DIY co2 REACTOR

[simtu]

I found this site on hte web, what are your thoughts?
http://www.plantedtank.net/co2reactor.html

[Kasakato]

Thats what I use, works great for me.

[Fish_3456]

What is this Co2 thing for?

[simtu]

What mixtures do you use Kasakato?

sugar, yeast etc........

And i dont understand what point 2 in the link is for?

[simtu]

co2 is used to help aquarium plants grow, the reactor helps the co2 enter the water supply

[norm3000]

I've got the same reactor although I don't bother with the foam at the bottom. Key here is the Rio brand pump because it comes with the 90 degree elbow, most pumps don't.

Point 2 is a hole in the siphon where you insert the CO2 tube.

[Kasakato]

The tube is the gravel vac tube that is connecting the pump to the gravel vac.

With this I use a DIY mixture of 2 cups of sugar to 1/4 tsp yeast. IT wroks well fo up to 2 weeks.

[mcps95]

Here's an even better and more-detailed article regarding DIY CO2 systems, with a great CO2 reactor design at that bottom of the article:

http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html

I built this reactor and it really looks nice and neat in the tank.

Couple minor notes to add to the article:
1) I wasn't able to find the right size Eheim filter pillow for the end of the gravel vac tube. Instead, I found that the MaxiJet prefilter foam fit perfectly. Since they come in a 2-pack, I also used this on the intake of the powerhead (instead of the cut Eheim tubing and prefilter). With the prefilter foam at the end of the gravel vac tube, you do need to clean it about every other water change, because it will eventually clog with bacteria and get pushed out of the tube by the water pressure from the powerhead, but this is really no big deal.

2) If you order the nylon bulkhead fittings from Tower Hobbies (which I highly recommend over simply silicone sealing the airline tubing in the 2-liter bottle caps), you will want to wrap small rubber bands (the size that typically come on bunches of plants) around the end of the airline tubing to keep it sealed around the bulkhead fitting. Without this, the pressure in the tubing may cause it to stretch and leak around the bulkhead fitting, resulting in a loss of CO2.

3) Add a third check valve between the gas separator and the reactor. It will prevent water from backing up the airline and will also make it easy to disconnect the reactor from the rest of the CO2 system when necessary.

4) Fill your gas separator with water above the lower input tube (coming from your CO2 generators). This will allow the gas separator to act as a bubble counter as well.

Hope this helps!

Mike

[simtu]

do you think a diy system would be any good for a 6foot tank? it holds about 800litres..

[Matak]

do you think a diy system would be any good for a 6foot tank? it holds about 800litres..No. The amount of DIY CO2 generators needed would grow tiresome after the first bottle regeneration. For a tank that large, go injected.

Excellent link on the DIY diffuser MCPS. Thanks!