Need CO2 Diffuser Recommendation

[Kilgore]

Hello Again Everyone,

I have narrowed down my DIY CO2 diffuser choices, but I am still open to suggestions. Cheap is good, but less labor is even better. The diffuser will be connected to silicone tubing from a 4-liter container. I even included a check-valve.

My top choices are the Red Sea CO2 Reactor 200 ($15.49 from bigalsonline.com), the CO2 Glass Diffuser ($19.99 from drsfostersmith.com), and the Double Membrane Diffuser ($29.99 from drsfostersmith.com). I am leaning toward the Red Sea one because (a) it seems more efficient, and (b) it's not glass, lol. I would hate to break that $20 diffuser. Plus the glass one's on backorder. Hhhhm , just found cheaper ones on eBay so I guess glass is still an option. The double membrane is only worth that much if you guys say so.

One more thing. Tonight my boyfriend and I drilled the hole into the 4-liter (Gatorade container) lid, and I decided it would work best if I stuck one of those hard plastic "tubing connectors" into the hole, to which the tubing easily connects. Duh. I used aquarium sealant to seal the underside of the connector the lid. So here is my dummy-of-the-year question: I am wondering, is that tiny hole in the connector enough for the CO2 to escape through? Think hard! Use my degree! I say.... yes, it's a gas, and it will escape by any possible means. That said, if it is too slow, I suppose the pressure could build up and cause a nasty explosion under my tank. Thoughts, anyone?

 

[Purrbox]

I would highly recommend against the Red Sea Reactor 200. It has some nice points, mainly the amount of space that it uses. The biggest drawback is that over time the seal tends to become less effective and bubble start leaking around the side of the stone instead of being forced through the stone to form the fine mist. While the CO2 actually goes through the stone it is fairly effective as far as passive diffusers go, but once it starts leaking the effectiveness drops drastically. Both of the one that I was using starting leaking within 6 months, and I know of at least two other people on this board who experienced the same problem.

I have no experience with either of the other two that you have listed. You're best bet would be to use an active diffusion method. One of the cheapest is feeding the CO2 into your filter. This tends to be noisier and can damage the filter, at a minimum you'd probably need to replace some of the parts a little sooner. Lots of people have had great success with this method.

Somthing else that you might want to consider is an DIY Inline CO2 Reactor. They are similar to the Aquamedic CO2 Reactor 1000 but considerably less expensive to build. Here are some plans and some plans for another version.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

These work fairly decent....

http://cgi.ebay.com/CO2-REACTOR-500...oryZ3212QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Zezmo]

If you are looking to go the diffusor route and want cheap and very good quality, you might try these.

http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/product.detail/iid/9751/cid/2328

 

[maxwell1295]

I got mine from this guy about a little over a month ago. So far, so good...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=66794&item=7760468552

 

[travis74]

I am sure the glass diffusers can be good. I have had bad luck three times over. One broken during shipping the second and third had manufacturer defect. Used the ladder that came with old set-up to moderate succes until very recently, when I plumbed straight into HOB. Have had consistent pearling ever since and not as loud as I expected. From what I have heard here the inline reactors are even more efficient.

 

[Kilgore]

I decided to go with the glass diffuser from eBay (slightly different from one linked above), at least until I can afford pressurized with a reactor. We'll see how it performs -- hopefully it will arrive intact and be free of defects!

 

[travis74]

Good luck! I'm sure my series of misfortunes were just a fluke. Let us know how it works out.