CO2 Setup

keeperofthefish · Post by **keeperofthefish** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 4:43 pm

With my 30 gallon up and running with 96w CF and an Eheim, I am pretty sure that DIY CO2 is not going to cut it. Mark gave me some great plants and I want to make sure they survive!

I'm ready to buy a CO2 rig and I am going to go through aquariumplants.com (per Aaron's suggestions). Instead of a JBJ or a Milwaukee (I inquired about this in an earlier thread), I was thinking of springing for their Top Gun package ($99 versus about $79-82 for the others). They claim that it is tested, more reliable and "the JBJ has as 'built in check valve' but NO adjustable flow on the reg (other than the needle valve). The Milwaukee has an adjustable flow, but NO built in check valve.
This 'TOP GUN' has it all...all of the features."

see: http://www.aquariumplants.com/cgi-bin/cart/pr007.html

Do you think it's worth the extra cash for this setup?

As far as a diffusor goes, has anyone had any experience using Ghazfanar's DIY design with an Eheim 2213? If so, what dimensions would your recommend for the PVC diameter and length? Any other special considerations?

Thanks again! You guys have been great about getting me to the point where I can really begin to enjoy this hobby.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 5:05 pm

Honestly, the Top Gun regulator looks like they just screwed a JBJ bubble counter onto a Milwaukee regulator. I have both the Milwaukee and the JBJ and I think I like the JBJ a little bit better.

The reactor should work on a 2213 just fine. Make sure to read the article about making one of these as the design has had some tweaks since G's article.

SCMurphy · Post by **SCMurphy** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 5:09 pm

Only pursure this route if you plan on having one aquarium with CO2 injection. You'll be tearing your hair out trying to figure out how to get CO2 to more than one tank with that rig.

keeperofthefish · Post by **keeperofthefish** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 5:20 pm

Unfortunately my place is pretty small and the other tank is in another room, so sharing CO2 really isn't an option. That being the case, these regs should do fine. Is it a problem that the JBJ doesn't allow for adjustable flow on the regulator?

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 5:26 pm

No, the needle valve adjustment is all that you need. It's fixed at 1.5 bar I believe and it works just fine at that pressure.

keeperofthefish · Post by **keeperofthefish** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 5:48 pm

Great. I'm sold on the JBJ, then! Just to be clear, where is the most recent article detailing Ghazfanar's reactor?

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 6:43 pm

http://www.gwapa.org/articles/august2005/index.html

It's not really an article so much as a photojournal. Instead of putting the CO2 line into the reactor design, just build it and put it inline. Then run a CO2 line into the inlet of your canister filter such that it bubbles into it and they get sucked in. You can use tiny zipties to attach it right to the intake.

keeperofthefish · Post by **keeperofthefish** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 7:03 pm

I thought I got it before, but now I'm fairly confused. So you build the reactor with a barb on either side. Got that. Then, you plumb that into the return from the canister to the aquarium. Now, you hook the CO2 line up so that it is coming into the input of the canister? How does one achieve that? Does anyone have a photo of what one of these "refined" reactors looks like hooked up? Thanks for your patience.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 7:30 pm

I see your problem. You plumb the reactor into the intake line, not the return. The bubbles coming in the intake get churned up inside of it and diffused.

Honeslty with the Eheim filter you could just feed the CO2 into the intake tube and skip the reactor build altogether. The impeller in the filter will break up the CO2 sufficiently enough.

keeperofthefish · Post by **keeperofthefish** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 7:34 pm

Great suggestions as always, Aaron. I will give it a shot and report findings here.

CO2 Setup

CO2 Setup

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