Diy CO2 reaktor

[ibanezfrelon]

As i bought an excellent Fluval 405 for my Rio 180 ,my internal Juwel filter became redudance.
Rather than kicking it out , i decided to make a co2 reactor out of that filter.
Until then i distributed co2 over a few powerheads and was nwvwr totaly satisfied , mostly due to oscilating co2 levels , it would only take few leaves on the powerhead inlet to drop the co2 level...
...neadless to say that oscilating co2 is no good...

I took out the filter spunges , ceramics and put it in the Fluval..
Than i put one blue rough sponge on the bottom of the filter to prevent the co2 to escape too early..
...on that sponge i put two powerheads (500lit-h each) with modified impellers to really smash that co2...
...in between the powerheads i placed the airstone for co2..

..on top of that goes another blue sponge and synthetic woll.

On the filter exit i put the flex hose with holes and dragged it on the bottom of an aquarium where i've had the biggest problems distributing co2 so far..

The resault was INCREDIBLE!!!
I never expected such good co2 melt,,

I released the co2 through my Fabco as i did always before and within two hours two tetras were dead and all other almost dead..
Turned it down and wrincled the surface so they were good within an hour..

I now need almost 50% less co2 to get the DC yellow , there's not so much bubbles in the tank so it looks better and the most important change is that i can make the co2 constant because no dirt can get to powerhwads inside the filter.

It' maybe too early to tell but my plants look healthier and new leaves are shiny and full..

 

[Tug]

The concept looks suspiciously familiar. Nice adaptation.
Sorry to hear two tetras had to take one for the team.

 

[Tom Barr]

And

This will work much better than holes in the impeller.

A small 200gph pump can supply a 100 Gallon tank with little issue if the output is well mixed with the filtration.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[scottward]

ibanezfrelon - nice work! Cool. I'm actually planning on doing a mod like this on my CO2 powerhead (used in conjunction with AM1000).

I was actually thinking of just melting (or drilling with my dremel) the holes - but will try the snipping technique.

So Tom it's just a matter of snipping each blade down the centre line and putting an oposing lean on each side?

 

[Tom Barr]

Yep, easy as pie, takes 30 seconds and bend the end back. This works much better than holes adn almost as good as custom mesh/DSL glued impeller etc.
I get atomization at leats as nice as the Mazzi, but without using nearly as much power/head pressure and have no flow differences over time.
I cannot even tell there's mist in other words.

A Rio 400-800 range should take care of most smaller tanks, maybe a 180 for say a 40 Gal or less.

It's pretty hard to mess it up and unless the intake gets clogged, it should have no issues.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[Tug]

ibanezfrelon,
Would you post a better picture of the lock line the way you have it?

 

[ibanezfrelon]

And

This will work much better than holes in the impeller.

A small 200gph pump can supply a 100 Gallon tank with little issue if the output is well mixed with the filtration.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Hi !
Actualy , i've made that mod on my other powerhead but the impeler with holes made even finer mist.. ...maybe because i made the holes with hot needle and that made the turbine quite rough.. ..a lot of rough edges..

 

[ibanezfrelon]

ibanezfrelon,
Would you post a better picture of the lock line the way you have it?

I'm sorry, my english is lame , what is the lock line?

 

[Tug]

Sorry, it doesn't help that I misspelled loc line. I thought it was what you were calling flex hose. Loc line is a PITA.

 

[Tug]

Tom, I have had a problem keeping the bended ends to stay spread apart. I chalked it up to my impeller having a softer plastic then the one you modified.

 

[scottward]

Tug - did you cut the blades right through to the 'core' i.e. right through to where the blade comes out from the centre hub of the impeller? I haven't done the mod yet, perhaps if the blades aren't cut along the entire length it could cause the issue that you are having? Just a thought. No experience on my part though.

Tom - I have a 2000lph (so about 500gph) Resun powerhead connected to a 3' spray bar going through the thickets. With the mod, would this be enough for a 100 gallon tank? I also have an AM1000 to provide additional 'ambient' dissolved CO2. Even without the AM1000, would the powerhead alone be able to churn up enough CO2?

 

[ibanezfrelon]

Sorry, it doesn't help that I misspelled loc line. I thought it was what you were calling flex hose. Loc line is a PITA.

I put the hose (i don't know how you call this hose) , you can see on the pitcure , it's the green one , the other one is a Fluval hose.
I can't take a better photo because the hose is down behind the bushes (see the drawing)
I've made the holes on the hose and blocked the hose exit

 

[Tom Barr]

You have a "spray bar" attached to the out put of the CO2.

A needle wheel avoids this since it sprays out the CO2 along the back wall typically, and then the current from the filter mixes this further.
I used a L shaped spray bar and hide the spray bar well in the corners back maybe 15 years ago.

This spray bar directed the CO2 rich water towards the front glass panel of the aquarium.
A needle wheel with a spray attachment could be hidden on the back bottom part of the aquarium just as easily.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[scottward]

Bit confussed Tom - are you saying the spray bar + DIY needle wheel is a good combo, or not?

Without the spray bar, spraying the output from the needle wheel along the back wall would create too much turbulence for my plants (I tried it). So, I fitted the spray bar and directed the holes along the spay bar into the thickest parts of the plant bed. This seems like a pretty good setup.

I have holes only on one side of the spay bar. I notice that ibanezfrelon has holes on both sides, perhaps I should put more holes on mine too?

 

[scottward]

Tom can you clear up my confussion about the spray bar?