CO2 reactor - and Air

braddiamond · 01-23-2013, 07:03 PM

Please see attached file. I have a small eheim that is powering the c02 reactor but there is air on the top of the reactor so 1/3 is air/co2 and the bottom is water. The water dribbles into the c02 reactor and never fills it up all the way. I did some reading and its seems like the c02 will escape from the water and will be stuck in the reactor or just escape as big air bubbles from the return into the tank. How can i resolve this issue.

Side note: I've tried to just using 1 pump (that pushes water thru reactor and back into tank) mag7 or a eheim 1262 and my tank does not have enough flow and i have many dead spots. by using 2 pumps a mag7 alone gives me enough flow in the tank, i just need to resolve the reactor air issue.

BTW it’s a 72 gallon with an overflow (As pictured), with a hgb.
thanks

mott · 01-23-2013, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by braddiamond

Please see attached file. I have a small eheim that is powering the c02 reactor but there is air on the top of the reactor so 1/3 is air/co2 and the bottom is water. The water dribbles into the c02 reactor and never fills it up all the way. I did some reading and its seems like the c02 will escape from the water and will be stuck in the reactor or just escape as big air bubbles from the return into the tank. How can i resolve this issue.

Side note: I've tried to just using 1 pump (that pushes water thru reactor and back into tank) mag7 or a eheim 1262 and my tank does not have enough flow and i have many dead spots. by using 2 pumps a mag7 alone gives me enough flow in the tank, i just need to resolve the reactor air issue.

BTW it’s a 72 gallon with an overflow (As pictured), with a hgb.
thanks

Put the reactor on one of the pumps, the Eheim is probbably not pushing enough flow for the reactor

norbot · 01-24-2013, 06:45 PM

I had a similar problem trying to make enough flow and have the reactor working.

When I had the reactor connected to the eheim just a trickle would come out of the spraybar and I had bad circulation before that.

What I wound up doing is using an external pump to drive the reactor but I got some black pvc pipe and made a spraybar the entire length of the tank and put it near the substrate. This way I could add the holes to spraybar exactly where I needed more flow and co2 is injected at the bottom of tank, I can't even really notice the spraybar either.

I think a lot of times it's challenging to get the whole reactor system primed, it can be stubborn, I find it helps to use a funnel and just dump water down the intake tube while the pump is running, also try turning the reactor upside down a bunch.

Some people install bleed valves which seems useful. I think sometimes when you just get a trickle, the reactor system is not properly primed. Not too sure though

01-23-2013, 07:03 PM	#1
braddiamond Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (8/100%) Join Date: May 2011 Location: NJ Posts: 46	CO2 reactor - and Air Please see attached file. I have a small eheim that is powering the c02 reactor but there is air on the top of the reactor so 1/3 is air/co2 and the bottom is water. The water dribbles into the c02 reactor and never fills it up all the way. I did some reading and its seems like the c02 will escape from the water and will be stuck in the reactor or just escape as big air bubbles from the return into the tank. How can i resolve this issue. Side note: I've tried to just using 1 pump (that pushes water thru reactor and back into tank) mag7 or a eheim 1262 and my tank does not have enough flow and i have many dead spots. by using 2 pumps a mag7 alone gives me enough flow in the tank, i just need to resolve the reactor air issue. BTW it’s a 72 gallon with an overflow (As pictured), with a hgb. thanks Attached Images

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01-24-2013, 06:45 PM	#3
norbot Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Boise Posts: 94	I had a similar problem trying to make enough flow and have the reactor working. When I had the reactor connected to the eheim just a trickle would come out of the spraybar and I had bad circulation before that. What I wound up doing is using an external pump to drive the reactor but I got some black pvc pipe and made a spraybar the entire length of the tank and put it near the substrate. This way I could add the holes to spraybar exactly where I needed more flow and co2 is injected at the bottom of tank, I can't even really notice the spraybar either. I think a lot of times it's challenging to get the whole reactor system primed, it can be stubborn, I find it helps to use a funnel and just dump water down the intake tube while the pump is running, also try turning the reactor upside down a bunch. Some people install bleed valves which seems useful. I think sometimes when you just get a trickle, the reactor system is not properly primed. Not too sure though