[OhNo123]

I've been wondering. People make or use co2 reactors so the co2 is mixed in the water directly. If this method more efficient than the ceramic co2 diffuser?

As of right now, I dose CO2 with a diffuser, which is not mixed in with the current of the water in anyway. The bubbles sometimes get blown around by the outflow of the filter, but not much of it. Rather than doing this, would it be more efficient if i was to feed the Co2 directly into the intake of the filter?

thanks for the help!

 

[FSM]

Are lots of bubbles reaching the surface?

 

[Darkblade48]

Diffusers work by making a fine mist of CO2 bubbles. This increases their surface area, and allows more diffusion to occur before they reach the surface of the water. If bubbles are reaching the surface of the water, this means the CO2 is not being dissolved completely.

You could use an in-line reactor; these usually achieve close to 100% efficiency if designed properly.

Alternatively, you could take your diffuser and place it under your filter intake. The filter impeller will chop up the (already fine) bubbles, forcing the CO2 into solution.

 

[Guest]

If your using a diffuser I dont think there will ever be a way to stop the bubbles from going to the surface unless you trap them some how. I see everyone saying put it under the intake as well and I just think this is one of the worst idea ever. How does that co2 ever get out? do you have to burp it every so many days? I know my reactor got loud at times with co2 trapped I wonder what the canister would sound like....

Take a look at alot of these tanks you tell me where they are stopping it from reaching the surface (when he slows down to look at them lol). I have used both reactor and diffuser and I have switched back to a diffuser.

For me I felt the reactor did a great job and raised my co2 levels faster but was bulky as hell and slowed water flow down ALOT. I switched back to a diffuser and have it sitting in the corner now with barely any surface movement. I am doing just as good as a job with the diffuser as the reactor would do I feel.

I really think its up to you what you want. Do you wanna look at bubbles daily or do you wanna look at bulky pvc under your tank? Do you get enough co2 in your tank with the diffuser? If so then I know I wouldnt switch.

 

[OhNo123]

Hmm. Thanks for the answers.

I just looked at my co2 diffuser and quite a lot of bubbles are reaching the surface.

I thought about feeding the CO2 directly into the intake, but the idea of CO2 getting stuck inside the filter ran past my mind too. I probably won't do that.

I do have one of those Red Sea CO2 reactors laying around, would it be good to use that? The only problem is that its quite bulky..

 

[Guest]

whats your drop checker like? is it green or what? only reason I would switch from a diffuser back to a reactor is if I ever got tired of seeing bubbles nothing more nothing less. I know with a diffuser and bubbles going straight up I pearl all day long when the lights are on and stay green sometimes yellow in my drop checker.

 

[Philosophos]

A reactor is nice in terms of not having any visible bubbles in the water, and an even diffusion. If it works for you, then great. If not, needle wheel modded power heads do an excellent job at the cost of seeing bubbles in your tank. The bubbles help to break the boundary layer around the leaves better than a reactor, and the horizontal current means far more dwell time than a diffuser.

I have yet to see a CO2 diffuser with bubbles that don't reach the top. Even a needle wheel will have some bubbles hitting the surface. CO2, no matter what you do with it, will have a loss rate over 90% that never becomes plant.

-Philosophos

 

[Darkblade48]

I see everyone saying put it under the intake as well and I just think this is one of the worst idea ever. How does that co2 ever get out? do you have to burp it every so many days?

While this can be an issue, it really depends on how high you have your bubble rate set as well. For example, I would not try to do this if my bubble rate were (say) 10 bps. However, for smaller tanks, this is a perfectly feasible way, as the bps is slightly lower, and the filter has enough time to smash up the bubbles, etc.

 

[Guest]

I just wouldnt do it. I would build a reactor if it came down to it. Reactor maybe $20 my filter is over $100. Choice was simple to make.