DIY Reactor Help required - powerhead & DIY CO2

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nanahachi

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First, let me apologize for how lame this all may sound. But I figure it's better to ask, and feel stupid, than to not ask and screw something up.

I have just returned from the market, having picked up jello, yeast, sugar, a 2 liter coke bottle, some Fleet Enema (oh yeah!!), Epsom salt, ... and dug out an Aquaclear 301 powerhead from 1989, yup, 1989.

My plan is to get the yeast & jello going tonight, and take an inventory of what I have and need to get it going. I would have a CO2 safe air tube (which I will buy tomorrow) running from the coke bottle to the DIY reactor setup. Instead of a gravel vac. tube attached to the powerhead, I was thinking I could use an old undergravel filter tube (the kind that stand vertically in the back corners and have powerheads sitting atop). would that be too small? it is maybe 1" in diameter, maybe 8" long. also, is there a way to have the powerhead push the air OUT through the bottom, conical end, as opposed to out of the horizontal spout? (I hope that made sense, plz see pic below)


I was going to attach the clear undergravel tube to the powerhead with vinyl tape or something aquarium safe, and put a sponge on the end, as I have seen done in DIY reactors.

My main question is how can I get the powerhead to put out the air into the tube? it seems like it sucks IN through the bottom, not pushing OUT.
**I just looked at the Dr Smith & Foster description for the powerhead...it doesnt seem like the 301 has Reverse outflow...only the 402 up....So is there any way that I can possibly get this to work with what I have on hand? I really dont want to spent money on this b/c I would like to change over to pressurized next month, and need to save as much cash as possible

any help you guys and gals can lend would be so very much appreciated.

thanks!
 
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djlen

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Aug 19, 2002
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First, no question is lame. Many of us knew probably less than you at some point. It's only through questions that we get the input we need to be successful.
I use a 402 power head in both of my 55's with what I consider great success. Although they can be run in the reverse mode, I've never run them like that. Very simply, I run the line from the bottle into the bottom(cone, as you put it) and the impeller chops the bubbles up and spits them into the tank. Very simple. No need for reverse flow, in my view. The power head is submersible and so I set it up as low on the rear side wall of the tank so that the mist has more opportunity to disperse itself into the water table before it reaches the surface.
On my 402 the "cone" is removable. I couldn't figure out how to attach ANY kind of tube to it so what I did was I removed the cone and took a down tube(the tube that the takes the water from the tank and feeds it into the filter box) from an old Aqua Clear HOB filter and inserted it down through the top of the cone(upper, or wide end) with the pointy end of the tube pointing down. As the tube slips through it catches inside the cone because the top of the AQ tube is wider than the bottom or pointy end. Then I drilled out the very bottom(pointy end) of the tube and ran my air line into the tube from below. With that set up I can see the bubbles being fed into the tube which then go up into the power head etc. I hope this is clear. If not ask for more clarification and I'll try to supply it. Many LFS sell Aqua Clear parts so you can probably pick a tube up cheap there. The model AQ I got the tube from is the 200.
If you don't care to see the bubbles going into the power head you can just skip the tube and feed the line into the bottom of the cone. When I used DIY CO2 I liked to be able to see them and still do with my pressurized system, but it's not necessary. You can keep an eye on your pH/kH ratio and know what your CO2 ppm is.

One other thing. Remove that aerator thingy and just leave the little tube that sticks up on the horizontal(output tube) open.

What size is your tank? DIY is only effective, IMO, on tanks of 30 gals. of less. Any bigger and you'll need more than one bottle.
I was running 4 bottles on my 55 before I went pressurized, and making up that many gets old quickly.
Len
 
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nanahachi

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My tank is a 20g long, and suffering...my plants are dying off without enough CO2 and nutrients (on the way from Bigals, as well as the ones I just bought at the market). i've lost so many so far...

I need to retest my tank, but the other night it had:
pH 6.8
Amonia = <.6
Nitrite = 1.6

My 65w compact flourescents are on 5 hours / day to limit algal growth, as recommended by 2 LFS in the area (that Tom Barr seems to approve of based on his responses to my previous posts)

I guess I am wonder if my AC 301 can be used in a DIY Reactor like I have read here, in combination with a gravel vac tube.
like this, more or less

It seems that in most cases people are using RIO powerheads to attach to the vac. tubes...


http://www.plantedtank.net/co2reactor.html

thanks for your help Len, again and again.
 

rdmpe

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*** danger - long post ahead - sorry! ***

I have a system like you are proposing except that I have a co2 tank. I had used it with yeast too though.

** edited since it looks like you can't remove that water deflector thingy (technical term) ***
I asssume that large deflector on the outlet of your powerhead can be removed. If not, you could use some epoxy or silicone to attach tubing to it, or use what djlen suggests. I thought that all powerheads have some way to attach vinyl tubing to the outlet but maybe not...

There are several ways to set it up. I have my powerhead at one back corner of my tank. The outlet has tubing and some elbows that take the water up along the back edge, to the other end of the tank, and into the top of the reactor. That way the water from the reactor has to travel clear across the tank before it gets put back through the system.

Another thing to keep in mind...
You can get large rubber stoppers at most hardware stores such as ace, lowes, home depot. You can get one that fits tight in the end of your reactor tube. You can drill a hole in this rubber stopper and stick a barbed tubing splicer (aka hose mender, etc.) into the stopper and connect your waterline to it. That way you can connect any size tubing to the reactor (whatever size tubing fits your powerhead). My reactor is something like that.

So that takes care of getting water into your reactor and out the bottom. You can bubble the co2 into the powerhead intake, and you'll be in business. Or you can put a small hole half way up your reactor and stick an air hose splicer in the hole. Use a drop of superglue if you need to. Then you attach some silicone air line from your co2 source to the side of the reactor and you have the reactor / bubble counter going.

I found that it sometimes took a few hours for the yeast to build up enough pressure to force the co2 down into the tank and into the reactor. And usually at first, the water actually starts making it's way from the tank toward the yeast. So have a check valve on the co2 line somewhere near the reactor.
 
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nanahachi

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wow, thanks rdmpe. I'm sure I'll be reading your post over and over, but I think I get the idea of how to work it. the wedge shaped deflector thingy (tech. term indeed :p) CAN be removed. so I will take it to a hardware store and ask if they can help me find the right way to connect it to a gravel vac tube or the tube I have on hand.

I am absolutely convinced that I will move to a pressurized system quite soon, but I need the yeast to hold my plants together in the mean time.

If the RIO (or other) powerhead is the best powerhead to get, I will probably just pick one up if mine proves too difficult to work with. I would PREFER an external reactor, and have looked at the PVC one that Tom Barr recommends. However, I dont think I will be running anything into my cannister filter...so if there are other external options, I would love love love to hear them.

thanks guys, your posts were a huge help
 

rdmpe

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Another thing - if you find it difficult getting the vinyl tubing over the end of the powerhead nozzle, dip the tubing in some near boiling water and it will soften up quite a bit. Then once it is over the nozzle, run it under some cold water and should stay nice and tight on there.
 
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