efficiency and usage of various co2 reactors

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what type of reactor do you use?

  • passive reactors (bells, ladders, inclined tubes)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • powerhead with gravel vac tube

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  • just powerhead

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  • ceramic diffuser

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • canister filter (inlet or outlet)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • hob filter (specially AC)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • others

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0

tetrin

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Sep 6, 2004
Messages
651
Location
State College, PA
i was wondering what reactors people use in their tanks to dissolve co2. and what they think is the best out there...

these are my experiences -
my bubble ladder got clogged up with plant matter, and snails.
the powerhead reactor was pretty good, but i need the powerhead elsewhere.
my canister is a fluval, so can't use that.
the AC seemed to dissolve all the co2. so i'm thinking of getting back with it.

BTW, tank is a 40g. 2 2l bottles and a small nutrafin bottle.
 
sorry, but i should have mentioned this before - the fluval is going to follow the powerhead to the same destination, a 75g.
i'll be left with the AC300. also i'm thinking of adding an ACmini.
 
I think the AC300 will be plenty for a 40g breeder. the 300 was too much for a 29gal, so I dropped back to a 200 for it and it's about perfect.
 
For my 75G I use the Inline Reactor,
For my 6G and 20G I use the ladder and it works fine.
but as you said the ladders can be a pain to keep clean.
 
thanks for the replies.
malkore, i want to use the ACmini just as a backup in case something goes wrong with the AC300, which i run at the slowest setting. i have had issues with the fluval slowing down in the past and fishes floating near the top of the tank at night.
i agree that a AC300 is too much for a planted 29g. but i run one in mine, the yellow labs don't seem to mind the extra current. in fact a little guy doesn't want to move from the filter outlet :roll: .
 
I inject my Co2 right into my fluval 204 and Eheim 2126. The fluval burps once an hr but other than that it works great! I easily keep 300ppm CO2 in that tank.
 
2*2L DIY in ~15g with surface agitation

Hagen ladder: ~15ppm
Hagen ladder + DIY bell: 20-25ppm
Powerhead reactor adapted to Martin Thoene's river tank concept (diagram): ~45ppm
Sump return line (same concept as outflow of canister): ~45ppm
 
thanks for the accurate data czcz...nothing beats the numbers...
so it seems powered reactors are the way to go...
 
I use the AB AquaMedic Reactor 1000 on a canister filter outflow. It's an in-line reactor full of bio-balls that breaks the CO2 bubbles up about as efficiently as anything you can get. I've seen people build DIY reactors with PVC that work just as well but aren't as pretty. I just love German engineering :p

CO2_Assembly_04_Outline.JPG
 
that's a pretty neat setup there, travis...can see a inline heater too... :p
OT, but almost all the low-pressure pumps in my lab are german...amazing performance!!
 
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