Reactor dissatisfaction

[FrannyB]

My reactor builds up with C02 and causes me to believe that disbursment is not at optimal levels.

How do you guys with big tanks distribute and optimize your C02?

[150EH]

Maybe you have too much going into the reactor, I would try turning the C02 down a little.

What type of reactor and what drives it?

[Aaron]

An external needle wheel pump does a great job. Are you running a sump or a canister?

[takadi]

greater flow will fix the problem, or you could set up a venturi loop to recycle back the excess gas.

[FrannyB]

It's a Eheim 2217 with the CO2 Reactor 1000. I was thinking about putting it on the Marineland C360, but I'll have to find contectors to fit the hoses.

What is a Needle Wheel Pump?

[Aaron]

It's a pump with a different impeller that has more blades than normal that are thinner. They're meant for skimmers, but work well for CO2 distribution too when run in a sump or inline setup. Danner Mag Drives all come in needle wheel configurations in addition to the regular offerings.

[150EH]

Taam Rio also has some nice pumps with a needle wheel option plus the housing has barb for your CO2 tube. Franny I think the Reactor 1000 is just too small but I've never used one.

[takadi]

I have an aquamedic 1000 as well. The problem is that the inlet and outlet openings are just way too small. The inner diameter must be a 1/4 inch. I was doing two bubbles a second and the gas was already building up. I was running a odyssea powerhead rated at 550 gph and it still wasn't enough. With the bioballs stuff inside, the flow rate just dies. I saw somewhere someone who modified it so there's a pvc fitting instead of those caps, so the opening is about two inches.

The one I have has a double barb, with the top one being small and the bottom one big. I cut off the top barb and it increased the size. I have yet to test it but I don't think it will help much other than modding it or going for something else

[Aaron]

Taam Rio also has some nice pumps with a needle wheel option plus the housing has barb for your CO2 tube. Franny I think the Reactor 1000 is just too small but I've never used one.

You have to special order the TAAM needle impeller directly from them. For some reason they don't sell them in stores in the USA. They will sell it to you directly though for this reason.

[FrannyB]

I checked out the Danner Mag Drives. How do you make this work for an inline application? I imagine that I will have to build a reactor, but how do you connect the c02, pump and reactor?