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[APD] Re: Aquatic-Plants Digest, Vol 15, Issue 31



Hi RJ

I think you may have the Rio pump facing downward and as gas escapes the tube during the night, it is trapped in the pump which airlocks. My unit was set up as in that photo and I had that problem when I did a water change and the Rio90 was above water for awhile, I never shut the unit off or it would have done it then also I guess.

If this is your problem, tipping the Rio over to free that bubble will let the gas escape and then it starts up. I spent an awful long time dutifully twisting the power reactor 90 degrees to get the gas bubble out and then setting it back correctly before I finally bought the original Plantguild unit and took a long look at why it worked and mine didn't then I just reattached it so the little vents are on a vertical face not the bottom of the unit.

Ann V

Message: 3
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2004 17:37:01 -0600
From: "RJ Skall" <rjskall2 at hotmail_com>
Subject: [APD] Setbacks Injecting co2 - need help.
To: aquatic-plants at actwin_com

I am just not having any success injecting pressurized co2 and am a bit
frustrated. First, I tried running an reactor inline with the the return on
my Eheim canister - the result was a huge air (gas) gap in the top of the
reactor and not much co2 in the tank (plumbing pics at
http://www.sturmgewehr.org/co2page.htm). Now I have serious BBA problems.


Next, I made a DIY reactor from a gravel vac and rio powerhead exactly like
the one at http://www.plantedtank.net/co2reactor.html - at first it looked
great, but after an hour, once again I have a large gap at the top of the
reactor tube (again, the water just trickling in), and the plants don't seem
to be benefitting or pearling. The other problem with this setup is that in
the morning, when the co2 and powerhead timer kick on, the powerhead just
hums - I believe this is because gas is trapped in thr impeller. I don't see
any difference between this reactor and the "vortex" ones at
http://www.floridadriftwood.com/subcat.asp?0=217


Tom has online plans for building a venturi and "burphole" into this type of
reactor to address this
(http://www.chataboutgardening.com/The_2_CO2_power_reactor-1303422-432-a.html)
but I'm terrible at DIY projects and after reading it over and over, I still
don't understand the recipe...if I add a hole into the side of the reactor
body, won't all the air/gas go rushing out when it's on? Will it completely
fix the issue if the powerhead is on the side of the reactor body vs the
top?


To make matters worse, I tried a glass diffuser but it broke. Right now I am
using a wooden airstone and out of ideas. Hoping you folks can help. Thanks!


- co2-challenged





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