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replacing balls with noodles in a reactor

jarthel

Member
Joined
12 Nov 2009
Messages
212
it seems people have replaced balls with noodles. Is this because the noodles dissolve more co2? maybe the noodles has to be porous?

thank you
 
Noodles would be advantageous over balls in that being more porous they provide more surface area for biological filtration.

I do not know if they would make a difference in breaking down CO2 though, I think they would probably be a bit better as they will be more effective at physically blocking the bubbles and thereby forcing them to dissolve.

I would actually take all the media out of the reactor, in order to minimise loss of flow through the reactor. :idea:

If you then find that you are getting undissolved CO2 leaving the reactor (i.e. you can see bubbles leaving the reactor) then you will want to put some media back in to keep the CO2 in the reactor longer to give it more chance of dissolving.
 
When I purchased my AM reactor there was no media fitted - so TGM advised siporax (noodles), all the advertisments for AM reactors show bio balls. The writing on the box states its hermetically sealed - the two reactor tails (where the pipes fit) can be unscrewed to gain access into the chamber. These tails are approx. 15.5mm O.D - so it advisable to use two jubliee clips to secure 16/22 mm pipe to the reactor - 16mm being the I.D of the pipe and 22mm O.D of the same pipe.

http://www.thegreenmachineaquatics.com/ ... tor%201000

Regards
paul.
 
I've heard of many sorts of media being used in a reactor, foam, bio balls, ceramic noodles, etc. but basically the denser the media employed the more it'll slow down the flow down just the same as it does inside the canister of your filter.

I personally do not use media at all in the reactor chamber and as a result the loss in flow is negligable although undoubtedly there must be some. I do get a few tiny bubbles being spat into my tank through the spraybar now and again though but it doesn't bother me at all. On the contrary I quite like the effect and its really easy to tell if there is to much co2 being injected as the frequency of the tiny bubbles being spat in through the spraybar increases giving an audible warning, I also quite like a few tiny bubbles bouncing around the tank as it aids in understanding the flow dynamics within it.

I did try my reactor with bio balls and they do help disolve the co2 more efficiently but the balls tended to make a bit of a rattling noise as the top ones in the chamber were bounced around in the flow. Tiny co2 bubbles did lodge/cling onto the balls which obviously results in the bubbles being in contact with the water for longer so aiding the co2 to disolve. The larger bubbles also break up when the flow pushes them against the bio balls.

Writing this a solution has occurred to me that maybe if you were to combine somthing to stop the balls moving around above them in the chamber .i.e. foam or some heavier media then the balls could be used without the annoying rattling noise. Thats somthing I may try out in the future, come to think of it I think I've seen this arrangement somewhere before.

I can't imagine how noodles would do the job any better and I've never tried them so can't comment from experience but I would like to understand the logic behind there use.

Regards, Chris.
 
chris1004 said:
I personally do not use media at all in the reactor chamber and as a result the loss in flow is negligable although undoubtedly there must be some.
Regards, Chris.

I lost 157 litres per hour using siporax

Regards
paul.
 
Yeah I remeber you saying on another thread mate but I reckon thats because of the siporax not the reactor itself. I know you used it under advice but any idea what the thinking behind this advice was?

Regards, Chris.
 
chris1004 said:
Yeah I remeber you saying on another thread mate but I reckon thats because of the siporax not the reactor itself. I know you used it under advice but any idea what the thinking behind this advice was?

Regards, Chris.

The reactor was bought because I could not diffuse the co2 gas within the water quick enough, initial I was using a Dennerle ladder system which was ideal at 1-2 bps, now I am adding 5-6 bps. The Am reactor can handle anything that is thrown at it ie bps, but when a cylindrical chamber is filled with a media - whether it be siporax, bio balls or anything else there will be a reduction in flow, same with a hose pipe - put a kink in the pipe or squeeze the pipe the flow at the end of the pipe is reduced.

Regards
paul.
 
I think thats exactly what I said 3 posts back. What I mean is why use siporax or any other dense media in the chamber whats the reasoning behind it?

Regards, Chris.
 
chris1004 said:
I think thats exactly what I said 3 posts back. What I mean is why use siporax or any other dense media in the chamber whats the reasoning behind it?

Regards, Chris.

Chris

It just another bio media for the bacteria to attached too.

Regards
paul.
 
I don't get this thread. Why would anyone advise using SIPORAX in a CO2 reactor? That would literally be nuts!!

A CO2 reactor is basically designed to do one and only one thing: put CO2 into the water. It is not meant to be, and should never be mistaken for, a biological filter (supplementary or otherwise). If you need more biological filtration add another canister. (And if you want to encourage an aerobic biological colony would you want to gas the chamber with CO2? :crazy: :crazy: ).

The reason why the AM unit is suppose to be loaded with their baco balls is because it's a trickle media that give literally zero resistance to flow and aids in breaking down the water into different streams thereby increasing surface contact with CO2 for effective reaction. The media should have no resistance to flow at all, and in fact the entire reactor should have no resistance to flow (but there is a slight resistance due to the CO2 gas's pressure need to get into the chamber).

I wouldn't want to use SIPORAX in a CO2 reactor. For one it's expensive, for another it will get clogged, and its purpose would be wasted since the reactor's job is CO2 diffusion and not supplementary biological filtration. Another concern would be that it will break off shards of glass particles over normal use that gets pumped into the main aquarium flow and that can't be good for the fish.
 
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