Dual venturi DIY External CO2 reactor

anteleon

Junior Poster
Aug 25, 2010
8
0
1
Australia
hi guys,

im back again. Well i got the reactor built now, with a couple of devations on the parts used in the original thread. Thanks, to samh for referring me to Reece here in Australia, when i got to the desk there, i showed them the picture of the parts i needed and they said they had never seen them before. But they did find a alternative set of parts i could use. They were a little expensive, not for a plumbing shop expensive, but just due to the high quality of the parts i was buying they were expensive. I used regular PVC 2" pipe for my reactors body, all up the needed parts came to around $60 Australian dollars. The pump i used was a Deltec AquaBee UP1000, again very expensive pump, they go for around $100 Australian dollars here and pump around 1000 LPH / 265 US Gallons per hour. I needed the extra grunt that this pump has because my reactor body is around 18" i think all up. I will measure it later, as will come some pictures of the reactor that I've built.

Now, i just need a little bit more help with regards to getting the venturi to work. I have, my pump which is just a powerhead, inverted and i have the venturi line coming from the reactor 2.75" inside the reactor body with the line attached to the diffuser impellor intake. I have 19mm irrigation fexible pvc pipe coming from the pump outlet up and back, into the top of the reactor fitting intake. Then water runs through the 2" reactor pipe downwards, to the bottom fitting outlet, and then back up to the tank again with the 19mm irrigation fexible pvc pipe. Now i injected some CO2 gas into the reactor via the top CO2 line which extends 12" down into the body of the reactor.

Thats how i've got it built, but again, the venturi does not seem to be working, with it all switched on and running, CO2 injecting, i have bubbles coming out from the powerhead intake up and out of the water. Also i noticed, there is no flow coming from the powerhead outlet coming from the reactor.
 

anteleon

Junior Poster
Aug 25, 2010
8
0
1
Australia
okay guys, editing this post for cleanliness reasons for this thread. My circumstances have changed. I now have the reactor working as it should im pretty sure. The 20" length of the reactor i think is the key to mines high performance, the extra contact time for the bubbles rising up the reactor, the plants love it. My drop checker is green, hoping to turn it yellow, as i have no fish in the tank yet and would like to see this reactor really put out some dissolved CO2. Maybe i will increase the CO2 input flow rate and see what happens. May need to move my drop checker away from the current from the pump as well. I found this reactor extremely easy to make once you got all the parts. The best news is i have a parts list with model numbers for all you aussies to go down to your local REECE and get the needed parts for this reactor! I have the reactor venturi producing some nice mist filling my tank with tiny bubbles. It would seem also that a bigger pump really helped with my reactor. I now run a 2600LPH pump through my reactor and believe i needed this extra power which my previous 1000LPH pump could not produce. This was due to the length of my reactor. Model numbers and good quality pictures coming soon! Thanks Tom and everyone who contributed to this thread and fixing my chronic CO2 deficiency that has lasted for years and years and has resulted in endless dead plants and relentless algae. Oh man, you should of seen one of my tanks a few years ago, it was like a tank filled with green pea soup. Not fun man!

notes:

I experienced gas lock with the 1000LPH pump after increasing the flow rate of CO2.
With the 2600LPH pump i can really increase bubbles per second through the reactor and not get lockup!
Misting, i love it, i know you dont need it, but it helps put my mind at ease as it indicates the reactor is working. I have standard PVC pipe and can't see inside my reactor so the mist helps with that.
Why would you want to decrease the misting with a flow restricter valve? I love misting!!!!!!
If the venturi is not working, try putting the venturi tube intake side VERY close to the impellor, as close as you cant get, this should get the venturi working as it should.

update: drop checker is almost yellow, or yellowish, i think mission successful, objective achieved.
With this reactor, high light, poor mans equilibrium, EI and a 50% water change every week, i think im going to see some really really nice growth.

abit off-topic now, but,

Tom Barr, any chance of a patent with this reactor, i would love to sell these reactors and the yeast ones here in australia under your brand, i think theres a huge market for them.

cheers all,

anteleon.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

scottward

Guru Class Expert
Oct 26, 2007
958
10
18
Brisbane, Australia
Photos? Part numbers? :)

Out of interest, how far do you have the bleed tube into the reactor? i.e. do you allow some gas build up at the top of the reactor or none?

