Re: Learning From Others Errors -- CO2 methods

["S. Hieber" <shieber at yahoo_com>]

Steven Pituch said, in part, about a case of CO2 excess
that happened with a low bbuble rate:

> 
> If this really happened because Chuck Gadd's reactor
> design is that much
> more efficient,  I've got to consider making one.  I am
> currently using an
> Eheim diffuser and I figure it was about as efficient as
> your previous
> diffuser.  I am only getting a far amount of Co2 into the
> water and am
> probably using 4 bubbles per second versus the one-third
> bubble per second
> you were using.


If you're using 4 bubbles per second you jsut might want to
try Chuck's, or some other CO2 reactor.

I haven't used Chuck's design per se but I've used very
similar ones with python gravel tubes.  And I've used
external reactors.  I found this to be true about several
reactors vs Eheim diffusers.  The faster the rate at which
you aquarium sheds CO2 the bigger the difference you will
get from different efficiencies of injection.   Gravel tube
type internal reactors are nealry 100% efficient; external
reactirs are basically 100% efficient.  I don't know
precisely how efficient Eheim diffusers are but it's its
not anywhere near 100% -- just whatch the bubbles.  Are
Eheim diffusers not a good choice then?  Sure they are but
not for all situations.  They are relatively inexpensive
and take up very little room and you'll never get a
canister filter to lock up because you are using a diffuser
instead of feeding CO2 into a canister filter.

Ready-made reactors tend to be expensive -- homemade ones
are easy to make and godawful cheap.  They are bigger than
diffusers but you can keep them external -- so it doesn't
matter if that  homemade one is a bit of an ugly duckling. 
They require a water flow source and internal diffusers do
not.

The title of this post is following a thread and used for
continuity, it is not meant to suggest that any method of
CO2 addition is an error.

Scott H.

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