External Inline CO2 reactor

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

<strong>EXTERNAL INLINE CO2 REACTOR</strong>
I was running CO2 into my Ehiem 2026 canister
and was having trouble keeping CO2 levels high
enough in my 75G heavily planted tank. Pumping
more CO2 caused a lot of burps and sometimes the
reactor would airlock.It was time to use a CO2 reactor,
but I didn't want to spend too much so I decided to build one.

My DIY CO2 reactor is based on the Barr method,
but I hate adding more equipment into my tank,
so I designed it to run inline with my canister.
I made two reactors, the only difference between
them being the barb size. I'm running them inline
with my Eheim 2026 and 2213 on the filter intake.

Initially I used a different design that would be
inline on the filter outflow - only clean water
enters the reactor, less muck to deal with,
but i noticed a significant reduction in the
flow rate. I ended up putting it inline on the
filter inflow. As I write this article, I've been
running the reactor with no clogging issues yet for
2 months. If it does start to clog up, I'll simply take
it off, run some water at high pressure through it to
clean it out and pop it back on. If you're worried
about it - you can use a prefilter on the intake tube.
That will catch any larger pieces of debris.

Almost everything was bought from Lowes but Home Depot
carries most of this stuff too. Under $10 cost per
reactor for parts and took me about 20 minutes to put
most of it together with PVC solvent glue and a
little 'Plumbers Goop' (can use epoxy) for the
airline connector. I put Teflon tape on the barbs
before I screwed them on to eliminate leaks.

I chose not to attach a 'hang on' piece, instead I
secured the hoses with clamps. Much cleaner.

I'm getting 100% dissolution. Now I can crank up my
CO2 without worrying about air locking my Eheims.
No more burps!

You can use cheap plastic scrub pads from the dollar
store if you can't find the bio balls.
Just make sure they're inert.

Good luck!
<a href="http://www.aquaticscape.com/articles/CO ... ctor_1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.aquaticscape.com/articles/CO ... r_1_tb.jpg" border="0"></a>

<a href="http://www.aquaticscape.com/articles/CO ... ctor_2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.aquaticscape.com/articles/CO ... r_2_tb.jpg" border="0"></a>

<a href="http://www.aquaticscape.com/articles/CO ... ctor_3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.aquaticscape.com/articles/CO ... r_3_tb.jpg" border="0"></a>

<a href="http://www.aquaticscape.com/articles/CO ... ctor_4.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.aquaticscape.com/articles/CO ... r_4_tb.jpg" border="0"></a>

[Jamie G]

Could you post some more detail on the reactor please. I am interested in building one as well. Some closeups as to how and where it is hooked up would be great. Thanks J

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

You can click on the smaller picsture above and it'll show you larger pictures. If you still have any
questions - just let ma know and I'll be more than happy to answer them.

[Jamie G]

I did, and was jsut a little confused as to what everything is connected to, im new to the reactor, so was curious as to how its set up and connected. I see the reactor is inline with the filter intake.. correct ?
I see what appears to be a bubble counter connected to it somehow. Its the top and bottom black hose that is confusing me. Also what do the Bio-Balls do.

[Archie]

the bio-balls cause the water to flow in eddies (disperses the current). with the co2 coming in, the bioballs cause the water to flow in a more spread out pattern, thus allowing the Co2 to be exposed to more water and get more readily dissolved. i would guess bacteria could end up there too, but it wouldn't be as optimal a place as the cannister. i think the black hoses are actually airline tubing. it looks like it's connected to the bubble counter (from the cannister below) and the loop is just extra tubing which then connect to the airline connector on the diffusor. i also see how he avoided getting reverse siphon by having the bubble counter higher than the diffusor. I am using his design too. it works great! my only advice is to make sure you connect everything securely and keep it as accessible as possible.

[Archie]

sorry, i should have let Ghaz answer.   <img border="0" src="smileys/smiley19.gif" border="0"> i just get excited when it's one of the few things I know (cause I learned from it from Ghazanfar) <img border="0" src="smileys/salute.gif" border="0">

[Jamie G]

thats ok, i get that way too sometimes .. i still am a little confused, maybe he could get me a diagram as to how its run . I get it, I just dont see it.

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

Archie - why apologize? Of course if you were
giving out bad information there could be trouble
in Joppatowne. <img border="0" src="smileys/smiley18.gif" border="0">

Here's something I borrowed off the krib...



<img src="http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/CO2/reac-anim.gif" border="0">

Basically, water should enter the top of the reactor flowing out the bottom. VERY IMPORTANT. Otherwise
this thing no workie.

I've been using the reactor on the intake side of
my filter for two reasons.

1) This way I simply connect it inline and water
enters the top and exits the bottom - simple.

2) When compared to having the reactor on the outtake,
I don't add additional head.

CO2 can enter the reactor one of two ways...
Drill the reactor, add an airline connextor
to it and connect your CO2 line to that.
Just make sure that the airline connector is glued
in properly - no leaks.
The second way of adding CO2 can be used if
you're infact using the reactor on the filter intake
as I've done..which is...simply stick your CO2 line
into the filter intake - CO2 will make it into
the reactor.

How it all works is simple - CO2 bubbles in the reactor
will keep trying to work against the current which will
be trying to push them down - in effect churning the
CO2 inside thereby dissolving it.
The bioballs inside help by creating turbulance, helping
dissolve the CO2.

[SCMurphy]

That's the first intellegent explanation I've seen of an inline reactor on the intake.   <img border="0" src="smileys/smiley20.gif" border="0">

[Jamie G]

Now that makes sense