the ladder is the reactor.
Let me clear up a few terms: reactor gets used to describe the jug with yeast, water and sugar...but also gets used to describe certain methods of diffusing the
CO2 gas into the tank water. Usually reactor means the diffuser is powered with a pump.
To keep things straight, I try to call the jug of yeast/water a '
CO2 generator' just to avoid the confusion.
The ladder is a diffuser to get the
CO2 in the water. Its a passive reactor...no pump or water flow powers it...the bubbles merely slide up an ingenious little angled ladder, slowly diffusing into the water. By the time the bubble of
CO2 gets to the top, its about 9x smaller than it was when it entered the ladder, which if you are good with math, turns out to be almost 90% dissolve rate. Thus very little
CO2 is wasted.
The gas separator is the second bottle...the empty bottle. Although really, what you should do is fill it with water so the airline coming in is submerged adn the one that exits to your diffuser is NOT submerged. This way the water traps the other gases created by the
DIY generator, as well as airborne yeast spores (which turn into a white, snot like substance all over your diffuser if you don't install a separator. its harmless, but it can plug up your diffuser quickly).
Now, about reactors/diffusers: You can use a
HOB filter to diffuse your
CO2. AquaClear's are teh best
IMO because they are reliable
HOB's, and don't airlock easily. Just stick the airline into the bottom of the intake.
Now, I've only done it that way using pressurized
CO2. It should be ok for
DIY, but if in doubt, get the ladder diffuser...ti won't do you wrong.
