Efficiency of Commercial CO2 Reactors
I'm using an Aqua Medic reactor driven by a small Hagen powerhead at
the moment. Everything is going smoothly but I am curious about saving some CO2, not for the cost but to space out swapping out the bottle a little more. I am trying to get a handle on the efficiencies of those which are currently available. One offered by Plant Guild, for instance, promises 100 times more efficiency than passive reactors. http://www.plantguild.com/power_reactor.asp Has anyone used several reactors and is in a position to say whether one is better than the other? |
Efficiency of Commercial CO2 Reactors
If bubbles of CO2 don't come out of them and float to the
top of the tank, then your reactor is 100% efficient already. You buy reactors for the quantity of gas it can dissolve in within given time, without it bubbling out of the reactor. That's it. There are no "better ways" to dissolve CO2, your gizmo either gets your required dosing dissolved, or it does not. The reactor has zero bearing on your CO2 demand, unless gas is bubbling out of the reactor and reaching the open air. CO2 goes into water with remarkable ease. I use one of those cheap "under sink" water cartridge housings. I took the pressure button off and rammed a bit of acrylic through the hole, to feed the CO2. No bio balls, nothing complicated, just the housing, 1/4" acrylic CO2 input, and a 5/8" crude acrylic down tube rammed on the housing's center water feed. Empty. A slight, very slight, trickle of water, tapped off the main filter circuit, flows through it. Alas, the small Aqua Medic and the PlantGuild are in-tank models, but I, personally, want nothing in my tank but the display. Serious overkill, but serious cheap, and a seriously one-time-ever purchase, $20 complete. It will dissolve enough CO2 to drop my 135G tank from Ph 7.4 to 6.5 in under 2 minutes (~4dKH). That's, um, allot. Many hang on tank filters can be "modified" by simply slipping the CO2 hose into an appropriate point in the water flow. Whatever you choose to run with, locate it at the lowest point possible. Under tank, or near the gravel. CO2 dissolution loves pressure. From the looks of it, the PlantGuild will quite likely support 200+ G tanks. If you're using sugar/yeast, I doubt you'd ever use that kind of dissolution power. ******************************** The Kenosha Kid wrote: I'm using an Aqua Medic reactor driven by a small Hagen powerhead at the moment. Everything is going smoothly but I am curious about saving some CO2, not for the cost but to space out swapping out the bottle a little more. I am trying to get a handle on the efficiencies of those which are currently available. One offered by Plant Guild, for instance, promises 100 times more efficiency than passive reactors. http://www.plantguild.com/power_reactor.asp Has anyone used several reactors and is in a position to say whether one is better than the other? |
Efficiency of Commercial CO2 Reactors
If bubbles of CO2 don't come out of them and float to the
top of the tank, then your reactor is 100% efficient already. You buy reactors for the quantity of gas it can dissolve in within given time, without it bubbling out of the reactor. That's it. There are no "better ways" to dissolve CO2, your gizmo either gets your required dosing dissolved, or it does not. The reactor has zero bearing on your CO2 demand, unless gas is bubbling out of the reactor and reaching the open air. CO2 goes into water with remarkable ease. I use one of those cheap "under sink" water cartridge housings. I took the pressure button off and rammed a bit of acrylic through the hole, to feed the CO2. No bio balls, nothing complicated, just the housing, 1/4" acrylic CO2 input, and a 5/8" crude acrylic down tube rammed on the housing's center water feed. Empty. A slight, very slight, trickle of water, tapped off the main filter circuit, flows through it. Alas, the small Aqua Medic and the PlantGuild are in-tank models, but I, personally, want nothing in my tank but the display. Serious overkill, but serious cheap, and a seriously one-time-ever purchase, $20 complete. It will dissolve enough CO2 to drop my 135G tank from Ph 7.4 to 6.5 in under 2 minutes (~4dKH). That's, um, allot. Many hang on tank filters can be "modified" by simply slipping the CO2 hose into an appropriate point in the water flow. Whatever you choose to run with, locate it at the lowest point possible. Under tank, or near the gravel. CO2 dissolution loves pressure. From the looks of it, the PlantGuild will quite likely support 200+ G tanks. If you're using sugar/yeast, I doubt you'd ever use that kind of dissolution power. ******************************** The Kenosha Kid wrote: I'm using an Aqua Medic reactor driven by a small Hagen powerhead at the moment. Everything is going smoothly but I am curious about saving some CO2, not for the cost but to space out swapping out the bottle a little more. I am trying to get a handle on the efficiencies of those which are currently available. One offered by Plant Guild, for instance, promises 100 times more efficiency than passive reactors. http://www.plantguild.com/power_reactor.asp Has anyone used several reactors and is in a position to say whether one is better than the other? |
