DIY co2 reactor (lots of big pics)

[jeffandkittie]

6902

heres what you'll need to make this (list numbers match pic)

hard airstone
enough airtubing to go from bottle to desired postion in tank
course spong (i used a plastic kitchen one)
suction cup (i used one that was not need from a submerible filter)
flow valve (if you deside not to use one make sure bottle is above tank)
tank syphon and hose
power head
2 liter pop bottle and cap
1/2 tsp of active yeast
2 cups sugar

6901

*You will also need something to make holes the size of the air tubing*

i used a rotary tool and a drill bit, but you could also melt one in with a sodering iron or heat up something metal the same sizeor smaller.

CAUTION - if you melt the hole be very careful not to make it to big, i normaly start off with a smaller hole and work my way out.

STEP 1

Make holes

6903
put a hole in the middle of the bottle cap and one off center in the top of the
syphon end, as seen above
holes should be fit the air tubing snugly, in fact might give you troble getting the hose through
6905
6904

[jeffandkittie]

STEP 2

make an other hole

6906

make a hole about halfway down the syphon, large enough to stick the suction cup in

6907

put suction cup in to hole, should be snug

6908


STEP 3

Air hose with connectors

6910

cut air hose and add flow valve.
if you haven't already thread one end of air hose through hole in the syphon. push all the way through so you can attach airstone to the end. position airstone about half way up. thread other end to bottle cap.


Step 4

SPONG

Cut spong to fit in the open end of syphon, and insert. spong is used to diffuse co2 and keep it from free flowing out the end.
6911

[jeffandkittie]

step 5

sypohon to powerhead

6921

cut syphon hose to desired distance away from powerhead. attach end to powerhead's discharge end. hose should fit perfectly on the end. place powerheadand syphon in to tank.
6922


STEP 6

mixture

fill 2liter bottle 3/4 the way full with warm water, then add 2cups of sugar, then 1/2 teaspoon of yeast. shake very well. place bottle under the tank, then put cap with hose on it. make sure hose in not in the mixture.
6923

YOU now have finished you co2 reactor.:19:


*co2 may take up to 24 hours to start*

CAUTION - Co2 levels are not regulated and can be unstable. high levels of co2 can harm or kill your fish if left unchecked!!!!

[PUNISHER VETTE]

My CO2 reactor was $9 off ebay.......

[PUNISHER VETTE]

Just so you know. If you have a powerhead i would advise to use that as a pump to run the other kind of reactor. Like the Rex Grigg ones that i did. For smaller tank i would think you could do a mini one that works just as good. That way you don't have a huge reactor and powerhead in the tank taking up space.

this one is for big tanks but if you scale down the dimensions to fit your tank/powerhead i think they work much better then the glass or DIY reactors.
http://www.rexgrigg.com/images/diy/diy6.jpg
http://www.rexgrigg.com/diy-reactor.htm

[jeffandkittie]

what was the point of saying that? do you want people not to trust me? how much time do you spend in a day posting nagative stuff on other peoples threds? i don't get it if it did help you whay say anything i think i'm just going to quit the forum thanks for that i don't ecen know what to say to that i so pissed off you could have easly just not said anything and left it alone mabe some people "want" to do it them self to see if they can ever think of that? are you gonna trash my next post about a 4 bulb flor set up for 30$ with bulbs? hu? mabe isome people don't wana deal with e-bay ? ever think of that? why do you need to bring the postal service in to makeing a small co2 reactor? or was it just to be rude? any way thanks for the negative reply

[cocoa_pleco]

really good thread, i vote for it to be stickied

[Drumachine09]

what was the point of saying that? do you want people not to trust me? how much time do you spend in a day posting nagative stuff on other peoples threds? i don't get it if it did help you whay say anything i think i'm just going to quit the forum thanks for that i don't ecen know what to say to that i so pissed off you could have easly just not said anything and left it alone mabe some people "want" to do it them self to see if they can ever think of that? are you gonna trash my next post about a 4 bulb flor set up for 30$ with bulbs? hu? mabe isome people don't wana deal with e-bay ? ever think of that? why do you need to bring the postal service in to makeing a small co2 reactor? or was it just to be rude? any way thanks for the negative reply



This is a public forum where we are all entitled to give our own opinions. You shouldn't get bent out of shape because one person doesn't like the way you did something. It happens.

[Nick89]

It's not a big deal...get over it, not everyone is going to like other peoples ideas.

[jbeining75]

Good post....... Great step by step...

[PUNISHER VETTE]

I want you to show me exactly where I said "negative" and "rude" stuff or that your design or posting of this thread was bad or that people shouldn't trust you or that this reactor is completely wrong and they should never due it........

I don't know about you but i've been down this road already and if people were looking for OPTIONS on a reactor i figured i'd give them some other types and plans to follow. Not that yours works any better/worse then the others.

Take a chill pill :c2:

[Harls]

Nice post!

[digital3]

Very good step by step, I think theplantedtank.net has a similar design.

I don't think Punisher was being rude at all. Just sharing a different Reactor design. On a forum like this, we all need to remember that when you put your ideas out there, you may encounter those with different opinions and sometimes you may not agree. But in the end, you need to let the community decide. I don't think Punisher's posts made you look untrustworthy. But if you decide to let something like this drive you from the forum, maybe this isn't the community for you. Sorry if that sounded harsh... Didn't mean to be.

