spypet

you can use the Hydor Ario's the same way.
they are whisper quiet and never clog unless
you have a sand substrate. the Co2 bubbles
come out much finer than any disc diffuser,
and the low water current generated helps
distribute the Co2 all over your tank. they
come with or without an LED spotlight.

MeioFormiga

Finally got around to trying this a week ago today, it works well - although I don't know what the CO2 levels are night and day. I've just started a 60 gallon, low light, sand and peat moss substrate. I was having a problem with hair algae in the 20 that everything moved from, and in the last week all of it has melted, whether or not the added co2 did it or the increased water volume I don'y know. There is a visible difference in the lace fern ( was the only plants before ). All in all not a bad idea. However the audible bubble counter effect is starting to piss me off, I can here it across the room. Tick tick tick tick tick...

lowfi

hey spypet,
have you used the ario system???

milalic

how is the sound from it? does it bother or is it loud?

nanobettaman

Depends on how good your hearing is I guess. For me to hear it I have to be next to it with everything else in the room turned off. But my hearing isn't stellar, and I'm well known for being able to tune noise (people) out

But regarding the point you may be getting at - the lower flow rate did make a difference in how loud the "ticking" was, it got quieter - and more still as bits of moss and plants get stuck in the vents.

feistyfish

couldn't find this at my local petco. is this available only online?

nanobettaman

I found mine at the local petco... they only had one tho.

AquaHokie

I was at my local Petco and they had an Elite Mini (they only had one left too) so I thought I would give it a shot as a co2 reactor after reading about it here. See pics below!

Elite Mini box



The box contains the filter, flow nozzle, and tube with a venturi aerator.


Water flows in from the bottom of the filter and exits from the hole below. The green tab is the flow control slider.


Take the filter apart and remove the filter sponge as well as the green flow control slider.


Place the flow nozzle into the filter sponge.



Put the filter back together. The hole where the flow control slider was is where your co2 tube goes.



Put the filter sponge nozzle on the filter and your co2 tube in the flow control slider hole.



Place the filter in your tank, plug it in, watch the bubbles fly and the plants pearl!


Overall, the reactor works great in my 56 gallon tank. I placed the filter behind some driftwood in my tank so its out of sight. The output from my canister filter is right above it to help push any bubbles that reach the surface around the tank. The first full day it was hooked up my pH dropped from 7.4 to 7 and could've dropped more had I increased the bubble count. I'm impressed with how tiny the bubbles are when they come out of the reactor and my plants have been pearling like crazy. As other posters mentioned earlier, the reactor does make some noise as co2 passes through the filter. For me, the fans on the lights of my tank are much louder than the noise the reactor makes, so I don't hear anything unless I'm right next to the tank. The filter itself cost me about $10 so its great for someone on a budget. Thanks for the great idea!

feistyfish

just to let you know i think your photos are pw encrypted.

AquaHokie

Ok I think they should work now