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DIY Project High flow DIY reactor - now with video

You've suggested all the things it could be I think, Either you have a leak somewhere. The diffuser is faulty or your regulator can't supply the pressure needed to operate the diffuser.

Another thing to check is the hole you have drilled in the filter cap for the air line is not too small. If its to tight it will cause the air line to pinch together and cause a block.
I did the same thing on mine but used co2 tubing instead of silicone tubing, co2 tubing is much more rigid and wont pinch together like silicone tubing will.

are you sure your diffusers are the same as foxfish's, if you bought 6 you spent over £60 on diffusers!???

Lastly, its pretty much trial and error with these reactors. I found mine to work much better with no diffuser at all.
 
Yep definitely used the same diffusers as he kindly posted an eBay link on this thread, they were £2.30 each so. I paid £13.80 with free postage.
Indeed I have now put everything back together, my JBL regulator will certainly push enough pressure as I've been running an inline at 3 bar no problem, I have faulty up diffusers, checked all of them in a large bowl and only 2 seem to do much at all, I've replaced with the better one and will check again when home after work tomorrow, if they're dud I'll either run my high pressure easy Aqua big diffuser or remove all together like you say🙂__


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Foxfish, I presume by reverse flow, you are thinking of the same method as I have; water flowing in from the side, down thr flask, then up a tube in the middle of the flask? I considered trying this, but have put the CO2 on my smaller tank, so flask will no longer fit.
 
That would be far to simple lol ..
No I am thinking about a vortex reaction chamber in the top section, in fact I have made a fibreglass insert to cause the vortex but I need more experimentation to perfect the shape.
Personally I have found the original version as featured in this thread to run absolutely fault free for year in year out but I wonder if it is because of the slightly larger vessels is more efficient?
If I can get the new model to work as well but with the more recent standard size bowl then it might help those guys who are not getting the best results.
 
Hi Henry
I drilled a 4.5ml hole and an using std airline 6ml od, I'll check this later as I have a 2 hour water change do tonight so will be getting stuck in anyway, I just followed foxfish's original example to the letter. You say you used cO2 tube, did this pull through ok then? And what size hole did you drill as I could do this tonight if the restriction is the cause, I do have spare cO2 tubing🙂
Cheers Clive


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So here are a few pictures of my new development, actually I made the fiberglass piece some time ago but I feel inspired to get on with it...

I filled up some of the deeper contours with wax & shaped the new outlet that will spin the water...
image-2.jpg

I popped out the piece easy enough but not tried it out yet!

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Looks interesting foxfish, keep us posted on how you're getting on.

Pink
I'd say its either a restriction or a leak?

I cant remember what size hole I drilled for the co2 tubing, probably 5.5mm, I do remember it was a right pain to get through! Start small and make it half a mm bigger each time untill it pulls through with just a little force.
If you drilled a 4.5mm hole and the wall thickness on your air line is 2mm its likely causing a restriction.
Obviously you want the hole to be tight to make a seal but not too tight. its one of the reasons I drilled the hole in mine into the air valve release hole.
I filled the hole with silicone to double protect against leaks.

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another note on the reactor. I've found that the co2 stays in the filter housing for longer before dissolving and getting to the tank.
I still have my co2 on for the same length of time as before "6 hours" but I have to turn the co2 on a lot earlier than i used to have to with an in tank diffuser. (to get drop checker yellow at lights on)

With an earlier start time obviously the co2 turns off earlier but because there is so much co2 still in the filter housing its still being pumped through to the tank hours after the co2 has turned off.

You may find this the same on yours so will have to adjust times accordingly.


Also while you're getting the co2 set up right it might be worth knocking your lighting back to just a few hours per day, just untill you get the co2 stable again.
 
