CO2 Reactor - Good Design and at affordable Price

[FC]

I saw these CO2 External Reactors at Jalan Kayu fish farm which rang a bell. The design concept is the same as my DIY reactor! Except that I have bio rings added to it.

Come in 2 sizes:


Installation instructions:


If space is not the constraint, go for the larger one because:
1) It is more efficient and has capacity to serve larger tank (up to 500 litres I guess)
2) The price difference between them is small
3) It is already competitvely priced

This is the best reactor design I had come across - compact, simple, low maintenance and yet very efficient. I hope the material used and fitness are good too which I believe they are.

[hammy]

Yes, I love it's compactness.

[FC]

In case that you cannot see the photo clearly...

The reactor works in this way:
1) The output of the filter feeds water into the side inlet of the reactor.
2) The CO2 is fed into the small tube on top of the reactor.
3) With that in place, the water and CO2 are pressured-mixed before going out of the reactor.
4) The key performance factor of the reactor lies on the water being channelled down to the bottom most of the reactor before it rise up to the outlet tube at the top. Hence, the CO2 also travel the same longest possible path while being pressured-dissolved. Plus, there is a coarse foam pad added at the bottom to trap any undissolved CO2 which then expose it to further blast of water flow through the foam. Clearly, this smart system aimed to achieve maximum possible reaction between the water and the CO2 with the given/fixed canister's volume.
5) The mixture finally goes out at the top of the reactor's straight tube.

[eddy planer]

Dear Freddy,

I still looking for extenal reactor ...which mean I can install straight from my chiller or before chiller.

CO2 bubble will dissolve quickly...

can you able to hunt one for me....or if you have any in mind.

[FC]

Eddy,

Normally, the setup of water flow is in this way:
Tank > Filter > Chiller > Reactor > Tank

You can definitely use the reactor I mentioned above. If you want any better than this one (unlikely and not neccessary), you got to DIY, like the way I did.

[A.Rashid]

Hi Freddy,

I have been using another design from the same manufacturer and it have serve me well. Much much smaller then the ones that you posted.


This model is attached to the inlet pipe that sucks the water from your tank. This model had its one end connected to your inlet pipe while the other end is the end cap, but mine I bought with both to be attched to the pipes so that I can place it out side the tank, externally.

[cairocks]

Yup, got one of those Max Mix CO2 reactor. I've got the "M" size one for my 2ft tank. Initially, I just make a switch from my internal reactor to this and it result in having too much CO2 accumilated at the end of the photo period. As a result, the blades on the top stops turning. The access CO2 is only fully dissolve about 4 hours after lights off. Acter careful adjustment of my bubble count and actually stop the CO2 supply from the CO2 tank about 3 hours before lights off. All the bubbles on top of the reactor cleared off around the same time as my lights off. Also, the blades never stop spinning.

In a way it is more effective than my internal reactor in the sense that ther are always small bubbles that escape from the internal one. Also, there is gas buildup in the internal one, but as it is hidden behind a pile of rocks, I cannot judge actually how much CO2 is not dissolved at the end of the day. As the CO2 supply period is shorten, I expect my tank of CO2 to last longer.

On the other hand, althought the plants are still growing strongly as ever, I noticed that the pearling seems to be slighty lesser. I cannot conclude it is because of the reactor or because when I use the internal reactor, the water outlet is one single point at the base of the reactor while using the external reactor, I use a vertically placed rainbar and so there are multiple points for the water to return to the tank.
Overall, IMHO, think that it is not bad product as my plant growth is still good while my CO2 supply time has been shortened by around 35 to 40%.
That's all for my review

[FC]

cairock (May I know your name or nick name?),

I knew your problem well as I had been using various forms of reactor for last 4 years, it is either that the pump flow rate is too slow for the reactor or the bubble per second is too high. Nevertheless, you can still get it right with the right setup/tuning.

Try this:
1) tune the CO2 fine valve to give you about 12~15 bubble per minute.
2) turn on the CO2 solenoid 1 hr before the light on.
3) the light on should be at least 7 hrs.
4) turn off the solenoid 1 hr before lights off. It is normal that the remaining CO2 (actually they are mostly impurities gases like N and O which are hard to dissolve) stay in the reactor for the next 1~2 hrs. No worry, let it be.

To ensure that you did not overdose (very easily for small tank), check the PH and KH at about 4 hrs after light on. Increase or decrease the bubble per minute if needed, that's all you need to do.

Depend on the ight intensity, the plants should start to bubble 2~3 hrs after lights on.


Hi Rashid,

Nice to hear from you. I do not fully understand you, do you mean this diffuser can be installed outside the tank? Can you post a closeup picture for me to figure out how it works?

Thanks.

[A.Rashid]

Here's to Freddy, as requested.

[cairocks]

cairock (May I know your name or nick name?),

I knew your problem well as I had been using various forms of reactor for last 4 years, it is either that the pump flow rate is too slow for the reactor or the bubble per second is too high. Nevertheless, you can still get it right with the right setup/tuning.

Try this:
1) tune the CO2 fine valve to give you about 12~15 bubble per minute.
2) turn on the CO2 solenoid 1 hr before the light on.
3) the light on should be at least 7 hrs.
4) turn off the solenoid 1 hr before lights off. It is normal that the remaining CO2 (actually they are mostly impurities gases like N and O which are hard to dissolve) stay in the reactor for the next 1~2 hrs. No worry, let it be.

To ensure that you did not overdose (very easily for small tank), check the PH and KH at about 4 hrs after light on. Increase or decrease the bubble per minute if needed, that's all you need to do.

Depend on the ight intensity, the plants should start to bubble 2~3 hrs after lights on.


Hi Rashid,

Nice to hear from you. I do not fully understand you, do you mean this diffuser can be installed outside the tank? Can you post a closeup picture for me to figure out how it works?

Thanks.

Huh? My nick is cairocks.

Basically, I am not having any problem right now? My post is basically the discription of what I had experience and a brief discription on how I fine tuned my regulator and timer to over come the problem. Cheers

Regards,
cairocks

[milnek]

Saw this at seaview and thinking whether can i use this for my planted sump tank system?

[Aquaculture]

Saw this at seaview and thinking whether can i use this for my planted sump tank system?

I have not experience a sump filteration system but I reckon the principle of running it should be the same. To inserted between the outflow powerhead and the outflow pipe.

Maybe bros with sump experiences are able to give you more insight.