Re: vortex diffuser - let's get technical

["Robert H" <robertph3 at attbi_com>]

>>Ok, so I built two vortex diffusers and have a small pump hooked up to it.
The co2 goes in and swirls around and some gathers at the top. The amount of
co2 trapped inside the chamber never exceeds the chamber size too spill out.
At the base of the chamber I can see......30 - 40 really small bubbles
constantly flowing out of the chamber. If the rate of gas flowing into the
chamber is greater than the amount leaving then a lot of it has to be
getting absorbed. But, it isn't working as well as one would think. I have
had better luck using an airstone and a glass jar on its side.<<

Could you be a little less vague? How is it not working? My mini Vortex
reactor made by Plantguild works wonderfully. My pH starts at 7.6, and at
one bubble per second it goes down to 6.8 and holds there pretty steady. I
have sold about thirty of them and havn't had one person yet say it is not
working.  You can see the specs on it here:
http://www.aquabotanic.com/vortexreactor.html

Are you using too big a pump or perhaps one to low in GPH?

How are you determining the success or failure? Are you going by actual pH
readings or or just visual inspection for pearling?

How large is the aquarium and and how well circulated is the water? I
usually add an additional pump or small powerhead to carry the CO2 water
across the tank

If you are measuring pH what time of the day or night are you doing this?
How many days after first hooking up the reactor are you waiting to test for
the results? It can take anywhere from 2 to 5 days for the aquarium to reach
it's maximum saturation.

Robert Paul Hudson
www.aquabotanic.com