If you aren't allowing any gas build up, I wonder if the reactor is essentially doing nothing - the gas is essentially completely bypassing the reactor and misting directly into the tank?

I recall that Tom mentioned right at the start of this thread that you can choose how much gas build up you want by changing how far the bleed tube feeds down into the reactor (or by putting the bleed line somewhere on the side of the reactor; obviously it can't then be changed).

It would be nice to pair up a pump and reactor and 'shrink wrap' the design for sale....

Gas build up in the reactor is a PITA as, if there is a powercut, the gas can make it's way into the impellor of the pump and cause it to run dry. You don't need much of a gas build up at all to do that. However, mitigating this issue by using the bleed line and misting the gas through the reactor may essentially be bypassing the effect of the reactor altogether by considerably reducing the gas/water contact time inside the reactor (which is obviously the whole point).

I have a swing check valve that I plan to fit between the pump and the reactor when I get around to it.

I think that perhaps this combination, and not using the bypass line at all, might offer the best performance from the reactor when configured this way?

I think a lot of people are overlooking the powercut issue etc when running these reactors like this.

Scott.
 

scottward

Guru Class Expert
Oct 26, 2007
958
10
18
Brisbane, Australia
If you aren't allowing any gas build up, I wonder if the reactor is essentially doing nothing - the gas is essentially completely bypassing the reactor and misting directly into the tank?

Maybe my thinking is fundamentally flawed. :D

Maybe if all the gas the enters the reactor does go through the pump impellor and get misted back into the reactor it will dissolve 'as good as it gets' anyway...? My reactor is filled with plastic balls (can't remember what they are called), these are designed to provide turbulence, hence break up the gas into bubbles that are as small as possible.

Here is a thought - perhaps, rather than feeding the CO2 into the reactor, the CO2 line should just go straight into the intake of the pump in the first place? If the pump shuts down, but nothing else does, I suppose there is still the chance of a dry run situation, but I suppose you can't protect against everything...
 

anteleon

Junior Poster
Aug 25, 2010
8
0
1
Australia
hey scottward,

nice to meet you mate.

As for your question about the bubble of gas at the top of the reactor, its funny because i actually dont know even if there is one, because my reactor body is regular PVC, not clear, so i can't see the bubble. I put the venturi/bleed tube only a tiny length into the reactor incase I only had a small bubble of gas at the top of the reactor. I would say maybe 1/4" of an inch into the reactor. I think mine is running correctly as far as i know, i will be testing it with some clear PVC soon to try to figure what is going on inside
the reactor a bit more.

Heres the part numbers, from REECE irrigation department. (note: these parts in total cost me $50-$60 AUD dollars, so the reactor parts for my build are quite expensive compared to Tom's which came to around $15 USD. But these parts were the only alternative i could get get to make the reactor from parts sourced here in australia.) Also my RESUN pump was quite expensive going for around $90 AUD, however as you will read froom my previous post i had troubles using a 1000LPH pump with this rector build.

1507940 - Poly Threaded Bush 4162 - 50mm x 20mm ( i got 2 of these )
1508005 - Poly Threaded Nipple - 4222- 20mm ( 2 of these )
1508125 - Poly Threaded Socket - 4366 - 50mm ( 2 of these )
1508326 - Poly Threaded Elbow M&F - 4692 - 20mm ( 2 of these )
1507940 - Poly Threaded Bush - 4162 - 50mm x 20mm ( 2 of these )
1405510 - Dwv Adaptor Pvc X MI - 50mm ( 2 of these )

I also used 20" of 2" PVC pipe (regular, not the clear stuff)

Resun Utility Pump 2600LPH that has threaded sockets for 19mm irrigation fittings (so you can just screw in the 19mm fittings into the pump outlet and use standard 19mm flexible irragation tubing for the remaining plumbing to the tank etc) [on the box the pump is rated for 3000LPH but i think the actual output is only 2600LPH i've read] If you get gas lockup while using smaller LPH rated pumps than this one, try a larger LPH pump. ( i think thats the case anyway )

Bunnings stocks the 19mm fittings, 19mm irrigation tubing and the 2" PVC pipe, i think the pipe is sold in 1 meter lengths there from what i can remember.