[jeffandkittie]

ok i admit i over reacted but in this part of the for it's DIY not buy on e-bay i wouldn't post my fluva 405 in response to someones home made filter i just don't see the point of what was said

[Wild Turkey]

what was the point of saying that? do you want people not to trust me? how much time do you spend in a day posting nagative stuff on other peoples threds? i don't get it if it did help you whay say anything i think i'm just going to quit the forum thanks for that i don't ecen know what to say to that i so pissed off you could have easly just not said anything and left it alone mabe some people "want" to do it them self to see if they can ever think of that? are you gonna trash my next post about a 4 bulb flor set up for 30$ with bulbs? hu? mabe isome people don't wana deal with e-bay ? ever think of that? why do you need to bring the postal service in to makeing a small co2 reactor? or was it just to be rude? any way thanks for the negative reply

Wow. Have you like, never been on a forum before? Its called disagreement, and without it you dont have forums. Punisher had a good suggestion, and one i agree with. Its just like making your own sponge filter, why do it when they cost 5 dollars? Hes trying to help out just like you are, or should be. Sounds to be like ur more concerned with sounding smart or having everyone agree with you than actually helping.

[robnepper]

I am one of those people that likes to do things for myself wether or not I can buy the same thing in a store cheap, so I understand why a person would go to all of that trouble instead of just buying it. I love to learn new things and I have a mechanical bent so seeing things like this on the forum is fun and inspiring for me. Not every one is the same, however, and to be honest, that should be common sense. The step by step in this post was very informative and just in time for me since the reason that I came to this thread was to learn how to make a co2 reactor. So thank you for that. I do hope that you understand though, jeffandkittie, that punisher simply added to the relevence of your post by introducing another perspective. One which I am also thankful for. I hope that you can get over your offence and get back into post great info!

[garman]

Nice Co2 set up. I just made one similar to this except that I'm running the co2 into my Rena Filstar xp3 canister filter. It has to go through a lot to get back to the tank and it was an easier way to diffuse the co2 than using a powerhead for me.

How do you determine the amount of co2 in the water? I know the pH will drop, but by how much? How do I know it's not too much for my fish.

[jeffandkittie]

ok where i found this information said that this setup would be good for up to 40 gal tank i have a 90gal and figurd that it wouldn't produce to much co2 for my tank i should have included this in the origenal post i am sorry for spazing out and it was totaly uncalled for i got anger issues i need to work on that go far beyond ac..... anyway
i'm going to have to think about how to regulate the ammount of co2 going into the tank but BE CARFULE the bottle is under pressure don't restrick it to much or it will blow up

[Arkie]

its ok jeffandkittie, i forgive you and im sure the other members will forgive you too, we are a forgiving forum here. very clear instructions though, well written and very informative :19:

[hpt84]

Great step by step diy. PUNISHER VETTE was just showing a different type of reactor (REX) that is by the way a diy. Both have it pro and con. Rex reactor is very efficient if you connect it straight to the canister filter. However, if you dont have a caister filter than i would go with your diy.

[RainMan]

Nice thread.... there should be more of these step by step with picture posts. I love it!

[digital3]

ok where i found this information said that this setup would be good for up to 40 gal tank i have a 90gal and figurd that it wouldn't produce to much co2 for my tank i should have included this in the origenal post i am sorry for spazing out and it was totaly uncalled for i got anger issues i need to work on that go far beyond ac..... anyway
i'm going to have to think about how to regulate the ammount of co2 going into the tank but BE CARFULE the bottle is under pressure don't restrick it to much or it will blow up

Don't sweat it man. Different people, different personalities. In the end we just all need to get over it and move on with talking fish!

If you have a 90 Gallon, the Rex Grigg design posted by Punisher may be the way to go. It's an extremely efficient design and really easy to build. Of course you do have to have a canister. I have that reactor on my 55 and it works great!

As for Co2 regulation, a regulator, bubble counter and needle valve will take care of your control and a drop checker should be used to measure how much Co2 is going into your tank.

[PUNISHER VETTE]

Don't sweat it man. Different people, different personalities. In the end we just all need to get over it and move on with talking fish!

If you have a 90 Gallon, the Rex Grigg design posted by Punisher may be the way to go. It's an extremely efficient design and really easy to build. Of course you do have to have a canister. I have that reactor on my 55 and it works great!

As for Co2 regulation, a regulator, bubble counter and needle valve will take care of your control and a drop checker should be used to measure how much Co2 is going into your tank.


My powerhead runs my REX reactor..... I don't have a canister but the powerhead has enough power to suck water in, down the reactor, and back up into the tank again....actually almost too much power. If she is already using a powerhead to run her DIY reactor and has a huge bottle in her tank thats why i informed her about he REX design as i figured in her case it would have been better....

[siymdapolio]

HAve not read everything but would like to put in some input... Very good DIY write up and not a good freak out...

PUnisher was just suggesting ideas and such. Improvements other alternatives.. This is a forum and we love to sharpen things to a point

[jeffandkittie]

i wanted to add one more thing about the air stone mine seams to be disolving slowly (or the pleco is eating it seen some blue poop lol) so i thought about adding some improvements to remove the air stone and adding a bio ball or two and placeing a cap with holes in it on the exaust end of the clear tub so it will eliminate the need to replace the air stone it i thinking something clear so it less visabule i wana also say agin i'm sorry for freaking out i wish i could remove it sorry punnisher-vet thank for all your feed back as soon as i got the money for a return pump i'm going to build my wet/dry sump and post it in the same manner (minus the freakout) it sould save you like 250$ if it works so then i can put the co2 reactor and heater in the sump and only have two hoses running to my tank can't wait to shear the experience of building that with you all
-jeff-