Re: [APD] Inline CO2 Reactors.

["S. Hieber" <shieber at yahoo_com>]

Okay, so some alternatives: Rocks and pebbles tend to have
too little space between them and don't slough excess
biofilm as well as the plastic used for bioballs. I have
reactors with bioballs and clean them maybe once every two
years for the heck of it, not because the flow slows down.
I don't openthem up, I jsut attach them to a hose and force
some storng water flow through them. There tubes happen to
be clear. I have one about 4 years old that Tom Barr made
that has never been cleaned and has never faultered in
performance. Thanks, Tom!


There are screw-cap fittigs that can be used insted of just
gluing on end caps -- there used to be someone on Ebay that
sold reactors like that -- and McMaster-Carr (mcmaster.com)
has just about every plastic fitting, barbed and otherwise,
that you can think of.

sh

--- Chris Hotte <ecwh at cogeco_ca> wrote:

> S. Hieber wrote:
> 
> >An alternative -- mind you I didn't say the only one --
> is
> >to get the CO2 equipment out of the tank -- a mixing
> >chamber (or what the at-a-loss-for-small-words folks
> call a
> >*REACTOR*) can be made for a few bucks and a little time
> --
> >and not much dexterity is required:
> >
> >http://www.aquaticscape.com/articles/co2reactor.htm
> >
> >Btw, neither Dave nor Hudson nor I make a penny on these
> --
> >and I didn't design the things or make the pictures and
> I'm
> >not even connected with the website -- I only bring them
> up
> >because they're  inexpensive, 100% efficient, out of the
> >tank, and easy to make.
> >  
> >
> I made something like similar based on that
> instructional.  I could only 
> find barb connectors that have had a 90o angle. It works,
> however it's a 
> pain in the ass to clean since I sealed it with the
> exception of the 
> barbed fittings.  It also doesn't disconnect very nicely
> and usually 
> ends up in a mess. Instead of BioBalls, I used large
> inert granite 
> pebbles I had lying around. I used it for around 6 months
> and then grew 
> tired of it slowing down the little flow I had. I'm lazy
> about cleaning 
> my canister filter, so I didn't need the extra drag
> inline after a 
> couple months of buildup. I removed the stupid thing and
> now feed CO2 
> directly into in a powerhead I pulled out of retirement.
> It works fine. 
> The bubble rate is now 0.33/second vs 0.14/second with
> the reactor.  My 
> 5lb tank still lasts 'forever'.  The guy at the welding
> shop has only 
> seen me once for a refill since I got this setup from him
> around this 
> time last year. I absolutely blew his mind with the slow
> controlled rate 
> I was trying to achieve.  He'd never heard of anything
> like this 
> application, however that isn't surprising at a welding
> supplier.  My 
> tank would have lasted longer if I hadn't decided to dump
> it when the 
> guage was reading 800psi, down from the regular 900psi. 
> That was fun. I 
> did it to avoid "tank dump" but there was alot more gas
> in there than I 
> had expected and I likely will not do that again.
> 
> CO2 is cheap and well... I think the inline reactor is a
> nice project 
> and all, but necessary if some other reaction method is
> available, even 
> if not as efficient.  It's still nowhere near the
> inconvenience of using 
> the yeast/sugar method.  I'll stop keeping aquatic plants
> before I go 
> back to that.
> 
> Anyone want my PVC inline C02 reactor? I still haven't
> tossed it. Free, 
> but you pay shipping --  It's full of rocks. ;-)
> 
> - Chris.
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> 


=====
Christel Kasselmann, 
author of the best current authoritative text on aquatic plants 
will be a featured speaker at 
The Northeast Council of Aquarium Societies 30th Annual Convention.
March 18-20, 2005 at the Marriott Hotel, Farmington, CT
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