Pictures:

(coming really soon sorry my current camera phone is shocking, when i get my iphone back i will retake the pictures.

thx,

anteleon.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

priv_sim

Junior Poster
Nov 29, 2006
27
0
1
mrkookm;20744 said:
Correct..... Whether you have an external pump or not this config is always recirculating the Co2, truly mixing it in and dissolving it before the enriched water gets pumped out to the tank.


See the drawing below where I have inserted DIY venturi for optimal performance as well as placement of venturi output as suggested by TBarr. If an external pump was used the basic venturi would be inserted somewhere along the suction line so that impeller would dissolve more co2.

I'm not familiar with a canister filter or its inner workings but some guys on PT.net has suggested to remove the impeller in the canister and use a dedicated external pump to do all the work...... see here

setup.jpg

Hi!

Could someone explain me how "DIY basic venturi" is made?
Will this system reduce flow rate of external filter? (400gph filter)

Thanks in advance!
 

samh

Guru Class Expert
Nov 16, 2010
193
0
16
SE QLD Australia
anteleon;73432 said:
I experienced gas lock with the 1000LPH pump after increasing the flow rate of CO2.
With the 2600LPH pump i can really increase bubbles per second through the reactor and not get lockup!
Misting, i love it, i know you dont need it, but it helps put my mind at ease as it indicates the reactor is working. I have standard PVC pipe and can't see inside my reactor so the mist helps with that.
Why would you want to decrease the misting with a flow restricter valve? I love misting!!!!!!
If the venturi is not working, try putting the venturi tube intake side VERY close to the impellor, as close as you cant get, this should get the venturi working as it should.

update: drop checker is almost yellow, or yellowish, i think mission successful, objective achieved.
With this reactor, high light, poor mans equilibrium, EI and a 50% water change every week, i think im going to see some really really nice growth.

abit off-topic now, but,

Tom Barr, any chance of a patent with this reactor, i would love to sell these reactors and the yeast ones here in australia under your brand, i think theres a huge market for them.

cheers all,

anteleon.

Hi anteleon,

Glad you found the parts ok. Haha i had a different problem, i made one similar but the only pumps i had were a rio 1100l/hr diy NW and a 3000l/hr rio hyperflow, since i wanted to use my 1100 rio NW as a separate mister i had to upgrade my reactor, because the 3000l/hr one just blew the bubbles straight out the end haha.

I ended up using 100mm pvc about 300mm long filled with bio balls, since i had the NW i didn't bother with the venturi because there's no way it'll ever lock up :eek:

I tried selling the 3000 so i didn't need to make another reactor but i couldn't ha.
 

pgaks3

Junior Poster
Dec 18, 2011
2
0
1
just read through this thread, i like the design, im pretty sure i understand how it works, but i do have a few questions:
1. can this be scaled down to a 10g tank? i am planning a high tech 10G, my reasoning on going high tech is i want a carpet of dwarf baby tears, and it seems co2 is the only way to keep them happy.

2. any suggestions for a small enough external needle wheel pump/powerhead to use for this?

3. can this be used with DIY co2? I am planning on the 2 liter bottle with a 1 liter bottle after it to catch any yeast that gets sucked in, willing to go up to 2 bottles if more pressure is needed.

tank is a 10g all glass, filtration is 501 canister filter, lighting is a single 18w t8 now, but plan after the new year is to switch to 2 cfls horizontally mounted with diy reflector or 2 par30s.

thanks in advance

sheb
 
Last edited by a moderator:
One question, i am planning on replacing this type of reactor from the one i have wich doesnt have a rigid tube on the bottom, instead has a "mist" effect on the top,
The tank is a 12g tank with the eheim 2213 filter running on it,
at the moment i run my reactor with the filter with good flow but too much bps than its necessary if good dissolution was in place (using 4 bps atm)
The question is, if i use this reactor, making one half the size, is it better to use a powerhead and place the outflow pipe on a place were filter flow catches it, or is it better to use filter flow instead (i.e making reactor inline)

Im having issues with algae and my reactor doesnt inspire confidence to me since it takes 2 hours for a pH drop of 1 unit on a 2 dkH tank,
also it leaks :/
and also, it stocks a huge amount of gas since the beginning of injection so its 8 hours of light with choucking buubles on top, so a venturi reactor would be really nice
 

Gerryd

Plant Guru Team
Lifetime Member
Sep 23, 2007
5,623
22
38
South Florida
Hi all,

I finally got the courage and converted my 10x4 water filter housing that I used as a dwell time unit to this design.

