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Cerges' Reactor - DIY Inline CO2 Reactor

438K views 906 replies 222 participants last post by  iltwort 
#1 ·
Have to thank our Russian friends for this one. After playing with the Rex Griggs reactor I wanted to try something else. Principal and cost are about the same design is different.

http://translate.google.com/transla...yjj_reaktor_so2.html&sl=ru&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8

What you will need:

Omni OB1 Series A House Filter
2- 1/2" Male Threaded Adaptors with Barb end
2- 3/4" 90 degree Street fitting
2- 3/4" PVC Male Adaptor
2- 3/4" x 1/2" PVC Bushing
1- 3/4" CPVC Coupling - Note this has to be CPVC not PVC as the PVC fittings are too big
1- 6 3/4" x 3/4" CPVC Pipe - Again has to be CPVC and not PVC
PVC Primer and Cement
CO2 Tubing
Teflon Thread Tape
Scissors
Needle Nose Pliers
Filter Tubing
Drill and Drill bit for your CO2 Tubing

Total cost as ~ $23 each about the same as the Rex Griggs inline reactor if you don't use clear pvc.

Filter Housing:





Start by removing the Priming Button via the screw on the inside of the lid for the housing:




Drill out the hole to accept your CO2 tubing this hole shpould be smaller then your CO2 Tubing so it creates its' own seal.



Cut the CO2 tubing at a sharp angle so you can stick it through and pull it with the needle nose pliers. This should be slightly tough to pull through as it will create a seal as you pull the tubing through.





Cut the CPVC pipe off at 6 3/4", if you are using a different filter you may have to adjust the cut off length. I cut mine so it was about 3/4" off the bottom. Push the CPVC coupler over the nipple in the lid, should fit really snug. Then push the CPVC pipe into the coupler. I didn't glue this together as it was a snug fit and should be under little pressure.




Lay out and glue the fittings together, with the fitting I chose you won't need any extra 3/4" pipe as all the fittings go together.





Attach the fittings to each side jsut make sure you hook them up according to the Flow marking on the lid. Finished Product.



I will update tomorrow once I install these as to how effective they are, but based on looks they should function really well. According to the article I linked to about he got a .5 PH change in a matter of minutes.

Craig
 
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#463 ·
I was getting a few bubbles out of the 20" Cerges with the Rio 2500 even though there was more than 10' of PVC to the spraybar but now no bubbles even though the Cerges is nearly directly underneath the bulkhead going to the tank from the sump. No idea how that could be but it is. Rio 2500 is supposed to have 530 gph at 4' head. I count 4 90* elbows including the ones in the reactor itself so the pump might be producing 400 gph through the Cerges. http://reefcentral.com/calc/hlc2.php

Putting a reactor on the return will cut its gph right there. The Rio was keeping 2 U tubes full when I just had the CO2 line stuck in the pump's intake but when I put the Cerges on the second U tube kept getting bubbles in it due to flow that wasn't quite adequate.
 
#465 ·
I'm considering building one of these as my Sera Flore 500 is cutting too much of my flow, and not dissolving my CO2 very well. Still getting microbubbles. I have an Eheim 2028 on a 60p aquarium. Should I get the standard 10" housing or go for the big boy 20" housing? I want no bubbles from the CO2.
 
#466 · (Edited)
#468 ·
I use a Mag 5 fractionating pump (made for skimmers) with the intake they come with. Looks like this:



You could easily bring the line from your CO2 bottle up into the aquarium and stick it into the intake pipe and do the exact same thing. When I did it that way I cut a 1" long piece of wooden chopstick and stuffed it into the end of the CO2 line. That wasn't necessary either but I was trying to make it a little quieter.
 
#473 ·
When I was making the decision, the Mag 5 was on sale for $55 and the filter housing was $5 less than now, so about $38. With the additional hose and hardware it came to within a spit-shot of the price of the bigger housing, so I went for it. I can't tell you it will make a significant difference in the flow because I have no empirical data to refer to. I'm sure it will but how much I don't know.. My gut tells me "not much" but then I don't know your exact setup or requirements. I can tell you that in my system, the filter adds very little resistance. Add elbows and barbs that have reduced IDs and it may or may not be worth worrying about. One way to find out is to try it and let us know! If designed with the thought that you might have to go discreet loop, the parts can be repurposed to that end and you're only out the time and effort.
 
#474 ·
The only downside I'm seeing to a closed loop is more equipment in the tank... But that doesn't really bother me. My tank used to have no equipment-everything was inline. It was a pita. It's not like anybody came over and said " wow there is no equipment in the tank"

Since then I have sold my lily pipes(which cleaning them makes them not worth having) I also sold my atomizer(worthless) and I still have an almost new hydor 300w chillin on a shelf. I'm now using the stock fluval input and out put with one of those tiny little terra heaters they sell at Walmart(I think it's a 25w) and I am 10x happier with it. I honestly don't know why that heater works so well in my 72g, but it does and I recommend it. It's small and easy to hide, it works great.

