ghengis

In that pic, the flow is actually set quite high, to give a clearer visual idea of what's going on. If I adjust the flow just right, I can acheive a very fine stream that barely even floats in the water, rather just drifts around low in the tank. As you can see, it's right below the filter outlet to help with distribution...

niko

Ghengis,

If this is a chopstick from the nearest Chinese food place then congratulations! You may have joined the ranks of "cheap to the bone" hobyists .

Here's a "secret" trick; Cut the chopstick really short (1/4") and stuff it at the end of the CO2-tubing. Then stick that amazing creation under a powerhead. The CO2 fine CO2 bubbles will be broken to even finer bubbles by the impeller. Oh my!

A chopstick is nice but in a few weeks it will turn black from bacteria growing on it. Of course you can replace it, but the problem is that the CO2 flow will vary.

No chopstick, just the CO2 tubing in the powerhead inflow is a fool proof... exquisite... fashionable design. And cheaper than a free chopstick!

--Nikolay

ghengis

Niko, close on the guess. It's actually about an inch of the pointy end of a bamboo skewer
Having tried various methods of separating the pointy bit from the rest of the skewer, from clean cutting to semi-cutting then breaking, I found that straight out breaking, leaving lot's of little fibres, to be the best as far as bubble-ation goes.

thespiff

This little DIY reactor is excellent. I've been meaning to set DIY CO2 up on my planted tank for a long time, and uncertainty about a reactor was the only thing holding me back. I Found this article early this week, got everything set up, and I'm on day 3. I'm anxious to see some good plant growth. Thanks guys!

blacklabel

will one of these be enough for a 125? or should i step up to a rio 800? also, does anyone have a link to the diy rio mister?

ZooTycoonMaster

Is 1 of this too much for a 10 gallon? Maybe I should run it for a couple minutes if it is...

niko

Blacklabel,

One of these reactors is perfectly fine in a 75 gallon tank. I suspect it can go up to at least 90. For a 125 I'd do a bigger powerhead with a sponge on the outflow. Also make sure that the bigger powerhead has a big size strainer. Usually powerheads have skinny strainers that suck not only debries but snails too. That forces you to clean them too often. A bigger size (diameter) strainer does not have such issues.

MooTycoonZaster,
This small reactor will be too much for a 10 gallon tank. But if you find a way to provide surface agitation a lot of the CO2 will get out of the water.

--Nikolay

ZooTycoonMaster

Misspelled my name

What if I run it for a few minutes a day for like 10 minutes?

SpeedEuphoria

Hey great thread here, thanks everyone.

niko

ZooTycoonMaster,

If you run the CO2 on and off you will have big fluctuations of the amount of CO2 in the water. For whatever reason it takes much longer to saturate the tank with CO2 then to let the CO2 fizz out of the tank. It may take 2 hours to saturate and only 30 min. to loose it all.

Now, knowing the above doesn mean much. If the plants do well then by any means run the CO2 for only a short time every day. But the main question is how the algae are going to like the fluctuations of CO2. In general algae shows up when the tank is not being run consistently. If you start chaning the light, the water change schedule, the feeding, the ferts usually algae appears. So it would be logical to expect an algae bloom if the CO2 fluctuates up and down. Especially if you let the CO2 escape the tank and the lights are still on.

Maybe the most reasonable approach would be to run the CO2 when all your lights are on. And to reduce the light when the CO2 is off.

Or you can just buy a CO2 diffuser and make things simple A 10 gallon tank will look better with a tiny glass diffuser than with a black pump with a sponge on it.

Once again - if the plants grow and everything is fine run the CO2 any way you like.

--Nikolay