DIY Co2 - Alternative Diffuser

[PrettyFishies]

I have a Hagen Natural which seems to be doing the trick. Only issue is that the ladder is large and the tank is quite modest (20 gal) - What can I use as an alternate diffuser that will be equal or better in efficiency? I've heard about bell disffusers, but need more advice.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

If you have a cannister filter you can get an inline reactor (aquamedic 1000). a bell reactor is a good /great concept, but can take up a bit of space. There was also talk of a glass one that looked like a champagne glass.. can't remember the name of it.

You can also make your own out of an old gravel vac w/ a powerhead (same concept as the aquamedic 1000, just in tank.)

 

[Purrbox]

You can even build you own DIY Inline CO2 Reactor and use a water pump if you don't happen to have a canister filter. This will be one of you most efficient options that also minimizes the amount of space taken up within the tank.

 

[malkore]

on both my 20gallons, I plumb the CO2 line right into the AC HOB filter's intake tube. I run an airline reducer to take it down to micro line diameter so the bubbles are smaller, and thus less noisy when breaking on the filter impeller.

Never tried this with DIY tho, only pressurized.

 

[Screwylui]

do you have pressurized CO2 on your 20 gallon tanks ? how much light do you have going to them. i have a 65 watt CF on my 21 gallon and am getting a lot of algae.. i'm thinking of making the leap to the bottle... do you have it rigged to a ph meter and an auto solenoid to control dosing ? and would that be recommended... sorry for the questions i don't mean to post jack.

Pretty fishies- i have had good experience with my hagen CO2 kit when i feed the line directly into the filter intake just like malkore advised. i agree with you , the diffuser ladder that the kit comes with is just too big for a 20 gallon. there are also very small diffusers on ebay that are glass and are based on the aqua design amano series.. the only difference is that they are not 80$$... rather something like 10 $ .. and i hear they work very well. here is the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/3-coil-CO2-diff...ryZ66794QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[7Enigma]

I've mentioned this before, but I use an upside down terra cotta pot slightly tilted to great effect. I run a tube right from the CO2 bottle (mine is a DIY 2L). I think the trick is in the pores of the terra cotta as it does not just fill up and then burp little bubbles like some bell filters do. The pot will build up with a hundred or so bubbles, and then burp almost all of the bubbles in a giant bubble up to the surface, and then refill. This allows for a LOT of contact time with the water and I routinuely have over 20ppm CO2 in the tank. I'll see if I can find a pic that shows the setup....

Look in the back left of the tank to see the pot...

After getting a couple more plants and 2 weeks of CO2 injection (makes a HUGE difference)