Efficiency of Commercial CO2 Reactors
Bill Kirkpatrick wrote in message
... ... Whatever you choose to run with, locate it at the lowest point possible. Under tank, or near the gravel. CO2 dissolution loves pressure. Also, cooler water will hold more dissolved gasses than warmer water. The higher you keep your thermostat, the less efficient your reactor will be. |
Efficiency of Commercial CO2 Reactors
Bill Kirkpatrick wrote in message
... ... Whatever you choose to run with, locate it at the lowest point possible. Under tank, or near the gravel. CO2 dissolution loves pressure. Also, cooler water will hold more dissolved gasses than warmer water. The higher you keep your thermostat, the less efficient your reactor will be. |
Efficiency of Commercial CO2 Reactors
On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 20:48:18 GMT, The Kenosha Kid
wrote: I'm using an Aqua Medic reactor driven by a small Hagen powerhead at the moment. Everything is going smoothly but I am curious about saving some CO2, not for the cost but to space out swapping out the bottle a little more. I am trying to get a handle on the efficiencies of those which are currently available. One offered by Plant Guild, for instance, promises 100 times more efficiency than passive reactors. http://www.plantguild.com/power_reactor.asp Has anyone used several reactors and is in a position to say whether one is better than the other? Thanks to all who responded. Has anyone on this list ever used the Aqua Medic 500 reactor? |
Efficiency of Commercial CO2 Reactors
On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 20:48:18 GMT, The Kenosha Kid
wrote: I'm using an Aqua Medic reactor driven by a small Hagen powerhead at the moment. Everything is going smoothly but I am curious about saving some CO2, not for the cost but to space out swapping out the bottle a little more. I am trying to get a handle on the efficiencies of those which are currently available. One offered by Plant Guild, for instance, promises 100 times more efficiency than passive reactors. http://www.plantguild.com/power_reactor.asp Has anyone used several reactors and is in a position to say whether one is better than the other? Thanks to all who responded. Has anyone on this list ever used the Aqua Medic 500 reactor? |
Efficiency of Commercial CO2 Reactors
On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 20:48:18 GMT, The Kenosha Kid
wrote: I'm using an Aqua Medic reactor driven by a small Hagen powerhead at the moment. Everything is going smoothly but I am curious about saving some CO2, not for the cost but to space out swapping out the bottle a little more. I am trying to get a handle on the efficiencies of those which are currently available. One offered by Plant Guild, for instance, promises 100 times more efficiency than passive reactors. http://www.plantguild.com/power_reactor.asp Has anyone used several reactors and is in a position to say whether one is better than the other? Thanks to all who responded. Has anyone on this list ever used the Aqua Medic 500 reactor? |
Efficiency of Commercial CO2 Reactors
On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 20:48:18 GMT, The Kenosha Kid
wrote: I'm using an Aqua Medic reactor driven by a small Hagen powerhead at the moment. Everything is going smoothly but I am curious about saving some CO2, not for the cost but to space out swapping out the bottle a little more. I am trying to get a handle on the efficiencies of those which are currently available. One offered by Plant Guild, for instance, promises 100 times more efficiency than passive reactors. http://www.plantguild.com/power_reactor.asp Has anyone used several reactors and is in a position to say whether one is better than the other? Thanks to all who responded. Has anyone on this list ever used the Aqua Medic 500 reactor? |
Efficiency of Commercial CO2 Reactors
On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 20:48:18 GMT, The Kenosha Kid
wrote: I'm using an Aqua Medic reactor driven by a small Hagen powerhead at the moment. Everything is going smoothly but I am curious about saving some CO2, not for the cost but to space out swapping out the bottle a little more. I am trying to get a handle on the efficiencies of those which are currently available. One offered by Plant Guild, for instance, promises 100 times more efficiency than passive reactors. http://www.plantguild.com/power_reactor.asp Has anyone used several reactors and is in a position to say whether one is better than the other? Thanks to all who responded. Has anyone on this list ever used the Aqua Medic 500 reactor? |
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