be via a tee piece as in the design shown. Full testing has to await the setting up of the tank but a trial run shows perfect working! Thanks for sharing your design and information which prove very helpful to someone who is new to Co2 injection.
 
I'm sorry if you already found these and decided against using them. I've read the thread and didn't see it:

http://www.aquaristikshop.com/cgi-bin/n ... temartic_e

These are the same valves Aqua Medic use on the AM1000 and their nitrate reductors. I've ordered from AquaristikShop a few times and the only minor "problem" I've had is that they don't tell you if something isn't in stock. They either wait until they have it or they send what they have and refund the difference. The shipping's very reasonable considering it's from Germany.
 
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