My tank is just starting to grow in again after a major rescape and equipment upgrade(replaced xp2 with an fx5)

I have the fluval running full bore.this tank will be heavily planted much like it was before I'm currently getting 600gph with my set up. I'm not sure that a flow reduction would really hurt me....but since my huge bga break out due to lack of flow I have become a flow nazi.

before the tear down

These are how it was planted before. I plan I plan on planting it heavier than before

this is now(lots of room to grow)
 
#476 ·
#479 ·
Well my filter housing came in. Bought this one. It is gigantic.

http://www.discountfilterstore.com/water-filter-whole-house-pentek-3g-standard-20-clear-pr20.html

Will be overkill on my tank but I want no CO2 bubbles. Period. Can anyone post or PM me the materials I need for this thing to hook up to 5/8 tubing, including the T junction for the CO2? I've not done any plumbing or the such so this is a bit foreign.
I just bought the same housing from the same place. I'm going to be looking on Amazon.com for the pieces that Moose listed and, if I remember, I'll list them here with links.
 
#477 ·
List of materials (might miss something - it always happens!). These are just pix I took off various sites and they're a mishmash of colors and sizes due to my inherent laziness. ;-) Please do look in Lowes or Home Depot for these items because all of them are usually there and you can make a fun game out of finding them! Lowes has a better selection of parts like this, as HD has decided that allocating real estate to $2 parts doesn't make them rich enough anymore.

Good luck and keep asking if you need to.


2- 5/8" male barb to 3/4" NPT male threaded, for the house filter in/out:



1 5/8" T barb with male NPT, for the CO2 injection:



1 matching female NPT to barb the size of your CO2 hose (3/16" is standard) This one might end up being brass, and that's ok:



Teflon Tape to wrap around threads (6 turns minimum, clockwise to the threads so that it stays on when you tighten the fittings:





Metal Hose Clamps (as many as needed):



One First Aid Kit:




Ok, I think that should hopefully get you started.
 
#486 ·
I'm thinking about making one of the inline co2 reactors for my Ehiem 2213 on my 20L.

Anyone have any experience with this?

I'm concerned about flow reduction...
 
#487 ·
Hi m00se,

I'll have a similar setup like the pictures you posted above. I already ordered the 20" clear filter and ready to place the order for the Mag 5. Btw, smart ideas to have it run separate.
I know that you listed the parts on the previous page but the last two pieces wasn't cleared to me

( 1 x 5/8" T barb with male NPT, for the CO2 injection )

(1 matching female NPT to barb the size of your CO2 hose (3/16" is standard) This one might end up being brass, and that's ok ) - seemed like this is where you connected co2 line. But i thought the co2 connected to the Mag 5 white venturi tubing.

I'll have it hook up to a Mag Drive 5 with the Venturi. Is it possible that you can take a closer picture where the Mag Drive connections and the Co2 injection part?

Also do you think the Mag 5 - 500 flow rate is too much on my 48 gallon tank ? I think too much flow can push the co2 back to the tank.

thank you,
 
#488 ·
Hey Kevin,

Yes, that T and barb is for a set up on the output of a canister or other generic pump configuration. Lots of people will remove the red bleed valve on the top of the cap of the filter and thread the CO2 hose into that hole. If you do that you lose the ability to burp the air out of the filter unless you arrange a bleed valve on the CO2 line somewhere. If you get the Mag with the skimmer impeller it comes with an intake adapter with a nipple to connect your CO2 hose (it would be air for the skimmer if used as intended), so you don't need that T fitting or barb arrangement. Hope that's clearer than mud ;)
 
#490 ·
Hi,

I'm thinking about building one of these reactors but I can't get past one concern regarding the potential for a disastrous leak.

It seems to me that the weak link is the "T" where the co2 line joins the water line. The hoses can have clamp on them to lock them down -- so they are pretty safe. But the pics I see on this thread show the co2 line just slipped over the barb. I've also seen them entering the top of the GE unit through the hole where the bleed valve previously lived (as mentioned in moose's post above). So here's my concern: it seems to me that if the co2 line comes off the barb or out of that little hole at the to of the GE unit there will be water all over the place. Now, since there are a lot of people putting these reactors together and nobody is talking about disasters I've got a feeling I must be missing something. Are those little barb connections so snug fitting they are foolproof? Or is there a checkvalve of some kind that I'm missing? Any info appreciated. Thank you!
 
#491 ·
On my "T" I use a small 4" black cable tie (Lowes) like a hose clamp to secure it to the nipple. It's not necessary because it's pretty snug anyway and we're not talking pressure here, but the insurance keeps me from pacing at night. On the burp holes, you have to slice the airline (which is oversize) diagonally to a sharp tip (think of the tip of a hypodermic needle) so that you can grab it on the underside with a pair of pliers and pull it through that hole. It's very snug and almost stupid-proof. The airline sits 2-3" into the vessel so there's enough there for security.


HTH
 
#493 ·
I bought the fractionating Mag pump and it made little difference (read: none) so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Your quest is to get the flow through the unit to be slow enough to give the CO2 time to dissolve before being pushed into the tank. I also use a pot scrubber on the end of the uptake pipe to capture bubbles before they enter it and into the aquarium. Post #483.
 
#494 ·
My 20" reactor almost works. It breaks the bubbles up pretty well, but once they get small enough they're able to leave the reactor. Do you think that adding a pot scrubber would help? Alternatively, I've got about a gallon of bioballs laying around. Which is preferable?
 
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