A little bit busy recently

[Yugang]

Some have reached out to me asking if all is good, as I have not been active for a while. I appreciate your kind concerns, thank you.

I apologise to those who sent me PM's, and I did not reply soon enough.

I have been extremely busy for the last month or so, and most likely also for the coming period I will have little or no time for my hobby. The good news is that I am doing fine, and try to keep the tank in good shape as well.

I will definitely be back and contribute as soon as I can find the time again.

 

[GreggZ]

Hey @Yugang I've gone through a similar period. Sometimes other things in life tank precedent. My life is calming down a bit now so I hope to get back to participating more.......and giving my tank the attention it deserves.

 

[Art]

Same here. Glad everyone is well. Hope to be back more active soon.

 

[Yugang]

It's a really busy year for me, and unfortunately I have much less time for my aquarium hobby now. Expect this to continue for the foreseeable future, and apologise for late replies to posts or PM's.

I wish I could contribute more on this forum, especially when reactor questions come up. Several other members understand the reactor really well, and thankfully jump in when needed and I fail to respond.

I think I owe it to the community to write a short summary that serves as a "user manual". The horizontal reactor thread captures it all, but has become too long to be of practical relevance as trouble shooting guide.

My idea would be to have one posting that serves as a summary user guide, and may be updated in the days, weeks and years after. The rest of the thread would be discussion and Q&A, but the initial post, with its updates, is supposed to always be the go to for a comprehensive understanding of set up and trouble shooting.

@Art , would it be possible to allow me to edit the said post without any time limit set on it?

 

[JayP]

I think I owe it to the community to write a short summary that serves as a "user manual". The horizontal reactor thread captures it all, but has become too long to be of practical relevance as trouble shooting guide.

I'm working on my own DIY reactors for smaller tanks and wanted less than a 1.5 PH drop. I've bee looking for the math on how to calculate the number to use in place of 17.7. I may have simply passed over it.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

I'm working on my own DIY reactors for smaller tanks and wanted less than a 1.5 PH drop. I've bee looking for the math on how to calculate the number to use in place of 17.7. I may have simply passed over it.

See my post here:

Post in thread 'Testing the Aqua Rocks Colorado Acrylic Horizontal CO2 Reactor on a large tank'

Feb 2, 2025

Calculating if the Large (10cm diameter, 65cm body length) Horizontal Acrylic reactor from Aqua Rocks will work for my tank, and how to calculate it yourself:

I was skeptical that a reactor like this could really work for a tank of my size (about 120-130 gallons excluding hardscape, 150cm long and 60cm deep). But I did more research and found that this particular reactor is actually oversized for my tank! Which is good, because you can always reduce the rate of CO2 dissolution by simply rotating the reactor to raise the top of the internal outlet, as in my last comment...

• Naturescapes_Rocco

• 

Basically, take your tank's surface area (the area CO2 can escape) and divide by 17 for Yugang's calculations to find the necessary Reactor Max Surface Area. For example, a tank at 150cm long and 60cm deep would have a surface area of 9,000cm2.

9000/17= 530cm2 necessary for a 1.5pH drop, according to Yugang.

I recommend a factor of 15 instead, for a more powerful reactor with headroom, since you can always adjust the power down, but never increase above the max.

9000/15=600cm2 necessary for a ~1.65pH drop, or so.

My reactor on my largest tank is about a factor of 13x smaller at the maximum surface area compared to the tank itself. It's technically overpowered, but since it's very easy to adjust to reduce the power/strength, it's not a problem at all.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

It's a really busy year for me, and unfortunately I have much less time for my aquarium hobby now. Expect this to continue for the foreseeable future, and apologise for late replies to posts or PM's.

I wish I could contribute more on this forum, especially when reactor questions come up. Several other members understand the reactor really well, and thankfully jump in when needed and I fail to respond.

I think I owe it to the community to write a short summary that serves as a "user manual". The horizontal reactor thread captures it all, but has become too long to be of practical relevance as trouble shooting guide.

My idea would be to have one posting that serves as a summary user guide, and may be updated in the days, weeks and years after. The rest of the thread would be discussion and Q&A, but the initial post, with its updates, is supposed to always be the go to for a comprehensive understanding of set up and trouble shooting.

@Art , would it be possible to allow me to edit the said post without any time limit set on it?

We're forever grateful for all you've done for us, but don't feel bad -- you don't owe us any more than you've already provided.

Of course, we WILL be very grateful for any more info/education you provide just don't stress yourself about it too much, we'll always be here when you have the time.

 

[Art]

@Art , would it be possible to allow me to edit the said post without any time limit set on it?

Hi,

I suggest that you do it as an Article in our articles section that will provide you with the ability to update the main content as needed with people being able to comment.