\nand was having trouble keeping CO2 levels high
\nenough in my 75G heavily planted tank. Pumping
\nmore CO2 caused a lot of burps and sometimes the
\nreactor would airlock.It was time to use a CO2 reactor,
\nbut I didn’t want to spend too much so I decided to build one.<\/p>\n
My DIY CO2 reactor is based on the Barr method,
\nbut I hate adding more equipment into my tank,
\nso I designed it to run inline with my canister.
\nI made two reactors, the only difference between
\nthem being the barb size. I’m running them inline
\nwith my Eheim 2026 and 2213 on the filter intake.<\/p>\n
Initially I used a different design that would be
\ninline on the filter outflow – only clean water
\nenters the reactor, less muck to deal with,
\nbut i noticed a significant reduction in the
\nflow rate. I ended up putting it inline on the
\nfilter inflow. As I write this article, I’ve been
\nrunning the reactor with no clogging issues yet for
\n2 months. If it does start to clog up, I’ll simply take
\nit off, run some water at high pressure through it to
\nclean it out and pop it back on. If you’re worried
\nabout it – you can use a prefilter on the intake tube.
\nThat will catch any larger pieces of debris.<\/p>\n
Almost everything was bought from Lowes but Home Depot
\ncarries most of this stuff too. Under $10 cost per
\nreactor for parts and took me about 20 minutes to put
\nmost of it together with PVC solvent glue and a
\nlittle ‘Plumbers Goop’ (can use epoxy) for the
\nairline connector. I put Teflon tape on the barbs
\nbefore I screwed them on to eliminate leaks.<\/p>\n
I chose not to attach a ‘hang on’ piece, instead I
\nsecured the hoses with clamps. Much cleaner.<\/p>\n
I’m getting 100% dissolution. Now I can crank up my
\nCO2 without worrying about air locking my Eheims.
\nNo more burps!<\/p>\n
You can use cheap plastic scrub pads from the dollar
\nstore if you can’t find the bio balls.
\nJust make sure they’re inert.<\/p>\n
Good luck!<\/td>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/gwapa.org\/articles\/inline_co2_reactor\/reactor_1.jpg\")
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