CO2 reactor not functioning well. Pls help.

[alanysw]

Hi Seniors.. Can anyone advise if they do face the same problem. I using a simple CO2 external reactor. After the CO2 cut in for about 30 minutes. The Air column on the top part near the impeller get bigger with time and the impeller stop spinning after water level falls below the impeller. Is there anything i can do about it? CO2 is about 1-2 Bubble per sec.

alan

[Realcaster]

I have similar problem with one of my reactor because my ehiem canister filter wasn't powerful enough to spin the propella fast enough to dissolve the CO2 fast enough.

what I did is, I removed the propella completely. Now, the CO2 dissolve rate have improved greatly, but still have a bit air trap.

[Urban Aquaria]

Yeah, the gas build up at the top of the reactor is usually due to either bps injection too high and/or the canister flow rate too low to spin the rotors fast enough to dissolve the Co2 gas efficiently, hence the rapid accumulation of the gas pocket.

1-2 bps is still managable for that reactor model, so i guess your canister filter flow rate is probably not high enough to work with that injection rate. Whats the flow rate of your filter?

The alternative is to try reducing the bps injection rate to match your lower flow rate. It might still be enough to maintain optimal Co2 levels.

Just for reference, my setup on a 2ft planted tank using that same reactor was operating with an Eheim Ecco Pro 300 at 750 l/ph, and running at a bps injection rate of only 0.5 bps. With that configuration, the gas pocket was very little during injection and both rotors were constantly spinning very fast to dissolve the Co2 efficiently. It was sufficient to maintain a lime green color on the drop checker, with the plants pearling actively.

[alanysw]

Thanks for all the advises. I think my flow is not strong enough.. not too sure if is becos of the media too much... Next time when i wash the canister, maybe will make it not so pack.

Now i'm trying to put the reactor horizontally. Any issue with that???.. I notice this will make the air gap smaller hopefully and keep the impeller spinning... I will try to monitor... Thanks again...

[Urban Aquaria]

Yeah, such reactors do need sufficient flow to operate efficiently. Sometimes even if the listed filter flow rate seems to match the reactor requirements (particularly if its at the lower end of the range), after adding media and as it slows down over time, the overall flow rate can drop below the reactor requirements.

Placing the reactor horizontally would just allow most of the gas bubbles to escape out without dissolving fully, so it kinda defeats the purpose of the reactor. It has to be positioned upright to work properly.

[alanysw]

Will it be better if i change the external reactor into a inline atomizer? will it also need high flow rate to work?

[Urban Aquaria]

Will it be better if i change the external reactor into a inline atomizer? will it also need high flow rate to work?

Well, inline atomizers don't rely on flow to work, so higher filter flow rates are not necessary... but they do require high enough working pressure from your Co2 system to work properly (ie. >40 PSI, higher the better). Have to check your system and try it out.

In addition, inline atomizers generate fine micro bubbles that exit out of the outflow, so your tank will have the misty/cloudy look when its in operation... if you don't mind that effect.