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Reactor question

Lindqvist81

Seedling
Joined
20 Oct 2008
Messages
9
Location
Denmark
Hello everybody

Got this german baby:

http://www.aquamas.de/products/Reaktore ... Liter.html

Dumb question is, which site should i put the hose from the canister filter on? When you look at the picture, theres a pipe going down on the left site.

I´ve put the hose on the right site ( when you look at the pic), But theres co2 gas building up, inside the top of the reactor which slowly dissolves down in the water. But now i come in doubts, if this is correct setup :?:

Greetings from DK.
 
Thats a funny looking reactor, not sure how effective those would be, I would be happier with one of these:

http://www.aquamas.de/products/Reaktore ... plett.html

I have looked at it and can't see how effective it would work and you probably need to mount it upside down from the photo shown in the link you posted. Otherwise there will be a build up at the top where the CO2 is pumped in.
 
I'd say you've got it right with the water entering on the right and exiting on the left. Gas build up at the top is often a sign of using a filter that hasn't got a strong flow rate.

James
 
Looks like a GREAT reactor! I wouldn't worry too much about gas build up - if it's CO2 then great, the waters cascading down through CO2, and will exit with a higher CO2 concentration than it entered (Surely the point of the reactor?) and if it's other gases (nitrogen, oxygen?) they won't do any harm. Is the screw at the top for releasing gas from the rector? Did it come with any instructions?

In response to the original question, I've never used a rector built like this, but I would set it up exactly how you have done it. It looks like it's built like a tank! (I mean a military vehicle with caterpillar treads, not an aquarium :!:) What size aquarium is it for?

As always, let us know how you get on with it!

Best,

Mark

@ LondonDragon - you only like that other one 'cos of the pwetty bubbles animation they put on it ;)
 
I´ve heard that it should be very effective. It is also nice that the tubes connectors, is placed on the same site. Makes it easier, to fit in the closet.

Im running a tetratec ex 1200 on it. I thought it would be sufficient :mad:
Anyways all the co2 is being completly dissolved into the tank, so guess i´ll have to live with the gas buildup.

Thx for the quick answers ;)
 
The screw on the top, is only for letting air out when you set it up. It says that the reactor can supply a 2000 liter tank ( dunno about that though).

And it did´nt come with instructions :rolleyes: Stuff from Aquamas seldom do.

It is very heavy duty build imo! Feels like good stuff.
 
If the filter media is new it tends to give off a lot of bubbles initially. You should just bleed it off regularly. I've got the smaller size one (like LD linked to) and I had issues the first week with gas build up. Since then its been trouble free and I only use the bleed valve after filter maintenance - when you prime the filter it fills up with bubbles (wish I'd gotten the one with the bypass).

Well, when I say trouble free there is the "blob blob blob" noise that nobody else gets, :twisted: but that's a separate thread.
 
Ray said:
Well, when I say trouble free there is the "blob blob blob" noise that nobody else gets, :twisted: but that's a separate thread.

I get the "blob blob blob" noise when water has feedback into my CO2 tubing. Each "blob" sound is made when the bubble enters the reactor. The noise goes after a couple of days at most, few minutes at best. Guess it depends how much water is 'stuck' in there.
 
LondonDragon said:
I need to get myself a reactor, not sure if my external would cope with it though a 2224??

I don't know the flow rate for that filter. My reactor is 2" diameter and nearly 2 foot long in total, pretty large from what I can gather. My 1200lph Tetratec EX1200 copes with it, but only just I suspect. Priming the filter is much more of a hassle than it used to be but other than once it is running it works a treat. HTH.

EDIT - you have probably seen my other thread where I am looking to buy a new pump which I will end up dedicating to feeding the reactor. Primarily to get my flow up as I am currently way less than 10x (7.5x not accounting for any losses).
 
a1Matt said:
I get the "blob blob blob" noise when water has feedback into my CO2 tubing. Each "blob" sound is made when the bubble enters the reactor. The noise goes after a couple of days at most, few minutes at best. Guess it depends how much water is 'stuck' in there.
Interesting, mine has done it for 2 months now, but didn't do it first day (at least I don't think so, although with all the excitement - filter leaking etc. I forget). How to clear it - blast the CO2 through in a stream? Or should I change my one way valve - its quite a cheap plastic thing on the Aquamas reactor.

I wanted to put an airstone on the outlet but the its at the end of a 40cm tube and I've not found a way.

Sorry, utterly off topic :oops:
 
First off, apologies Lindqvist for such a lengthy offtopic post.

Ray said:
Interesting, mine has done it for 2 months now, but didn't do it first day (at least I don't think so, although with all the excitement - filter leaking etc. I forget). How to clear it - blast the CO2 through in a stream? Or should I change my one way valve - its quite a cheap plastic thing on the Aquamas reactor.

I wanted to put an airstone on the outlet but the its at the end of a 40cm tube and I've not found a way.

Sorry, utterly off topic :oops:

here is all my experience and musings on the 'put put put' noise! I hope it helps you...

To clear the noise:

When I had an internal reactor I used to remove the airline tubing from the FE, blow down it really hard, and put it back onto the FE as quick as possible.
Now I have an external reactor I have the flow of my canister filter working against me, so when I first tried this method I got a mouthful of water :oops: (Needless to say I didn't try it again!)

Blasting out the CO2 to clear it sounds feasible, but it may need quite a bit of pressure, and may use up a lot of CO2 to do so.

Source of the noise:

I have a suspicion that the noise is caused by water filling up half of the one way valve. Then when the CO2 pushes through it it makes a bubble and when that pops you get the noise. If this is correct then changing the valve may fix it.

Possible solution:

Remove all the one way valves from my setup. Only joking! As the noise is only temporary for me I don't worry about it at all. Long term I plan on replacing my plastic valves with brass ones as I hear that they never fail. Hopefully that will solve the 'put put put' as well.

A bit of an essay there but hopefully it helps somewhat :)

On a related note - I am not particularly trusting of the cheap plastic valves I have already, especially as I have had them fail on me before. So I use a couple of them in a row. The CO2 pushes through no problem and it gives me piece of mind.
 
a1Matt said:
Source of the noise:

I have a suspicion that the noise is caused by water filling up half of the one way valve. Then when the CO2 pushes through it it makes a bubble and when that pops you get the noise. If this is correct then changing the valve may fix it.
Thank you for your a1 answer Matt ;) . I think you may be right. My valve is clear platic and I can see water in it.
a1Matt said:
Possible solution:

Long term I plan on replacing my plastic valves with brass ones as I hear that they never fail. Hopefully that will solve the 'put put put' as well.
So which valve should I try (I'll try anything, even the 9.99 ADA check valve)?: http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/ind..._result&search_in_description=1&keyword=valve
 
The reactor is still working fine. Still gas in the upper part of the reactor, but its get dissolved 100%. So i guess i have to live with, untill i get a more powerfull filter.

Had a problem with a "dead" ph-probe from aqualight, so the co2 has been a pain since monday. Fortunately i got my new Aqua medic probe today :D

But all in all, i can higly recommend the reactor.

Cheers, Lindqvist
 
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