Cool, cheers for that mate, I'm home now ready to sort this before my 130 litre water change🙂
Ok so I need drill, cO2 tubing, drill bits and kids out of my feet.
I checked for leaks and have none so I'm pretty sure you've nailed it with the restriction being the cause, my drop checker is dark green and I backed up the timer last night so the Gas came on 5 hours before the lights, cO2 on at 12 midday! So it's obviously not right.
I do know that with the existing drilled hole being 4.5ml I can hardly pull through any standard airline it's such a tight fit, my only worry is if the cO2 tubing being that much less supple will it self seal as I have no sealant at the moment😉


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4.5mm should be ok.
Are you saying you don't have any Co2 in the reactor? you should be able to see the reactor working the collected gas into a frenzy?
Anyway if you are going to disconnect it all - it should be easy enough to blow through the air line that goes through the hole.
The Co2 only need a tiny aperture to flow through, you should have no issues operating on 1.5 bar.
So just to ask again ... can you see the gas inside the reactor, it should be accumulating in the top of the bottle?
 
Hi mate, there wasn't much fizzing out the ceramic diffuser really, I checked your video again and you can really see it coming out of yours, I tested the batch of UP simple diffusers in a bowl last night, albeit still attached to the tubing bring run through the housing lid, they were poor, in fact the original one I had in only allowed some Gas out directly where the green plastic peg was fitted to the ceramic with no bubbles from the ceramic itself.
I could blow through the hose yes but I've now 're drilled at 4.8 and managed to pull through some rigid cO2 tube and I can blow better, just worried now that it won't be water or air tight, I have found an unopened tube of king British sealant to dab around the joint, maybe I should remove the tube again and smear inside the hole first but it says to leave for 48 hours :-S

Would it be ok? Sealant I mean. I suppose I just need to try it, unsure ad to put a diffuser on or not now though, filter is a JBL e1501 1400 l.p./h without media


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Right decision made, going to remove reactor and seal the tubing, leave it for the two days to cure, found some spare filter hose so I'm going to reset my filter tonight on its own and run cO2 directly into the tank with my large UP atomiser, so as a temporary measure until the reactor is ready.
Golly I need some nurafen now😀

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might be worth trying the diffusers again in a bowl with the new co2 tubing, then your'll know if it was the air line that was causing a restriction?

I found mine to make a good seal using co2 tubing, i just added the silicone for extra peace of mind.
 
Yep your right, I've set the filter running on its own for a bit while I tinker about, I've found some super glue🙂 it's damn tight and takes a good pull to move so should be ok, just that I can see a gap at the top when I move the tubing side to side
 
Hey you guy's😀

I'm all done, no leaks, no noise,no diffuser🙂

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Right, big water change then some tea😀 thanks everyone, don't you just love UKAPS😉

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Well not a successful evening, got home and drop checker hadn't changed at all, ph tested at 7.8 out the tap it's 8.2 so little happening.
Looking at the spray bar flow after removing the top few inches from the tank, the bar with the filter running the reactor was seriously reduced compared to the stand alone filter. They are identical JBL e1501 rated at 1400 lph without media, I fear my filters are just not cutting it to push through the additional 5 litres or so within the reactor:-/
I've had no choice tonight but to dismantle the reactor, I've just placed an atomiser in the tank for tomorrow as I've had little or no cO2 since Saturday evening now and my plants are full of holes.
I had planned on fitting one reactor off each filter as have a 260 litre bow fronted vicenza and am now lost as to what to do, I don't mind refitting if I can pump the required volume through but can't afford to keep throwing money at it, it's been like chasing the Dragon lol🙂
Any suggestions most welcomed
Cheers Clive and Fran 🙂

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O dear it has been a bad experience for you mate!
Do you know the watt rating of your filter pump?
It sounds like there is just not enough power (flow) going through the reactor to dissolve the gas quick enough but I must say I am surprised!
Did there appear to much of a build up of gas in the reactor as was it being furiously agitated .. it is the continuous movement of the gas bubbles within the flow that causes the gas to dissolve.
 
Hi mate, it's only 20 watts as its JBL's greenline series, it's the largest they do.

There were bubbles in the neck of the bottle but not much of a buildup of gas, I would say the flow through the reactor was quite smooth rather than furious🙁 hence my initial thought on the cause being the lack of power, shame as I'd cracked it too. The build wad spot on in the end.
Just ordered a twin ported brass splitter manifold from us akuaristik.com so I can split my cO2 line from the reg. May just put an inline atomiser on each outflow pipe, at the moment my priority is just getting the gas to the plants. I'll cope with the bubles)
I'll pick this up again as may see if I can use a pump similar to you but don't know enough about how it works atm.🙂

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