Re: [APD] Re: Bubbles? -- or - Can sumpin' be a gas?

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

I don't think size matters much -- that is, I don't think 1
qt versus 5 gallons makes much of a diff. I'm supposing the
water going thorugh the drip chamber will shed CO2 and make
the air in the drip chamber rich in CO2 and finally they
will be in balance and the shedding will stop. While some
fresh "air" might be brought into the chamber disolved in
the water coming from the overflow, the only gas leaving
the chamber would be what is disolved in the water.  It
would seem that the the diff in size affects only how much
CO2 is shed "that first time" so to speak. After all, a few
cubic feet of CO2 at 1 atmosphere pressure costs mere
pennies.

Once the chamber is rich with CO2, the only thing that
matters is surface exposure and there ought to be plenty of
that, especially in a larger reactor, no?

As for oxygen coming in, I think you describe the correct
pathway, in the overflow and down the drain, literally. As
for CO2 leaving that way in the turbulent drain and up and
out. I think that's correct too, to an extent, and is the
sole explanation of why my CO2 use doubled when I switched
from canister to wet/dry. But note that it's not a total
lose just an increase in the amount used.


Scott H.

--- David Terrell <Dave at terrellclan_com> wrote:
> 
> >Has anyone tried this?
> No, but I'm glad you asked.  Why?  I had asked this very
> question when
> considering my reactor plans.  Brand new my filter setup
> looked like
> this:
> http://www.terrellclan.com/filter.jpg
> Those are two 5g buckets and a storage container I got
> from Target.  I
> got the design (I believe) from thekrib.com.  The top
> bucket has a ring
> cut out of the bottom to make a kind of 'shelf' for a
> plate, where the
> bio balls rest.  They fill the entire 5g bucket up to
> about 1" from the
> top, where the bottom of the other bucket sits.  It acts
> as a drip
> plate, which has progressively larger holes drilled in a
> sunbirst from
> the center of the plate(which doesn't have any holes). 
> I've thought in
> the past to seal up this unit entirely, around the elbow
> near the top,
> and around the seam where the buckets meet.  Personally,
> and not being
> any kind of expert, I think the inner volume of this
> might be too large
> to make for a good reactor, plus, if I seal the system
> then the only
> allowed oxygen is going to come from the water.  And on
> top of that, the
> water coming down the pipe doesn't completely fill the
> pip, although I
> think this would be a very small amount, some air could
> escape and come
> down through the overflow.  This is why I opted for the
> external reactor
> (which I still haven't finished).
> 
> So, could I use my filter as a reactor?  Maybe not mine,
> but can one use
> their trickle as a reactor?  The materials are the same,
> as is the
> premise.


=====
S. Hieber

-  -   -   -   -   -   -   -
Amano Returns
to the AGA Annual Convention
Nov 2004 -- Baltimore

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