contact time?

[Husmut]

After setting up a DIY system with a "reactor" inside the tank, I noticed very tiny bubbles still escaping. These mostly would be caught by the pump head and sent through again but out of interest I rigged up a "bell" just above the outlet to catch them. After an hour or so, it was amazing to find how much gas had gathered. My question is....How long does Co2 need to be incontact with water to be fully dissolved?

 

[krap101]

it pretty much depends on how small the bubbles are when they come in contact with the water. its almost gaurenteed that you'll lose some co2 with the filters ad stuff. but i dont really know

 

[malkore]

if you see bubbles escaping, you're not getting 100% dissolution. CO2 can in fact fully dissolve into our tank water, as CO2 saturation is over 100ppm.

 

[travis simonson]

I use an out-of-tank reactor and can honestly say I've never seen any bubbles coming out of my filter outputs. It must have pretty good dissolution rates

 

[Husmut]

I know that my reactor design is less tham optimal (I can posts pics if anyone would like to have a go improving it) but as I said, the bell that I set up to catch them will hold a gas bubble for ever!(it would seem). What I wanted to know was, if I turned of the supply of gas, how long would that bubble stay in the bell before it was dissolved?

 

[mattrox]

If I remember my gas laws correctly you will always have a gas bubble there. The CO2 will dissolve into the water and O2 and N2 will diffuse into the CO2 bubble until it reached equilibrium with the tank water (the partial pressures will equalize).

I don't know how long it takes for an equilibrium to be reached.

 

[Husmut]

Crap the bed! That makes sense! 8O

 

[travis simonson]

LOL - no one can say Aussie expressions aren't colorful

 

[greenmaji]

LOL- thats a alot more that colorful if you ask me...LOL..

 

[Husmut]

Thanks..Im here all week....

 

[oxymoron]

LOL - no one can say Aussie expressions aren't colorful

We say it in Indiana too, but we replace the word crap...

 

[mattrox]

What about "Strike me pink" as a colourful Aussie expession. Same meaning as above and is actually used on occasion by a local radio personality.

 

[Husmut]

Jesus wept! I could eat the crutch out of a low flyin duck. I might go to the dunny and lay some cable 8O 8O 8O then ride my wallaby down the bottleo and talk to the shazza who is shagging like a bike, crack a few tinnies then go walkabout, cause i havent done that since cockey was egg, get meself some tucker and take it to the billabong.

 

[mattrox]

Strewth Husmut you okcer, cobber mate. Sounds like you need to go to the B 'n S and hook up with a shiela and get a skin full of VB's and get on the dog and bone and have a chin wag............ Ozzie slang is a wonderful thing.... back on topic? LOL

 

[travis simonson]

All you need to do is add CO2 and Bob's yer uncle

 

[greenmaji]

Did you ever fix your reactor or are you just sticking with the bell backup?

 

[Husmut]

No, I have fixed it. Still not happy with my levels, but most of my broad leaf plants and whats left of my val pearl on a regular basis. Good to watch! I made the reactor to the same design as an out-of-tank reactor but kept it in the tank. (cause Im too lazy to make it water tight!). Ill try to explain it. From the power head I have run a foot or so of tube that connects to the reactor( A filter for garden hose). From the other end(outlet) I have added more tube, (bout 15cm) that I heat sealed at one end and placed holes along the length. Then I simply slipped a sponge filter over this. This increased the agitation in the reactor as water can not flow as freely. Does this make sense????

 

[greenmaji]

did you fill the tube with bio balls.. are you using a airstone of somekind to difuse the bubbles?

 

[Husmut]

What you cant see in the pics is the filter sponge at the outlet.
There are actually 3 tubes coming out of the top. One comes from the yeast brew, one from the pump and the other is a return line out of the reactor back to the pump. (make sense?)I did this so the bubbles that go through this tube get that extra mixing! I found this solved my escaping bubbles problem.
Inside the reactor, there is the check valve and the airstone which is a plastic one, and not that good! No material is in there as the volume of the reactor compared to the small, and partially blocked outlet creates a turbulent environment within. Once the water leaves the reactor it travels down large tubing which is sealed at the furthest end and exits through serval substainsal holes into the sponger filter then out to the aqaurium. Phew!

 

[Husmut]

Sorry! Here it is!