Diffuser

[Capo_Regime]

Hi All...

What's the better diffuser to use with a CO2 fermentation Kit??

thanx...

[Volenti]

This is what I'm using, it's a "vortex" diffuser, I use a tiny 50gph pump and inject the co2 so it get's sucked into the pump, this chops it up and feeds a stream into the cylinder, an internal deflector causes the water to spiral down the cylinder, breaking up and dissolving the bubbles by the time the water enters the central pipe and exits out the top, it's running a 6' 100gal planted tank with a 5gal (home brew barrel) yeast CO2.

Since it's powered you can hook the pump up to the same timer as the lights and don't need to worry about CO2 at night.

[Capo_Regime]

What's the item's model and mark??

[mellowvision]

I think with fermentation, the way to go is the Hagen bubble ladder. it's simple, small, and cheap. nothing wrong with a vortex diffuser... but they're a lot more money.

[Capo_Regime]

I'm already using this hagen's diffusor however it shows low efficiency... I'm looking for something that can diffuse about 100% CO2. Some say that the diffuser like the one volenti shows diffuse about 100% in the form of H2CO3 and plants don't assimilate this very well... Anyone knows any article that support this theory??

[Volenti]

What's the item's model and mark??

It's diy, using a gravel vac tube, an UGF uplift tube and an old pump impeller chamber.



I'm already using this hagen's diffusor however it shows low efficiency... I'm looking for something that can diffuse about 100% CO2. Some say that the diffuser like the one volenti shows diffuse about 100% in the form of H2CO3 and plants don't assimilate this very well... Anyone knows any article that support this theory??

I found this http://fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plants/month.9605/msg00436.html



There is a difference between "dissolved CO2" and carbonic acid. When CO2 is
added to water it initially forms a loosely hydrated species denoted CO2(aq).
This dissolved molecular CO2 reacts _slowly_ with water to form carbonic acid,
H2CO3(aq).

CO2(aq) + H2O = H2CO3(aq)

Furthermore, this kinetically slow reaction does not go to completion. At
equilibrium, only a small fraction (ca. 0.2%) is actually converted to
carbonic acid. Most of the CO2 remains as solvated molecular CO2. In fact,
the pKa most often reported for carbonic acid (pK1 = 6.38) is not really the
true pKa of carbonic acid. Rather, it is the pKa of the equilibrium mixture
of CO2(aq) and carbonic acid. Carbonic acid itself is actually a much
stronger acid than this, with a true pK1 value of 3.58.

If this is accurate then a vortex reactor is fine since even at equilibrium (which mine even isn't achieving, since it spits out a stream of very fine bubbles) only a tiny fraction of the CO2 is used to form carbonic acid.

[Capo_Regime]

Well with this kind of diffusor we can dissolve almost 100% of co2, right?? So why people like T.Amano still use the hight quality ceramic/glass diffusor, i think that one loses more co2...

I don't belive he don't know about this new item, i'm sure this kind of people already tested it and found any problem...


what do you think??

thanx...

[Volenti]

It's hard to say, mabie he doesn't like the look of a big cylinder in the tank (his designs do tend more towards art than aquculture) and the more elegant looking glass diffusers are "good enough" for what he want's to do in the smaller tanks he does it in.

I'm currently sending ~1.5 bubble/sec to my reactor in a 6' open top tank and I monitor CO2 levels using a drop checker (which only responds to changes in dissolved CO2) with a 4 KH solution in it and it's green (meaning ~30ppm of dissolved CO2) and the plants are bubbling O2 all over the place.

When I get my final lighting set up done and cover the tank properly I may actually have to vent off excess CO2 to avoid overdosing the tank, that's good enough performance for me...

[Capo_Regime]

It's seems really good... however it's diy right?? I don't have enought skills...LOL... Isn't there something similar i can simple go to a shop and buy it???