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Re: CO2 Reactors
>Please help!!!!! I am running a DIY CO2 system via the yeast method. My
>problem is i can't get the CO2 to dissolve into the water at a quick enough
>rate. If any of you have built a DIY reactor could you PLEASE let me know
>how you made it?
Chris,
Try this...it's going to look ugly, but just do it to see if there's something
wrong with your reactor or not:
1) Find a tupperware container (I use one that floats even when submerged and
there's no air under it and can hold exactly ONE sandwich).
2) Put the tupperware container upside-down right over the output of your
reactor airline tube. If you have a glass top, try to attach the airline so
that it pinches the upturned container against the glass (so it won't move).
3) Shake and stir your reactor until there's so much bubbling that it
completely fills up your tupperware container.
4) Wait 1/2 hour or so. If there is a current under your container from a
powerhead or filter, you won't have to wait so long.
5) Check your pH and KH. Find your rough CO2 content using a pH/KH/CO2 chart
or the rough formula: CO2(ppm) = 3 * KH(dH) * 10^(7-pH)
You should have noticed a HUGE drop in pH compared to before. If you didn't,
turn off whatever is causing surface agitation (filter, powerhead, air pump)
and try it again...don't worry, you can't kill anything in this short of a
test...besides, well-planted tanks don't really need filtering or oxygenation
via surface agitation.
I have a carbonate hardness (alkilinity -- KH) of 8, and with a simple yeast
reactor I can move the pH from 7.6 to 6.9, a whopping 30ppm CO2 injection!!!
I got this by using the tupperware trick and changing from a hang-on-back
power filter to a completely submerged powerhead (little surface agitation).
Let me know how you fare!
-Carlos