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Re: [APD] RE: CO2 Saturation



With a reactor that short and narrow and that much water
flow, that's probably the reason you're forever blowing
bubbles ;-) The bubbles can't get out of the way of the
strong water flow. Well, it looks a bit short in the
picture to me.

With that reactor and the amount of pump, I think I'd Tee
off (or Y off) of the mainline [maybe put a ball valve on
each line] and run one line to the reactor and the other
straight back to the aquarium. Impact on your total water
flow will probably be a wash but you can tame the water in
the reactor this way.

I'd drill a hole just big enough for an airline fitting in
the reactor and epoxy the fitting in place. If you put the
Tee (or Y) setup in place first, you won't have to shut
down your pump while working on the reactor. 

Some like to use an airstone inside the reactor but I don't
think it's necessary and they do clog up sooner or later.

Alternatively, you could make a bigger reactor, larger
diameter, and the flow in the reactor will be less likely
to flush out bubbles.

If you want to know if the water flow is working against
you before you spend more money, then try clamping the
existing water line into reactor and see what diff a slower
water flow makes. You can used whatever is handy for a
temporary "valve" -- a pair of vise grips, a C-clamp, an
adjustable open-end wrench, you get the idea -- not ideal
for long term but it should not hurt the vinyl tubing for a
few hours or half a day or so.

Just for an example, I'm running a QuietOne (old version)
on my sump and it feeds a large reactor that maintains CO2
in 150 g aquarium. But the pump goes to a manifold with a
valve on each of four lines. Total pump output in this
setup is roughly 800 gph -- that I have figured reasonably
well. But only one of three lines in use goes to the CO2
reactor - maybe roughly 150-200 gph to the reactor. I never
really measured it, just turned the valves until it worked.


Also, the 1' down and 1' back up sort of cancel each other
out as far as gravity -- although both count towards the
total length -- but mere length doesn't do much damage to
the water flow unless the pipe is undersized. If you do the
Tee (or Y) thing, you'll be adding length and some more
turns but all more total diameter. So you can turn down the
flow on the reactor line and leave the other line wide open
to maintain your flow. YOu didn't have you heart set on
exactly 500 gph, did you ;-)

Good luck, good fun,
Scott H.
--- David Terrell <Dave at terrellclan_com> wrote:
> Yup, well, at least that's what I think, it's at MOST
> 500gph.  Heres a
> picture:
> http://www.terrellclan.com/reactor/3.jpg
> 
> The pump is rated at 750gph, but with all the head above
> it (1' to reactor,
> down 1', up 1', up 1.5', up 2' = 5.5') it's probably
> going at most 500gph,
> probably closer to 400-450...
>

=====
S. Hieber

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

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