I used 3/16 rigid tubing and used the top venturi design. I am not about to drill into the water housing itself :)

I placed the c02 input tube approx. 1-1.5" off the bottom. The venturi tube is approx 1" or so from the top of the housing cap.

1. Powered by a Rio 1000 model pump with a DIY needle wheel (NW is how I drove the cerges unit).
2. Output from the pump goes IN the OUT side of the filter unit so it hits the bubbles coming up and mixes them (I hope).
3. I used a few bio balls but not that many.
4. The output of the filter housing is placed next to the main sump pump for distribution.
5. The venturi output goes back to the reactors feed pump.

I just got it running 20 minutes ago and so far no leaks or anything lol

Seems to work fine. I may hook up the main sump pump instead of the rio. The venturi would feed the main sump pump and the Rio could be removed. The Sicce main sump pump would provide more flow to the reactor, as I would use 1" tube/fittings in and out.

Will keep you all posted.

Thanks Tom for posting these ideas and devices. One of the few c02 diffusion methods I have NOT tried (but did use an AM1000 years ago).

Later

- - - Updated - - -

Hi all,

I finally got the courage and converted my 10x4 water filter housing that I used as a dwell time unit to this design.

I used 3/16 rigid tubing and used the top venturi design. I am not about to drill into the water housing itself :)

I placed the c02 input tube approx. 1-1.5" off the bottom. The venturi tube is approx 1" or so from the top of the housing cap.

1. Powered by a Rio 1000 model pump with a DIY needle wheel (NW is how I drove the cerges unit).
2. Output from the pump goes IN the OUT side of the filter unit so it hits the bubbles coming up and mixes them (I hope).
3. I used a few bio balls but not that many.
4. The output of the filter housing is placed next to the main sump pump for distribution.
5. The venturi output goes back to the reactors feed pump.

I just got it running 20 minutes ago and so far no leaks or anything lol

Seems to work fine. I may hook up the main sump pump instead of the rio. The venturi would feed the main sump pump and the Rio could be removed. The Sicce main sump pump would provide more flow to the reactor, as I would use 1" tube/fittings in and out.

Will keep you all posted.

Thanks Tom for posting these ideas and devices. One of the few c02 diffusion methods I have NOT tried (but did use an AM1000 years ago).

Later
 

reef12

Member
Apr 29, 2013
534
0
16
Tulsa
Gerryd;127998 said:
Hi all,

I finally got the courage and converted my 10x4 water filter housing that I used as a dwell time unit to this design.

I used 3/16 rigid tubing and used the top venturi design. I am not about to drill into the water housing itself :)

I placed the c02 input tube approx. 1-1.5" off the bottom. The venturi tube is approx 1" or so from the top of the housing cap.

1. Powered by a Rio 1000 model pump with a DIY needle wheel (NW is how I drove the cerges unit).
2. Output from the pump goes IN the OUT side of the filter unit so it hits the bubbles coming up and mixes them (I hope).
3. I used a few bio balls but not that many.
4. The output of the filter housing is placed next to the main sump pump for distribution.
5. The venturi output goes back to the reactors feed pump.

I just got it running 20 minutes ago and so far no leaks or anything lol

Seems to work fine. I may hook up the main sump pump instead of the rio. The venturi would feed the main sump pump and the Rio could be removed. The Sicce main sump pump would provide more flow to the reactor, as I would use 1" tube/fittings in and out.

Will keep you all posted.

Thanks Tom for posting these ideas and devices. One of the few c02 diffusion methods I have NOT tried (but did use an AM1000 years ago).

Later

- - - Updated - - -

Hi all,

I finally got the courage and converted my 10x4 water filter housing that I used as a dwell time unit to this design.

