Laura's 38 Gallon Journal

[Laura]

ok, so the tank is up and running, minus plants and fish now. I finally figured out the trick to my co2 system which was perplexing me for several days now... You have to crank on those nuts with a wrench I know kinda obvious. so anyways, I've got filter floss in all 3 trays of my filter, and paintball co2 running into a diy bubble counter (about 1-2 bps) then into a diy reactor. My reactor is leaking a little (about a drop every hour or so) but my boyfriend is going to look at that tomorrow. I cant wait to get some ferts and plants for this!

[Doc7]

What type of reactor are you using?

[narhay]

I love these craigslist rescues.

[Laura]

Originally Posted by Doc7

What type of reactor are you using?

I made a cerges type reactor. Thought I posted a picture but maybe not. When I get on the computer I'll upload one.

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[DishyFishy]

Subscribed, can't wait to see how this comes along! And you got a great deal finding that 38!

[Laura]

Here's my reactor. SUPER easy build. I chose not to go with a lot of the connections that others show in their builds, just because I'm a little challenged when it comes to that stuff and I became VERY frustrated trying to figure out what pieces were needed and used.

Omni house filter housing (model: OB1 series A), 3/4" Pex male adapter link is to an elbow but I used straight ones, 3/4" cpvc coupling, and 3/4" cpvc tubing, cut to about 6 3/4" long. Put pipe tape around the barbs and tightened them down. Removed the Red dot (there's a screw on the underside) drilled out the hole a bit more with 1/4" bit. Pushed on the coupling onto the underside of the lid, then added the cut pipe to the coupling. Pulled the co2 tubing through the lid, and screwed the lid onto the housing. Attached my filter hose and Presto! My reactor.

I followed this thread for the build. Minus all the extra pvc pieces.

[Laura]

I'm also gonna apologize for the quality of the pictures. They are all taken with my phone as my camera decided to go for a swim in some kool-aid... Gotta love kids!

[Laura]

Ok after just a few days my co2 tank is empty. I'm working on getting a normal regulator and tank setup. But that may not be in the cards until January. I just can't seem to get my bubble count stabilized

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[Doc7]

You must have a gas leak. Read around; even paintball cylinders last much longer.

Did you tighten threaded connections with a wrench and use pipe dope or teflon tape?

Did you use "Snoop" or soapy water on all connections to test?

There is an excellent thread on testing a new set up for leaks if you search the web for it. Can't send links via my phone though to get it to you now.

The jist is:

Open tank with regulator "closed" the high side should read tank pressure, 800-900 psi gauge depending on temp.

Close tank. Wait a few hours. Regulator should read same pressure or there's a leak between reg and tank.

Open reg with solenoid shut. Then close the regulator again. You should have low side pressure that now stays steady for a few hours. If not there's a leak between solenoid and reg.

Soap or snoop check all these connections and all the ones that aren't included in this test.

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[Laura]

I'll get it refilled next week and run a soapy water test to see what the issue is. I'm just not having good luck with this thing at all. I think most of it ran out when I was trying to troubleshoot getting a good seal on the tubing. The rest was probably when I was trying to figure out where i needed my needle valve.

But to answer your question, I used teflon tape on all of my connections. no solenoid or lpg at this point, just the Paintball regulator sold by JaggedFury (who was more than patient during my stupidity of setting this thing up )

[Doc7]

How did you end up making your "tubing seals"?

I run a Rex reactor so not totally sure if it works for your design, but for all tubing seals (two on my DIY bubble counter and 1 on my reactor) I simply drilled a small hole on whatever I was going through (pvc on reactor, bottle cap on diy bubble counter), and then used needle nose pliers to pull the tubing through. No silicone, no nothin'; just good ol fashioned tight hole clearance. No issues with my tubing seals, and its been done throughout the planted tank world.

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[Laura]

That's what I did too. I used a 1/4" drill bit to drill the hole in my reactor as well as my diy bubble counter (a gatorade bottle)

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[Doc7]

I don't remember for sure but I used 1/4" tubing and a smaller bit for mine. Either way the soapy water test (or if you can get your hands on "snoop") should help

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[Laura]

I was just given an old cornelius 4070 single stage regulator literally 10 minutes ago. We are working on cleaning it up and will probably need a new high pressure gauge but a heck of a find!


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[Laura]

Here's the regulator: