The long awaited DIY CO2 reactor venturi design

[Plantbrain]

Well, Hades froze over, I finally made some pics of the bugger:

http://www.barrreport.com/articles/3444-dual-venturi-diy-external-co2-reactor.html

This is a highly effective design, every bit as much as the internal design and then some, it's out of the tank.

And at 10-20$ and 10 minutes to snap together and drill 1-2 holes and glue, not hard to make either.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[travis simonson]

Tom, that is easily the best DIY reactor design I have seen. Simple and very efficient. It appears very similar to the AquaMedic Reactor 1000. Can you explain the differences/advantages it provides?

And thanks for the great construction tutorial

 

[theotheragentm]

You should sell them for $30. At 4-5 an hour, you can hire a high school kid and make a pretty penny.

 

[Plantbrain]

Hi, I use to make CO2 reactors commercially back in 2000-2002.
I do not like selling things retail

I'd rather have a large massive price difference between the commercial makers and the DIY design. This helps the hobbyists which is ultimately my goal. If it does not help them a lot and save them a lot of $, I really am not interested.

The AM 1000 is no much different than the older Dupla reactor.
Red Sea bought Dupla anyway.

There is not that large of demand for CO2 reactors really. I think I sold about 300-400 or so over a few years.


Travis:
1.Simple, it's 7x cheaper.
2. It can degas and handles higher flow through rates, the in/outs can be 1/2" as shown, or 3/4" if you wish(go a longer tube dia or larger dia if so), not 3/8" like with the AM.
3. Has the venturi loop(s) illustrated and easily added for the DIY'er.

The AM can be modified however to act like this reactor, it has a degas vent on the top of it and that can be opened and an airline attached to that and fed the excess gas into the suction side of the powerhead driving the AM 1000 reactor.

This simple easy to do modification allows most any reactor to have the degas function and really increases the flow rates and misting.

The difference with the design here is simple: you can add several levels of gas build up to suit your goal. By varying the depth at which the venturi suction starts, you can determine how large of a gas bubble forms, you can also modulate the amount of mist by adjusting the irrigation drip valves on the venturi lines.

This can reduce the amount of mist inside the aquarium if that is your goal, some like it, some do not. This allows for a lot of variability and flex for anyone's goals.

The design is from 2000, I just left it on the back burner all this time.
Too many other things going.

Note: you can make the plain PVC model for about 10$ minus the powerhead.


Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[saltybob]

What does this thing do?

 

[An t-iasg]

The reactor is for a planted tank. It ensures that the CO2 is broken down into a fine mist that is more easily dissolved into the water column where the plants can utilize it. We don't want to have CO2 bubbles that just rise up and break at the surface of the water.

 

[saltybob]

ohh... thank you how hard would it be to make one of these if i already have a 10gal tank?

 

[saltybob]

I Mean a Fresh water tank that is

 

[Sicklid]

Tom, I see that you mention it can be used with a canister filter, but (and forgive me for being totally stupid here) if I do that I would not have use for the venturi loop on this, correct? It would just go inline on the return of my canister filter with straight barb fittings instead of the 90 degree elbows? I would then lose the benefits of the automatic gas relief fed to a venturi on a PH, but I could still use the 3/16" hole on top with a manual irrigation ball valve, am I right?

 

[Plantbrain]

The venturi would be added to the output from the canister filter hose(you'd have to drill and secure a leak proof seal here). This way under highest pressure, the draw for the suction would be the highest and will suck the Gas out.

Personally, for an in line set up, it's smarter to use a venturi valve to start with and make a simple loop.

Eg:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/21735-diy-line-micro-bubbler-10.html

You can see the loop by pass with the ball valves added to control the flow through the venturi mazzi valve.



regards,
Tom Barr

 

[Sicklid]

The venturi would be added to the output from the canister filter hose(you'd have to drill and secure a leak proof seal here). This way under highest pressure, the draw for the suction would be the highest and will suck the Gas out.

OK, I'm still stupid so I have one more question, does it go before the reactor or after, closer to the outlet or closer to the filter on the hose?

 

[malkore]

very cool Tom. thanks for sharing!

 

[Plantbrain]

It can be added to most external reactors such as the Aqua medics, the other DIY designs etc, just an "add on" really.

BTW, www.aquaticeco.com sells the clear PVC pipe, nice stuff.

Regards,
Tom Barr