Eheim 2227 and CO2 injection

[Jackfrost]

I have been using an Eheim 2227 wet/dry filter on my 65G planetd tank for four years now, with a separete Magnum 220 (with no filter media except for floss and a filter pad) driving my DIY reactor.

My results have been mixed, given the amount of CO2 I have been running (1 bubble/ sec) and the chemicals that I have been using.

My lighting is 220 W so I am 3.4 W/G.

I believe that I am fighting against the wet/dry disolving too much of my CO2.

I have read in these forums that some people have used the Eheim 2227's breather tube to feed CO2 into the canister, (and I assume here), and not allow for the O2 exchange to take place.

How is this done ? Does anyone have any info or pictures on this ? Did you replace the green Eheim tubing with CO2 tubing ? Since the Eheim 2227 pulses its output, did the CO2 feed have any effects on its operation ?

Any information on this would help.

Thanks

[wantplantsnotwork]

Just started experimenting with this last week. I bought some brass adapters from HD, and adapted from the co2 tubing supplied by glass gardens to the eheim size tube. And ran it that way.

I soon realized that it would work more effiiecently, (since it wont cycle between fill/empty this way anyway)to remove the float assembly. There initially was a priming problem in getting the air out of the control cylinder. After all the air comes out by repeated futzing, (it comes out the intake tube after a bit) the control cyclinder purged, and all is right with the world.
I considered trying to find a balloon to put on the air breather to accomidate the pressure changes of the fill cycle displacement, but after running it like this, see no reason to. A balloon that wont leak c02 would be a hard thing to come up with, and if it leaked/broke, well, it would not be pretty.

I ran it as an experiment, (my planted tank will not get set up until at least Monday, the day my carpet comes. ) with up to three bubbles/sec on a F.O. 55 gallon. I ran the ph down to 6.9 with a KH of about 5. I did this for a few days with an 2228 clone and a whisper 5 hob running also. My fish must hate me p(h)laying in there water, but I had to find out how it would work.

Essentially, my 2229 is now a 2228 with an added injection point, that being the top of the filter:^)

I currently have all three bays filled with the sintered glass, but will probably make the top one now wallyworld fluff. I have always run a prefilter in the years that I have had it, and it always remained fairly clean.

I also ran the check valve that was included with the Glassgardens package. It should be considered essential. The connections to the tubing in that thing do not give me the warm fuzzies, it is a compression fitting that barely compresses the tubing, and seems to pull out with alarming ease. I may have to try to hunt down some barb fittings for it.

The whole setup saves me from buying another cannister filter. I will run this setup, and the ebay clone on my 90. It also saves the pump losses of having to run a reactor in line with cannister, and saves some possible failure points in plumbing. the other option is to put the 2229 on flebay, and get a 2228 real eheim. Although the clone is nice, parts support has me concerned, and want at least one 'real' filter with the tank in case somthing happens. The LFS has plenty of spare eheim parts stashed in a big file cabinet.

[Jackfrost]

Thanks for the reply wantplantsnotwork

I am feeling that the 2227 may be headed towards ebay also. Its a nice filter, but its application in Planted aquaria may not be its forte.

I see that Filstar is having a price reduction on their XP line, and I may just bite the bullet and get either an XP2 or XP3, and maybe retire the Magnum 220, which has been amazing. 15 years of operation !!! Never a hicup. Its a bit of pain to get all the air out when its started but once setup, the little monster wont quit.

I would like an Eheim 2028 but $150 vs $75 is a big difference.

We will see.

[wantplantsnotwork]

You really don't have to though. Just buy the brass parts to adapt to the breather, it has it's advantages. You will only spend about $4, and have everything you need. Remove the float inside the control chamber and your done.

[Jackfrost]

So you are saying that if I just remove the foam float, I will get continuous water flow ?

The brass fittings seem easy enough to do.

Thanks again.

[ridns]

I just glued a piece of Eheim tubing to my airline tubing. Then it thinks it is hooked up as intended.

[wantplantsnotwork]

[IMG] http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/at...ntid=947&stc=1 [/IMG]

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/at...ntid=947&stc=1

[Twimbo]

Is anyone active on this forum currently using the breather hook-up on an Eheim 2227 as an injection point for their CO2? How about anyone doing it with DIY CO2?

I've just started experimenting with this and am not sure if its working. It seems like I might just be creating a big CO2 bubble in the canister. Hoping someone might have some encouraging experiences to share...

(I know at least one other person in this forum is currently looking at this as an option).

[Twimbo]

Originally Posted by Twimbo

Is anyone active on this forum currently using the breather hook-up on an Eheim 2227 as an injection point for their CO2? How about anyone doing it with DIY CO2?

It does not look like my experiment is working. However, I'd love advice/feedback. Here are some photos of what I did so far.

I have a DIY Yeast CO2 system, two jugs producing CO2 and a Gatorade bottle acting as bubble counter and separator between tank and generators.

I forgot to take a picture of it, but I removed the big foam float that goes in the side tube of the Eheim 2227. Taking the float out, should (I understand) disable the "Wet/Dry" function of this filter and make it operate more like a regular filter.



I also used some brass fittings to connect my airline tube to the breather input on the Eheim 2227, I needed three fittings to make the connection.



Then I started the system and let it run. Priming the filter (filling it up with water), involved unplugging the system and waiting for all the air to escape into the tank (through the INLET tube).

After running all night, I'm noticing that the water level in the filter is dropping, which makes me fear that I'm just creating a big CO2 bubble in the filter rather than getting the CO2 into the water column.

See the water level in the outside tube. That dropped more than an inch over the last 2-3 hours.



Any feedback or input????

[Twimbo]

OK, I unplugged the Eheim 2227 and let it fill with water again. Then restarted the system. A hour later, the water level in the filter has dropped 1/4 of an inch. It would seem, that simply hooking the CO2 up to the breather inlet, does not mix the CO2 with the water.

Any ideas?

In the meantime, I'm going to start looking for other solutions.

[Chasintrades]

I was thinking of the same thing. Perhaps with my pressurized it may work.

[Twimbo]

Still hoping that someone with an Eheim 2227 will jump in on this thread. I'd still like to use the Eheim 2227 for CO2 injection, just need an idea about what I'm doing wrong - or if its really even possible.

Maybe no one is doing it anymore.....