Tiny super efficient CO2 reactor - Page 6 - DIY Aquarium Projects

gibmaker · 02-13-2008, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoppycalif

OK, assume a fair sized bubble of CO2 gets trapped in the "horn" of the drop checker, pops and makes the air gap be at an elevated concentration of CO2. That air in the gap will be constantly exchanging CO2 with the water in the tank and in the "bubble" of the drop checker, so the elevated concentration quickly drops back to where it was. The higher resulting concentration in the bubble will also be constantly exchanging CO2 with the air gap, dropping it back to where it was. So, in a reasonably short time the system will be back in equilibrium, back to where it was before the errant CO2 bubble arrived.

When you have a lot of CO2 mist the plants get more CO2 than what is dissolved in the water - they get both gaseous and dissolved CO2. So, the drop checker doesn't account for the gaseous part of the CO2. I don't see that as a problem, either.

Makes sense. Thanks for hashing it out.

voiceofid · 02-18-2008, 03:38 PM

i think i am going to swing by petco tonight and try to pick up one of these and move my hagen ladder system to the 10 gallon. i've been saving up a juicy juice bottle to do diy but had no place for the bubbles to go

blah, local doesn't carry it, online i go!

edit: if anyone is buying it online, petco code PETCOEA gives 10% off, saves a few cents

voiceofid · 02-23-2008, 11:32 PM

just got mine today and put it together..

mine doesn't have any micro bubbles come out unless i remove the sponge (wasn't sure it was working or not) and as soon as i put it into the tank the guppies all went to the top of the water...

niko · 02-24-2008, 06:20 AM

Haha! Soon this thread will reach 1 million pages. It's both amazing and pathetic how cheap are we, the planted tank folk.

But the truth is these little reactors work really well. The biggest tank I've seen using one (only one) of these is a 75 gallon and obviously the plants are getting enough CO2. And this is with a temporary crazy water flow of about 800 actual in-tank gph.

I'm about to try only one of these reactors in my 180 gallon tank. I suspect that it may not be adequate but we will see.

So let's see who's next in this battle to prove who's the cheapest plant nut, haha.

--Nikolay

Fortuna Wolf · 02-26-2008, 02:07 AM

I just set up a 2 gallon hex tank with one of these reactors -
I ditched the included undergravel air powered filter, and coated the included light hood with aluminum foil and then put a 10W CF bulb in it (it looks to be about 10000k which is a bit blue for my tastes, but it was $5).

Total damage: $40 (including check valve and thermometer and airstone).

Its a pity that I can't inline these things, or else I'd use it for my planned 1qt pico.

CraigThor · 03-02-2008, 07:46 AM

I just built one in about 2 min using the article. I need to get on the ball and make a big bottle of DIY CO2 for now for my 75. I did everything per instructions but added a small 3/4"x2 mini Air stone inside of it. I also used Stealth tubing to hide it in my tank.

hoppycalif · 03-02-2008, 08:48 AM

This thread needs to be a sticky!! It is certainly a proven CO2 reactor, cheap, easy to set up, and good for both DIY and pressurized CO2. Why not keep it out where everyone can easily find it?

CraigThor · 03-02-2008, 09:15 AM

I agree. Just built my first DIY CO2 reactor also. A 1 gallon jug from some apple juice with the mix listed in the article. I need to go get some more parts. I will probably upgrade to the Red Sea Paintball kit as that will fit in my stand with my sump.

Craig

natdc2 · 03-06-2008, 02:42 PM

I just setup one of these today and was wondering if most of yall are using the sponge at the outlet? From what I can see, once the co2 hit the impellar it get chop up and disperse onto the sponge and finally it push out a little bit and the rest of the tiny bubbles just float up to the top. Would it be better if I take out the sponge and let it shoot the tiny bubbles throughout the tank? Thanks.

Tex Gal · 03-06-2008, 02:45 PM

I used the sponge. It breaks the bubbles up into further mini pieces and allows the CO2 to remain in contact with the water stream longer.