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DIY Project High flow DIY reactor - now with video

got home from work today just after lights on in the tank and the drop checker was bright yellow and the fish where gasping at the surface.

Going to have to jiggle around start and end time, the reactor is working to efficiently now 🙂
 
Depending on which flask you're using for the reactor, the gold neck from the large Ribena bottles can be pulled off and put on the neck of a 500ml Evian bottle. This then fits perfectly onto the reactor lid.

I've recently changed from a Fluval diffuser, to the UP one Foxfish used. I'm still getting large bubbles. I gave up on it after a day because of these. How long do they take to clear? The small bubbles seem to get caught in them to make the big bubbles bigger 😵
 
I don't think you actually need to use a diffuser at all as the gas does seem to form a pocket at the top of the neck.
It depends on flow rate, neck shape and how far down the diffuser it fitted inside the bottle as to how much gas collects.
Either way seems to work though.... Are you getting any bubbles inside the tank?
 
Mines been running for a month now, I'm using a fluval diffuser inside the bottle and i'm getting a fair amount of misting in the tank which I dont mind at all as personally I like it.

The only problem i'm finding is the co2 is collecting either inside the bottle neck or somewhere inside the filter housing,( I'm thinking its in the filter housing where the water exits) then when the pocket of gas gets too big it all expels at once, this obviously isn't ideal as its a waste of co2 but i'm not sure how to combat it?

I was thinking of trying it with out a diffuser at all, this would stop any misting in the tank but i'm not sure if it would help with the trapped co2 problem.

I've also cut the bottom of the bottle a few mm off the bottom of the filter housing but I've noticed that this has reduced flow a lot.


Edit just had a thought, if the pocket of gas is inside the filter housing its being created by the tiny bubbles that are escaping out of the bottom of the bottle. If I don't use a diffuser that means no tiny bubbles and the air pocket can only be inside the bottle which shouldn't be able to escape?
That was the theory any way 🙂
 
I have a three speed pump on mine and even at max flow I don't get any bubbles escaping but I think my filter housing is just a little bigger than the standard one available now. I did spend quite a lot of time testing different bottles & there is no doubt different shapes make a difference.
 
Would it be worth putting bioballs in the top of the bottle to prevent any large pockets of air?
 
Is there a problem with the pocket of C02, the reactor should still work fine as the flowing water is continuously dissolving the gas, how long does the bubble take to dissolve once the gas is turned off...are you getting any small bubbles in the tank?
 
A pocket of co2 inside the bottle would not be a problem as like you say it will slowly dissolve over time.

I'm getting a pocket of co2 in the filter housing which builds up and releases all the co2 at once. I think the pocket of co2 is being created by tiny bubbles which are escaping from the bottom of the bottle.

I'm using a fluval diffuser at the moment but I had the idea of not using a diffuser at all, this would result in bigger bubbles which hopefully would be too large to escape from the bottom of the bottle but i've not had a chance to try this yet.
 
Would the reduced surface area of the larger bubble not reduce the efficiency somewhat?
 
as long as the bubble does not escape the bottle it should be 100% dissolved into the water.

a lager bubble should rise quicker too and as there will be lots of them no doubt a pocket of co2 will form at the neck of the bottle but like said above this should be ok as there is water constantly flowing through it dissolving the co2. If somehow the bubble escapes the bottle then it will waste the co2.
 
My point is though, the surface area the water comes into contact with is reduced. It would be far more beneficial for the bubbles to be kept broken up. If you could force the water and CO2 through a tube filled with sponge into the bottle, it would possible prevent large bubbles from forming, and make the reaction more efficient.

Will give it a go if I get chance, then report back any findings.
 
Success at last!

I've removed the diffuser and just have the co2 tubing going straight into the bottle. I now get zero misting in the tank.

I've also changed the bottle over to one with a longer narrower neck, this seems to work much better.
 
discusdan said:
I've also changed the bottle over to one with a longer narrower neck, this seems to work much better.
Click to expand...

What kind of bottle have you used? I gave up on mine because I couldn't get the drop checker to change colour. This could be to do with my filter though.
 
I'm using an AquaOne EF1000. I'm fairly convinced the flow isn't high enough to effectively dissolve the CO2. I'll give it anither go with the recommended bottle when I get a bit of time.
 
My reactor is finally in place, I built it exactly the same as foxfish with the final piece of standard airline pulled through a 4.5ml drilled hole into the centre, it does self seal, I only have approx a foot of this attached to a brass check valve then the proper co2 tubing to bubble counter and reg etc, s if this final piece should start to perish I can easily just replace a short piece.

I have a problem though, no leaks, just no co2! my drop checker has not turned yellow at all, looking at the diffuser i'm using the same as foxfish, it isn't providing any fine bubbles into the bottle, i've tried adjusting the jbl reg working pressure from 1 all the way through to 2.5 bar and all I get is some big bubbles, not a lot! looking at foxfish's video again, his does show many fine misting bubbles and if I look carefully at mine there are just some at the base of the ceramic where it joins the plastic peg it is attached to, maybe my diffuser is faulty??

I do have spares as I ordered 6, so must break it all down again, what a pain as I'll have to remove pipes from the tank as I can't get the eheim tubing off the barbed elbows from the reactor, so will have to carefully unscrew the base of the reactor in a bucket to save a big mess in the lounge.

I'd hate to replace with another the same only to find it still doesn't work so will test the diffuser first in a bowl of water to see what it does, I set this up Sunday and so far my co2 is far worse than with an in tank diffuser so must do something quickly.
 
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