Aqua Medic CO2 Reactor 500

[RTRJR]

Swamp Lily, plain old Crinum americanum. They are in a 20-long with gravel over a laterite/mulm base with a peat moss dusting (but >2 years old, likely no longer significant). Water circulates from the rest of of the range. Lighting is 4x 48" NO tubes, 12 1/2 hours per day on time (15 min before and after the room's main day cycle - it serves as dawn/dusk). I've forgotten the wattage - 32W T-8s maybe? There is also Java moss in the tank and some Dwarf neon rainbows - uncatchable except at tank reset. I can pull the sponges off the constant-level siphons and let fry flush through to the next tank.

The substrate is a mass of roots by now. Every 3-4 years or so I have to reset and trade off the largest plants as pond marginals. It should possibly/probably be done more often, but I am lazy and it is a massive mess to do.

[DelawareJim]

I hear ya on what a mess it is. Probably easiest to cut it into manageable squares and take out what you don't need to reset.

Strangely, I've never added americanum to my collection. I'd be interested in a plant or 2 down the road when you decide it's time to divide.

Oh, and BTB your plant tanks look great.

Cheers.
Jim

[RTRJR]

That is a deal! If I get the nerve to tackle it this spring I will post. Most folks do not want such a massive emergent.

[DelawareJim]

Sounds like a club project. Setup and maintenance of a vegetative filter. We can all pitch in and everyone interested in setting up their own can take home the excess from your system.

I don't know how many members have a centralized filter system for their fish room but a vegetative filter in that system would work wonders for reducing the nutrient load in their fish tanks.

Cheers.
Jim

[DelawareJim]

Back to CO2 reactors though, when I take the plunge and DIY or buy an external system, I'm trying to visualize the properly functioning reactor.

I know the aqua medic 500 has CO2 bubbles spiraling through a chamber of water, and the Dupla 400 has water cascading down a ladder in a chamber full of CO2 gas. Both of which you can see.

After the CO2 passes through the bubble counter into the external reactor chamber, and taking into consideration the chamber is full of some sort of bioball/ inert matrix, do we have CO2 bubbles mixing in a chamber full of water or do we have water passing through a chamber full of CO2 gas?

You have to rely on the bubble counter along with pH/KH tests to be sure everything is functioning properly. Since I'm a visual type of person, and you can't see what's happening in a PVC external chamber, I'd like to get a clearer mental picture of what's happening in that PVC tube.

Cheers.
Jim

[Jeff120]

Here you go Jim

http://www.gwapa.org/forum/viewtopic.ph ... ne+reactor

A few post down there is a image showing how the reactor works. You need to run it inline with a canister filter. The reactor fills with water and then you have your CO2 fed into the reactor. The CO2 has contact with the turbulent water in the reactor and diffuses into the water. This is a very effecient method as long as your reactor is a good size in length and enough flow to disolve the CO2

[Jeff120]

If you need to see what is going on you can buy clear PVC pipe from US plastics.

[DelawareJim]

Kewel! Thanks.

Cheers.
Jim