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RE:CO2 reactors




Tom writes:

Ever tried placing it down further inside your tank? Like the bottom back
where it's very dark(Typically the darkest)? This is the best place to place
the diffusers- HP disc-LP reactors etc as the output trickles up through the
plants, gives the CO2 the most contact time with the plants, can provide
gentle even current at the bottom, rising up through the plants, keeps all
CO2  equipment cleaner being a very dark spot in your tank and keeps the
stuff out of sight except from the side but you can change this also. If the
opaque stuff is easier, by all means keep it. Prefiltering the reactors can
be important depending on design/detritus levels.

I reply:

Placing the header at the bottom of the tank is something that has never
occurred to me and it sounds like a good idea to me. I never did like the
fact that the header is blocking some of the light from the lamps. In the
current ;-) setup the header/diffuser is completely out of sight unless you
kneel down and look upwards so I like that part of it. My goal is to
disperse the outflow of the pump as far from the pump as possible so that it
will have to travel through all the plants to get back to the filter. So I
direct the 3 outflows of downward and toward the front of the glass. The two
back corners seem to get the least water flow but overall the flow seems to
be distributed pretty well. I am going to buy some of that flexlok tubing
and see if I can improve the circulation pattern by changing the direction
of the outflows. I am using a pretty small pump so it might not have enough
capacity to circulate the water everywhere. I should have spent the extra $5
and bought the next size up.

Tom writes:

Can you place the header outside the tank? A simple long hose about 4 ft
long hanging all rolled up off the backside of the tank works well too. I
direct the output with a spray bar along the bottom(see above).

I reply:

I have tried this but I don't really like this either because it means
drilling my hood in three places and requires me to make watertight
connections. I did not glue the PVC header together in case I have to
disassemble the header to clean the rings. If it turns out that I never have
to disassemble the header I will glue the joints and the next hood I make is
going to be a little wider so I can accomodate this stuff inside the hood.
Suprisingly the joints don't leak at all but probably if I made them outside
the tank the gods would think it pretty funny to make them start leaking.

Wayne