Reactors came in (pics now)

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Yay, I got the plumbing temporarily hooked up to 2, first one is a 3 stage filter (Seachem Matrix -> very porous foam -> floss) that goes over to the Co2 reactor. The bioballs wouldn't fit in it so I used some floss..

I was horsing around and turned the bubble rate high enough that it was a jet instead of bubbles, got the Co2 level down 1" in the reactor, returned the flow rate to normal and I could see it rise quite quickly, within 45 seconds the level was hidden again (gone) so it's efficiency if excellent at worst.

a couple of my plants immediately started sending up streams of bubbles, both at injury sites, but it's definately a step in the right direction. Every time the fish hit a plant leaf I see a plume of bubbles go up.. definately a good sign

Now, out of curiosity, can I add some air to the reactor and diffuse it aswell to keep the O2 saturation higher? it would be easy to plumb into the final layout and use a pump to add the air at a fixed rate..

This is way better then blowing bubbles through the tank I'll put up DIY instructions with pics to show the final product when I finalize the plumbing.

 

[hashbaz]

That is a very interesting idea - usaully air will pull CO2 out. But not if the air is put into a reactor.

 

[malkore]

If you see pearling, then the water is already oxygen saturated.

In my experience, if you can hit O2 saturation with the lights on, you won't run out of O2 in the night time hours.

You'd have to use pure O2 in a cylinder..an airpump wouldn't work. Remember atmospheric air is mostly nitrogen, with some oxygen, and carbon dioxide. So pumping regular air in there wouldn't raise O2 levels by much, and only if you weren't already saturated.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Good to know. Funny I thought about atmosphere containing 20% O2, 10% Co2, 70% Nitrogen ..

Figured the O2 would dissolve, the Nitrogen would dissolve for the plants and the Co2 would save me a refill every 10-15 years..

Well, reactor was fully wet (no Co2 in it) when I got home PH was at 6.7 (controller will push it to 6.6, then turn back on when it raises to 6.8ish) It's nice knowing I'm not venting half the gas right out of the top.

 

[Hillbilly Jerry]

Tagging along, and waiting for pictures

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Ok, well here is a general overview of the filter, the feed comes in on the left and travels right. The left cannister's flow is bottom to top, the right is top to bottom.

A closer look at the Reactor is nothing special, it's just full of floss. You can see it chewing on some bubbles when the picture was taken.

This is the filter, the flow is bottom to top so the first media is Seachem Matrix (chosen because I had it on hand, it's also very rough and will grind larger particals or hold them for the backwash ability I'll be adding). Second is the black foam that came with each of the units, stacked one on top of the other, this will catch debris that get's through the matrix. The top layer is the final layer and it's floss (should catch a bulk of the plant debris)

Now the "How'ld you do that?"

How did you get the Co2 into the reactor without drilling a single hole?
On top of the filter you'll see a pipe that goes over, at the top of that on the left it has a drip irrigation fitting (1/2" threaded adapter with a 1/8" nipple (green part)) this allows me to force Co2 into the path of the water heading to the Reactor when it hits the floss and is forced to dissolve or float and get hit with the water again..

What is the red Ball valve for?
This allows me to drain water from the tank to the sink at a rate of 295GPH plus, the final plumbing will be more complex allowing me to backwash the filter and filter incoming water (as well as removing the "air bubble" syndrome that often accompanies water changes.

The final plumbing will be mounted to a board, it will beasure approx 2' across and also support a fluidized bed biological filter. It will also look nicer, this was just an eager person quickly plumbing it together to get it working. The first part I plumbed in was leaking so I had to turn it off and run to home depot, came back and a Kuhli loach was swimming in the reactor, I guess it swam into the spray bar and through the plumbing to the reactor.. I added some ball valves at the tank to stop this from happening when the filter is turned off.

 

[Newzpix]

I don't see any images.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

hmm, they all show up here. They are hosted off my local server..

does the image show up when you click on This

If it does then it would be a browser setting. Anyone else have a problem viewing them?

 

[Glenc]

I'm getting the pics fine, and that is one heck of a set-up! Love the ball valve drain and backwash idea. You think like a plumber. Ive been licenced for almost 20 years, if you ever wanna join up, just let me know! Great looking set-up.

 

[czcz]

Very nice!

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Finalized the plumbing today, Still no fluidized bed, but the connectors are there (Ball valve turned off), just have to draw on the board behind it to illustrate what everything is for.

On a very plus note. My Plants are pearling The Crinum has bubbles under every leaf, the crypts are outlined with bubbles.. even with my bioload.

I figured I was low on Potassium, so I added 4 Capfuls (enought to drive it up by 10PPM I think).. should have added 10 to keep it in check with the Nitrates.. Have to review the chemistry tomorrow, I have some phosphorus (tho my test kit reads 2PPM, My nitrates are around 40+)

I also got my Night light working, have to see how bright it is when the lights go out.

I'ld post pictures, but my digital camera sucks for macro shots (And I have some green spot algae on the glass).. but hopefully the new Rotala takes hold (Roots before the pleco runs through their territory)... I feel like the Co2 and lights have finally paid off.

 

[Glenc]

Congrats! Think you'll be up for a while tonight!

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Ok, the final plumbing.

To explain what this all does.

Closing V1 and Opening V2 bypasses the filter.

With the filter bypassed, closing V3 with a hose hooked up at the far left (there is another ball valve out of view) will backwash the filter (can run out to sink). re-opening V3 and closing V5 will bypass the Fluidized bed and allow water to flow through the reactor (CO2). with this done I can fill the tank back up through the same hose.

Closing V2 and opening V1 will let me filter the incoming water as well as the tank water (and add Co2 to it at the same time)

This should result in any air bubbles that come in with the tap water being accumilated in the Co2 Reactor to be dissolved rather then ddispersed all over everything in the tank.

Water comes in at the top left, and returns to the tank from the Co2 reactor and biological(not installed yet) on the right, out of view again.

Edit: Oh, the parts were all gathered by raiding Home Depots Irrigation and plumbing department.

 

[fishygurl]

Got lost half way through the first post. That is waaay to complicated for me! LOL

 

[Glenc]

Say again, when do you want to switch carriers! Beautiful job.

 

[travis simonson]

Nicely plumbed. I can't believe you can do that without showing the least trace of plumber's crack. Good job man

My plumber's crack emoticon is as follows:

)|(

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

I got to try the flush/fill yesterday, worked exactly as I hoped with 2 forseeable problems.

once you get the water temp right, how do you attach teh hose (without washing the ceiling)

solution: a Y splitter from the gardening section, using the valves on it to control where the water flows.

When you are done filling, removal of the hose is A) a pain, B) messy since the water in the hose flows out.

solution: adding a ball valve at the end of the hose aswell will remove this problem. Also I could use the quick disconnect fittings.