DIY CO2 and a diffuser

[jaymasta]

Iam with you on this one, I also run my CO2 through my powerhead and it explodes the bubbles into my tank like a fine mist, and they get scattered everywhere. if you have a powerhead or are thinking of getting one, I wuold say this is easily the best way with a DIY kit

I have mine running into the air intake on a powerhead set near the bottom of my tank and it works really well. also the limewood diffusers have a great reputation for making tons of tiny bubbles. I beleive the limewoods cost about 5 bucks if you want to save some loot.

 

[Jadis]

so i bought coralifes limewood bubble diffuser today,
(all excited from this post)
the bubbles are much finer than a airstone or powerhead, but they arn't what i would call a "fine mist" will they become finer as they age a bit?

 

[jaymasta]

I have no idea about coralifes limewood, but I stated in my post that the bubbles come out of my powerhead like a fine mist, I have my airline from my CO2 go into my powerhead and it shoots the bubbles all over the tank and it looks like a mist of bubbles, they are extremely small (much smaller then an airstone) as well as are getting fired to the bottom of my tank at 200GPH or so they almost all disapate before they even get halfway up my tank

so i bought coralifes limewood bubble diffuser today,
(all excited from this post)
the bubbles are much finer than a airstone or powerhead, but they arn't what i would call a "fine mist" will they become finer as they age a bit?

 

[Jadis]

hmm perhaps its just my powerhead, but the bubbles from mine come out huge.
i guess it doesnt matter, as long as the co2 is effectivly mixing with the water

 

[Stillwater]

CO2 Diffuser Ideas

There are many DIY CO2 diffuser/reactor ideas on this site..

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/CO2/diffuser.html

I have used the method suggested by Harold Wong (A truely different kind of CO2 reactor by Harold Wong). All you need is 1/2 inch PVC or transparent tubing and suction cups to hold the tubing in place.

Longer the tank, more the length of tubing one can run resulting in better absorption. This method is most suitable for tanks 36 inches or longer. And not to forget, I see full absorption of CO2 using this method.

 

[misopeenut]

if you have a canister filter you dont have to put any co2 equipement in your tank.
http://www.waterplantsworld.com/original/co2m2.jpg by using that.
pretty simple, All you need is T-shaped plastic thing, check valve and some hosing to connect.
when i connect that i dont see any co2 bubbles coming out from the shower pipe

 

[BowMaster]

Okay, this isn't exacly DIY but sort of. First thing, I've got a 72g Bow front and I use compressed CO2. I tried the Coralife Limewood stone. I placed it as low in the tank as possible right below the suction of my filter. My filter is a Cascade 1200, 315g/hr canister filter. I guess it worked alright. But bubbles would build up inside my filter and then would cause the pump to cavitate. This would only happen a few time an hour, but non the less, not desireable. Not only that, the bubbles were not very small, not much smaller than a normal airstone. In fact I had to run over 4 bubbles per second to keep my pH around 6.8. The bubbles were in fact so large that about 1/4 of them would escape the suction and float straight to the top.

So, I did some searching around and looked at several different diffusers. All of the ones mentioned here and one spiral ladder style that was highly recommended. But was quite expensive and needed it's own power head. It released the bubbles into spiral canister smae type of idea as a ladder style, but it forces water through the whole thing. Apparently works great, a little bulky, once you consider a power head into the picture. However by the time you buy a power head it will cost over $80CDN.

But, the salesman showed me this new unit that was very innovative. It used a built-in power head and a centrifuge to diffuse the CO2. It sprays the water into a mixing chamber and spins the CO2 to the center and creates a whirlpool effect. Looks very cool and you literaly can't see a single bubble being released. So, I bought it. It works for tanks 10-125g, has a 65g/hr pump and can dissolve over 180 bubbles per minute. Super compact design too 3.75" x 1.6" x 2.2". So, far I'm very impressed. It also can be fully disassembled for cleaning and has a 1 year warrany.

It is a Red Sea CO2 Reactor 500.

Here is one on ebay for a reasonable price. I paid $60CDN from my local store.

http://cgi.ebay.com/CO2-Reactor-500...Z019QQcategoryZ117435QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

So, I hope this helps some of you out. I just got this unit so I will keep posting the long term effects.

Lyle