My first DIY reactor... How did I do?

[markn2025]

Had a stab at a yugang horizontal reactor. It's now all plumbed in and no leaks however I'm yet to run co2 in it, I'll try that tomorrow

For my next build, what could I improve? Any tips on what I should do or look out for when I first start co2 tomorrow morning?

Thank you all in advance

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

Looks great! Nice work. How will the CO2 actually inject in?

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

Looks great! Nice work. How will the CO2 actually inject in?

Hard to see but he has a black hose drilled into the acrylic. Looks like it’s secured in there with silicone so be careful with that!

 

[techman81]

Looks like it’s secured in there with silicone so be careful with that!

I thought the same when I saw what looked like the CO2 port. There's more pressure in these than it seems so it doesn't take much for leaks to form. I had to re-seal a couple of mine multiple times.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

I wonder if we could use this for these purposes:

I have them on two drain pipes for my RO water. I'd assume they're water-tight because, well, they're on water drains without issue.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

I used a screw in John guest fitting after drilling a hole in my pvc pipe. I then siliconed around the inside, this worked. I did notice an initial leak on my other nylon fittings I screwed, just a slow drip on one side but it has since corrected itself.

 

[markn2025]

Hey thanks for all the responses! Indidbsikiconenthe co2 fitting, it's above the ball valve.

It's water tight with silicone o rings and screws but I added the silicone on top after water testing it just to prevent movement in the nut longer term. It's a 4mm hose barb drilled directly into the pvc

 

[markn2025]

Hard to see but he has a black hose drilled into the acrylic. Looks like it’s secured in there with silicone so be careful with that!

The black hose is the co2 valve. There is a 4mm hose barb drilled into the pvc and secured with o rings and nuts, the silicone on the outside nut was an after thought to prevent movement of the nut long term. The fitting is water tight without the silicone. If you zoom in the first photo you can see it on the clear pvc above the ball valve

 

[markn2025]

Can someone help, is this normal? The co2 doesn't seem to be making a large bubble it's been on for 4 hours now. My fluval fx4 is on 90% power and my bypass about 50% open

 

[TRyan]

I used a screw in John guest fitting after drilling a hole in my pvc pipe. I then siliconed around the inside, this worked. I did notice an initial leak on my other nylon fittings I screwed, just a slow drip on one side but it has since corrected itself.

I did the same with mine, but I drilled hole with appropriate sized drill bit and then used a tap to make threaded hole. I used Teflon tape around threads of fitting and screwed it into PVC.

 

[markn2025]

My drop checker stayed completely blue all day at a reasonable bps. I'll try again tomorrow but I think something may be wrong

 

[TRyan]

For me it was really tough to set the CO2 correctly with the bubble counter. I found much better control using a flow meter and monitoring the PH drop with a PH probe and drop checker combined. Shoot for 1 PH drop from the time CO2 comes on until fully saturated. This will get you close to desired 30 ppm CO2.

 

[markn2025]

For me it was really tough to set the CO2 correctly with the bubble counter. I found much better control using a flow meter and monitoring the PH drop with a PH probe and drop checker combined. Shoot for 1 PH drop from the time CO2 comes on until fully saturated. This will get you close to desired 30 ppm CO2.

Can you check the video I posted. Does that look normal?

 

[TRyan]

Can you check the video I posted. Does that look normal?

I did watch, and unfortunately it doesn't look right to me. I would try increasing C02 input and opening bypass all the way. Or just try one thing at a time and increase C02 first. The reactor should be about half filled with water and half C02 pocket.

My thoughts are that by opening bypass all the way, this would decrease the flow through reactor and increase C02 pocket, but I strongly feel like C02 needs to be increased as well.

 

[markn2025]

I did watch, and unfortunately it doesn't look right to me. I would try increasing C02 input and opening bypass all the way. Or just try one thing at a time and increase C02 first. The reactor should be about half filled with water and half C02 pocket.

My thoughts are that by opening bypass all the way, this would decrease the flow through reactor and increase C02 pocket, but I strongly feel like C02 needs to be increased as well.

Do you have any videos of yours working?

 

[TRyan]

Do you have any videos of yours working?

Here's mine. My reactor has some build up in it, so it's easy to see the water line about half way up.
View attachment VID_20260116_135333049.mp4

 

[markn2025]

Here's mine. My reactor has some build up in it, so it's easy to see the water line about half way up.
View attachment 13335

Oh wow ok my bubble is way off. Did it take any time to build up such a bubble or was it from day one?

I was running about 1bps so I'll double that up tomorrow and reduce flow through the reactor and see how it behaves

 

[TRyan]

And I'll say this... If I had it to do over again, I'd definitely put the bypass ABOVE the reactor as to help dissolve C02 bubbles a little more. I do have some C02 bubbles just bubbling out into the atmosphere while also making an annoying gurgling sound. Bypass above the reactor would help this issue.

 

[TRyan]

Oh wow ok my bubble is way off. Did it take any time to build up such a bubble or was it from day one?

I was running about 1bps so I'll double that up tomorrow and reduce flow through the reactor and see how it behaves

My 2" conduit will fill up a little more with water when C02 isn't on, but after it comes on and builds pressure, the water level goes down and CO2 pocket increases.

 

[techman81]

How big is the aquarium. The only aquarium I have that comes close to the CO2 levels I want at the 1 BPS rule is my 7 gallon tank. My 25 gallon is probably 3 BPS at least and my larger aquariums have BPS rates that you can't count.