[APD] Setbacks Injecting co2

["Joseph J. Ferenchik" <snapshot0729 at netzero_net>]

I have the same setup, but I don't have the rio at the top of the vac. I used most of the tubing
that came with the vac, and made a loop so that the rio is actually next to the vac, and about
half way down. My setup runs continuously. If you feel the need to stop the injection process
I'd recommend that you solenoid just the cylinder and let the pump run. This will alleviate your
gas bubble when it restarts, since it's never off. If your water is just trickling in you have too much
foam in the tube. The rio 600 is a 60gph pump. I too have a co2 layer at the top of the vac, and can
see the flow rate of the pump. It should look like the water coming out of your faucet. If it's not
lose some of the foam. Actually I got rid of all of my foam since it would plug with gunk. If you do
shut off the cylinder, but keep the pump running, you should notice that your layer of gas in the vac
will probably be gone in the morning. I can't tell from the link, but do you have anything else
in the vac to help break up the co2 bubbles? I added some big bio balls, that are really close to the
diameter of the vac tube.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4217&Ntt=bio%20ball&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&N=2004&Nty=1

Anything similar would suffice. You'll get 3 this size in a standard length vac tube.
This helps break up the bubbles as the rio forces the bubbles to smash into the balls.
Also fwiw and this probably doesn't matter but I have my co2 inlet at the bottom of the vac.
This helps keep the balls in the tube as they hit the tube and can't escape. You could
put a big mesh screen (fiberglass) over the bottom to contain the balls, and secure the
screen with a cable tie or some type of plastic clamp. You could also use a stainless
hose clamp. Just use mesh with the largest holes you can find or it'll plug, and you'll 
have to clean it more than you want. You want function and minimal maintenance here.
Keep the faith, and keep us posted. We'll get you up and running like you should be.
It looks great when your tank looks like a big champagne glass. You'll get there.

Joe


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 benefiting 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 the impeller.
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