Cerges' Reactor - DIY Inline CO2 Reactor

[Trickerie]

Its cleared up already, after only about 15 mins or so. Sweet!

Btw, if anyone is interested, for my down pipe inside the reactor, I used a length of the black dishwasher hose. Its not stiff, but stiff enough to where it doesn't bend. It fits TIGHT on the outflow part without any glue or anything. Plumber dude at home depot showed me it.

[jcgd]

Just wanted to add my phosban reactor - reactor in here. Pretty simple and same idea as the rest. The reactor is too restrictive for a tank my size (165 gallon) but as inkslinger said it would probably be good for 55 or less. It's building up gas for me at my current feed rate but I think it would run fine for a smaller tank. I have mine fed by a Eheim 1250 right now. It would probably be fine if the input/output weren't so small but I need a bit more flow.

[inkslinger]

I've just install my 20" reactor with 3bps for my 110g tank.
I drop from 8.7 ph down to 7.3 ph in 2 hr and I'm running a Eheim 2262 filter . I did add a 1" pvc with a 3" suction screen and fill the reactor with mini bio balls , I have no noise and no bubbles coming out like I did with the ext 5000 reactor.

Originally Posted by aquatic serenity

with my 20" reactor I am also noticing an added benefit: less CO2 consumed because it is so completely dissolved in the 20" chamber..
I need less bps than with my 10" canister...
anyone else notice this ??

[inkslinger]

Will I finely finish my reactor , I got too say this works great with my Eheim 2262 filter. I have a 3in x 1in suction screen on a 1in pvc then I added bio mini balls and fill it to the rim, It dissolves all my co2 and am able to run my bubble count way less than when I had the ext 5000 reactor , no bubbles being blown into my 110g tank and it's so quit.
The pic shows how big the reactor is to the ext 5000 and I use a 5/8in tee from aqua medic for my co2 and with the bleed valve on the filter makes filling with water a breeze so far a 10lb co2 tank last me 6 months with the ext 5000 reactor, I hope with this new set-up I can get at least another 2 months

[temple2101]

Hey all, I just built this reactor last week, and at first everything seemed great (still does for the most part, especially with CO2 diffusion). My issue is that I keep getting good size bubbles blown out of my spray bar, but I think they're just air and not CO2. I've shaken my Eheim 2213 to ensure no trapped air there and after the first day it was fine. Now, after a few days, I can't seem to shake the bubbles. Also, after a few hours on day one, the thing ran silent. Now I can hear the water running through it from 5-10 feet away. The filter I used is the GE one shown on here from Home Depot that has the valve to purge the air. Tried that numerous times and just doesn't seem to work.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!
Joe

[inkslinger]

Originally Posted by temple2101

Hey all, I just built this reactor last week, and at first everything seemed great (still does for the most part, especially with CO2 diffusion). My issue is that I keep getting good size bubbles blown out of my spray bar, but I think they're just air and not CO2. I've shaken my Eheim 2213 to ensure no trapped air there and after the first day it was fine. Now, after a few days, I can't seem to shake the bubbles. Also, after a few hours on day one, the thing ran silent. Now I can hear the water running through it from 5-10 feet away. The filter I used is the GE one shown on here from Home Depot that has the valve to purge the air. Tried that numerous times and just doesn't seem to work.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!
Joe

I was getting that when I was using the ext 5000 filter , I was pushing my Eheim 2262 filter thru the 10" house filter , the force of the water was pushing the co2 thru the scrub pad and out into the tank. Maybe what you need is something to breakup your flow going in the house filter. Like my post 439, with pic's of my new co2 reactor mine is still running nice and silent and no bubbles in my tank and my reactor stays full with water 24/7.

[Mobert]

Originally Posted by Mobert

For those looking for a 20" clear housing with 1" brass outlets, I just got one on ebay for under $26. Search Stagon 20" filter housing.

