Canister pump as reactor

[Johnc]

Not sure if this question has been asked: Has anyone tried directing CO2 directly into a canister filter (e.g. via the water inlet)?

In this way, the canister would serve both as filter and reactor.

If you have tried could you share your experience. Thanks

-John

[vinz]

Yes, people have proposed and tried this idea before. It's not advisable because if the CO2 rate is too high it may cause airlock in the impeller chamber. Which in turn can cause the filter to stop and the impeller to vibrate violently, possible causing damage.

[tawauboy]

when the filter is airlocked, the filter may overheat as there is no water flow to cool the motor.
i don't think any canister filter manufacturer actually recommend/suggest using the filter as a reactor. if it is safe, i'm sure they will add this 'feature' to make their products sell.

[Johnc]

Thanks for the replies, Vinz and Thomas, I do wonder if the system will get airlocked though.

I rigged up an internal reactor using a Sunta Genuis 35 internal filter that actually has an inlet for air to be diffused with the water outflow. What i did was to allow the air to collect in a bell (top half of a 1.5 litre bottle). Whatever air that is not dissolved when it comes out of the water outlet floats up to the top again to be sucked in by the air inlet. It worked very well.

But now I am thinking of doing it outside of the tank

I am fairly sure that if i do my reactor in the way that Squee suggested, the CO2 will simply get pushed into the canister (which is running at about 2140 L/Hr). Maybe i'll try another design which i have in mind.