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GREAT CO2 REACTOR!!!!



Ok...i have been on this list for about 4 months now and i have gained A LOT
of information form it!  Now, I would like to give back!  I had problems
getting my CO2 (DIY of course) ti "dissolve" into my 55 gal tank.  I tried
every possible suggestion and i was still losing CO2 into the atmosphere (i
know this because my ph was not dropping very much)!  So I pretty much
combined ALL the ideas i got on CO2 reactors and built my own!  Here is
exactly what i did:

1.  I put 2 of my undergravel filter plates back into my tank so that the two
holes for                 the uplift tubes were as close as possible (i was
currently not using an undergravel filter)

2.  I drilled a small hole into one of the uplift tubes and then placed the
uplift tubes into the undergravel filter plates (make sure the hole in the
one uplift tube is placed down near the gravel)

3.  I then attatched a penguin powerhead to the one uplift tube with the hole
in it!

4.  Next, I attached a plastic elbow (purchased at a local fish store...it
comes in the penguin reverse flow kit which costs about $10) to the
powerhead's outflow and connected the other end of the elbow to the other
uplift tube.

5.  Then, i ran the hose from my DIY CO2 bottle into the hole of the one
uplift tube and then turned on the powerhead.

This Reactor works perfectly all of my CO2 dissolve into the water.  The
powerhead will "suck" the bubbles up the uplift tube and "chop" them up.
 Then, the powerhead "blows" the smaller bubbles down the other uplift tube.
 The bubbles will try to rise up the tube while the water current pushes down
on them making them dissolve!  Any bubbles that get pushed all the way down
the uplift tube will become trapped under the filter plate and will
eventually dissolve!  I REALLY hope this helps at least one person out there
trying to make a reactor!  Just be carefull if you have fish because with
just one 2 liter bottle i dropped the ph in my 55 gal. from 7.8 (that was the
highest my ph test went up to so it may even be higher) down 6.3 (or
somewhere around there)!

Please respond with your thoughts and comments!

Hope this helps!

in wet Erie, PA
Chris Simmons
aka...Griff1324 at aol_com