Here are a few pictures:



I don't remember all the fittings I used for this. I just went to Home Depot and used what I found. I'm not sure why the housing said 1" fittings but my pvc fittings says 3/4' but it all works wonderfully and is connected after my Eheim 2075 filter with 16/22mm hoses. I do believe I used a 1-1/2" pvc with holes drilled in the bottom for the pipe inside the filter. It seems to not restrict water flow at all.

[temple2101]

Originally Posted by inkslinger

I was getting that when I was using the ext 5000 filter , I was pushing my Eheim 2262 filter thru the 10" house filter , the force of the water was pushing the co2 thru the scrub pad and out into the tank. Maybe what you need is something to breakup your flow going in the house filter. Like my post 439, with pic's of my new co2 reactor mine is still running nice and silent and no bubbles in my tank and my reactor stays full with water 24/7.

Thanks for the response! In my original post I said I didn't think it was the CO2, but you're right, it is. After I wrote the post, about an hour later my lights turned off for the evening, as well as my CO2. I noticed I no longer heard the reactor, so I went up to the tank and low and behold... no bubbles. So you filled the reactor with bio balls? What is the suction screen you mentioned?

Thanks!
Joe

[inkslinger]

Originally Posted by temple2101

Thanks for the response! In my original post I said I didn't think it was the CO2, but you're right, it is. After I wrote the post, about an hour later my lights turned off for the evening, as well as my CO2. I noticed I no longer heard the reactor, so I went up to the tank and low and behold... no bubbles. So you filled the reactor with bio balls? What is the suction screen you mentioned?

Thanks!
Joe

It's a Inland Seas Suction Screen like my 6" x 1" npt clear on the right ,I also had a 3" x 1" npt is what I use for my set-up . I cut the end off so I could go all the way to the bottom of the canister filter and use a 1" npt coupler and a 1" pvc pipe for my out-put. I was able to push the mini bio balls thru the 1" ports that my filter housing has and fill it, Next time I'm going try with out them since the housing is over 20" long .

[generalpetres]

i have my cerges reactor all built but was wanting to add either bio balls or foam to help make sure the co2 is fully mixed. which do you guys recommend?

[m00se]

Originally Posted by generalpetres

i have my cerges reactor all built but was wanting to add either bio balls or foam to help make sure the co2 is fully mixed. which do you guys recommend?

Nothing. Whatever you put in there will get gunked up and will require maintenance. Better to control your flow so that you have balance between flow rate and CO2 rate. You want enough flow to dissolve your CO2 but not so much that it blows the bubbles into the tank....

[Sethjohnson30]

Originally Posted by Greyskull

I used your idea today and built the reactor, it's works great. I hooked it up to my FX5 filter.

Thanks for the idea.

Do you have pics, of this how did you go about attaching the hose?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[temple2101]

Originally Posted by generalpetres

i have my cerges reactor all built but was wanting to add either bio balls or foam to help make sure the co2 is fully mixed. which do you guys recommend?

I cut a Rena 20ppi filter pad (http://www.amazon.com/Pack-20ppi-Foa.../dp/B007QMV0FY) to fit in my reactor. Before I did this I was getting bubbles in my tank. After, not a single bubble. Yes, it requires maintenance, but I ordered another double tap for my Eheim 2213 so I could remove each component individually and it makes maintenance quick and easy. Once a month cleaning is all that is required for me which I can live with.

[starquestMM]

I went to my local Lowes today and looked at the filter housings they had. One of them was a "heavy duty filter" that was the standard 10" long but had a larger diameter. The housing was probably 7-8" diameter compared to the normal 4-5".

Has anyone run one of the larger diameter versions? Going from 5" to 7" diameter almost doubles the cross sectional area. So for any particular pump flow rate the speed of the water column in the reactor would also be halved. That should help with bubbles escaping, contact time, and maybe even noise right?

Only downside is it was $63 for the clear version (3/4" fittings).

[starquestMM]

If I can post a link:

Whirlpool whole house filter