View Full Version : co2 reactor problems
rdelbalso
06-02-2003, 9:27 PM
I just built the co2 reactor that Tom Barr always seems to recommend at http://www.aquaticscape.com/articles/co2reactor.htm
the problem is that i am using diy yeast, sugar mixture in a 2 liter bottle. i don't have a canister filter either, but i asked either on this forum or another one and people said that it would work anyway. it doesn't. i am having nothing but problems. i am using a hagen aquaclear 402 powerhead to power it and when i turn it on it pushes water down the co2 tube and into the soda bottle. i am getting 0 co2 into my tank. i also have the problem that when i try to change the bottles, the water just runs out of the reactor down the co2 line. please help me figure this out, i am ready to give up the tank as i am really frustrated.:mad: also, the reactor costs way more than the $10 claimed because home depot, nor orchard supply hardware carry most of the parts needed. i also had to buy an additional powerhead and airline hose. my $85 worth of plants is dying fast.
125gJoe
06-03-2003, 1:25 AM
Originally posted by rdelbalso
I just built the co2 reactor that Tom Barr always ....http://www.aquaticscape.com/articles/co2reactor.htm... ... i am using a hagen aquaclear 402 powerhead to power it and when i turn it on it pushes water down the co2 tube and into the soda bottle. .......
Sounds like you hooked it up wrong. Tank water should not enter the DIY yeast soda bottle - only CO2 gas leaves the bottle. The gas goes into your tank by an airstone, etc. and the powerhead scatters the tiny CO2 bubbles. There are other ways to 'diffuse' the CO2...
it sounds like you have the air tubing thats running from your mixture bottle, below the level of the diffuser.be sure to use a check valve also.and when running the co2 line into the top of the gravel tube,be sure to keep it as far as possible from any suction.the check valve will definately solve the back flow prob.
Don't run the CO2 line into the gravel tube. Run the line into the bottom(intake) of the power head. Then, unless the power head is running in reverse mode, the CO2 will run up into the power head and out into the gravel tube and into the tank. As long as the power head is running in the forward mode there is NO WAY water will run back into the bottle if hooked up this way.
Len
I don't know how easily your water can exit the bottom of the reactor, but it needs to be a fairly free flow out the bottom in order to avoid building up pressure in the reactor which will force water back into your soda bottle. It may help to use an outflow diameter that is double the inflow diameter. Also, it takes the yeast mixture a while to build up enough pressure to force the co2 into the reactor.
If you allow the bubbles to escape just under the powerhead intake so they get sucked into it and blown into the reactor it should work well. However, this will make a little bit if noise that may be undesirable.
For use with a yeast system, you may want to put the reactor inside your tank and take the bottom off it so that the water just flows out the bottom freely into the tank. I had this type of setup made from a gravel tube and it worked well. I still use it today, but have gone to a co2 tank. The reactor is still very effective. It was the co2 supply that I was tired of messing with.
Don't give up yet!
djlen
06-03-2003, 10:03 AM
I would lose the reactor. Just feed the tubing into the bottom of your power head and IT becomes your reactor/diffuser. Set the 402 about half way down on the inside of the tank and it'll chop the CO2 into a fine mist for absorption.
I use two of them in my 55's and they work great and make no noise at all.
Len
rdelbalso
06-03-2003, 1:03 PM
bad news. i woke up this morning and my favorite fish, my pictus cat, was dead.:( i think some of my yeast sugar mixture got sucked into the tank yesterday and killed him. that is the only thing i have added differently lately. (i didn't intentionally add it). anyway, i think i will try the check valve idea, that should help a lot. i did try just using the powerhead as a diffuser without the reactor and it just covered everything in little bubbles and to see in the tank i had to open it up and wipe all the bubbles off the glass so i didn't want to continue that way. i am still frustrated with this, but i think the check valve should help. i will let you know how it goes. thanks for all the replies
superjohnny
06-03-2003, 3:09 PM
I got a CO2 reactor at the LFS for $13 and it works great. I have 2 1 liter bottles of DIY CO2 and never had a drop of tank water come back through the air-tubing.
aquatic-store
06-03-2003, 4:11 PM
you should not have your co2 tubing actually getting any suction from the powerhead. Use a tubing holder place it slightly below your powerhead. hte bubble should come out thentravel an inch into ht e powerhead.
marc
Http://www.Aquatic-store.com
Co2, Plants, Substrate, Filters, Heaters, UV and more
cpr4cpu
06-03-2003, 4:28 PM
sorry to hear about the loss rdelbalso, I had similar difficulties when I was getting started.
Let me offer one of my ideas that has been working for me for about a yea now on my 29 gallon tank.
First, don't use clear airline tubing, spend a little extra and get the green silicone line (also in blue at someplaces). It's very soft and flexible and resistane to the effects of CO2.
Second, I quit using the powerhead a long time ago and went with a regular fountain pump (mini submersible from Harbor Fr##ght). It has a 1/2 inch outlet and the pvc tubing from Home Depo fits snug enough that no extra cement is required.
I set the pump behind the rocks or driftwood so it isn't visible, run the line out to the reactor. The reactor has sponge filter and bio-balls inside. For the airline I have a check valve about 2 inches from the reactor to prevent back flow. I run a line to the DIY bottle and there I have a second check valve (again, all silicone tubing).
My mini-submersible pump was $10 on sale and is a 110 gallon per hour flow, and with two reactors and two pumps I have taken my 125 gallon (pH 8.8 KH 12 (200ppm) down to pH 7.25 with a CO2 of roughly 20ppm.
I prefer not to use powerheads because the flow rate is hard to control and the venturi intake actually sucks air into it, obviously dangerous because a check valve stops fluid backflow into the bottle, but not out of the bottle.
My final production reactors run about $25, pump included.
If you want, I can write up a DIY plan and share it, but I'm lazy and slow...
rdelbalso
06-05-2003, 1:55 PM
well, an update on my reactor. i bought all silicon airhose. i also bought a check valve which didn't work. so i bought a different version that works much better. i think i have the system working now although i think i should have originally bought a different powerhead. thanks for your help. now i will see in a couple of weeks whether my plants like the difference.
aquatic-store
06-05-2003, 1:59 PM
your plants will love you!!!
marc Russo
http://www.Aquatic-store.com
125gJoe
06-06-2003, 2:15 AM
Originally posted by aquatic-store
your plants will love you!!!
marc Russo
... I agree! ...and they will love the CO2 of course! :D
rdelbalso
06-06-2003, 12:47 PM
still having problems. seems like the co2 is actually going into the reactor now, but it is not raising my co2 levels. what gives? i am only getting around 6-7ppm. thats in the morning after a full night of co2 injection. i know co2 is getting into the reactor, but it does not seem to be dissolving into the water like its supposed to.
What type of filter do you have on the tank? I had similar problems with a diy yeast co2 system. The reactor worked fine, but I had an Emperor 400 on the 30 gallon tank, and it churned the water up so much that my co2 levels were never above 10 ppm.
After I got rid of that filter it made a drastic difference. If you have to have a filter on the tank, try one that doesn't stir up the water surface too much. No airstones, no biowheels, etc. They will cause the co2 to come out of solution very quickly.
rdelbalso
06-06-2003, 7:11 PM
i have an ac 500 on a 55 gal. it actually doesn't cause too much water churning because i keep the water level really high to prevent that and i have a prefilter on the intake to slow it down.