I used 3/16 rigid tubing and used the top venturi design. I am not about to drill into the water housing itself :)

I placed the c02 input tube approx. 1-1.5" off the bottom. The venturi tube is approx 1" or so from the top of the housing cap.

1. Powered by a Rio 1000 model pump with a DIY needle wheel (NW is how I drove the cerges unit).
2. Output from the pump goes IN the OUT side of the filter unit so it hits the bubbles coming up and mixes them (I hope).
3. I used a few bio balls but not that many.
4. The output of the filter housing is placed next to the main sump pump for distribution.
5. The venturi output goes back to the reactors feed pump.

I just got it running 20 minutes ago and so far no leaks or anything lol

Seems to work fine. I may hook up the main sump pump instead of the rio. The venturi would feed the main sump pump and the Rio could be removed. The Sicce main sump pump would provide more flow to the reactor, as I would use 1" tube/fittings in and out.

Will keep you all posted.

Thanks Tom for posting these ideas and devices. One of the few c02 diffusion methods I have NOT tried (but did use an AM1000 years ago).

Later

Without pics all hearsay. :wink-new:

Jeff
 

sirbreakemstuff

Junior Poster
Oct 25, 2016
2
0
1
if i were to use the venturi loop using a powerhead but the source of flow is a canister filter. where would i connect the input of the powerhead? i get that the output of the powerhead would go into a T in the output line of the canaster filter so the chopped up bubbles will go back into the reaactor. but couldnt find anything about where the powerhead intake gets connected. and could i use a timer on the powerhead to create intervals for the mist? and if so at what intervals do you think would work best?
 

sirbreakemstuff

Junior Poster
Oct 25, 2016
2
0
1
Does anyone know what the flow rate should be for this reactor? I need to slow down my sump output from 1000 gph to 500 gph to get my filter media to work properly. Plus im getting alot of bubbles coming out of the output "before the ventury kicks in".
 

yusuf saraç

New Member
Dec 26, 2017
22
1
3
38
Turkey
So after years and years I came across this page and decided to do this kind of reactor. But I was already using the well known ista mix - max reactor. You can google it. And I decidet to make some changes over it instead of doing it from the start. I added the final design in the picture.

So what I did is;

- I drilled a hole about 4 cm above from the bottom of the reactor and connect the co2 there.
- I use the original-design (at the very top of the reactor) co2 intake hole for degassing. I connect an airline from there to the powerhead intake.
- Every other parts of the reactor is the same.

So what do you guys think of this design.

20180111_224001.jpg
 

Kyalgae

Lifetime Members
Lifetime Member
Aug 25, 2016
347
235
43
Canada
So after years and years I came across this page and decided to do this kind of reactor. But I was already using the well known ista mix - max reactor. You can google it. And I decidet to make some changes over it instead of doing it from the start. I added the final design in the picture.

So what I did is;

- I drilled a hole about 4 cm above from the bottom of the reactor and connect the co2 there.
- I use the original-design (at the very top of the reactor) co2 intake hole for degassing. I connect an airline from there to the powerhead intake.
- Every other parts of the reactor is the same.

So what do you guys think of this design.

View attachment 11541

Have you tested it out? Is it better at dissolving co2? YouTube vid of it in action?
 

yusuf saraç

New Member
Dec 26, 2017
22
1
3
38
Turkey
I'm using it just for a night. At the start I think some air left in the chamber while I was putting it into the tank. it run all night and when I check it in the morning it was running smoothly. Degassing system seems to be really working. I will observe it for a couple of days and record a video if it works well. For dissolving point, I can not tell much because I'm using diy yeast co2 and it is down to 1 bubble per 4 seconds. Maybe I can tell after I reset the yeast system and increase the bps count to about 1bps. The original max mix was stopping at every couple hours at this rate because of the air being stucked at the top.

But like I said I need an expert opinion about the whole idea :)
 
Last edited:

aibcarpentry

Member
Sep 23, 2017
49
15
8
40
Banbury, Oxfordshire
I didn't realise this thread was still active...........

Has anyone used any deviation of this reactor with a canister filter? I know the question has been asked a few times but see no answers.