Testing the Aqua Rocks Colorado Acrylic Horizontal CO2 Reactor on a large tank

[Noahspapa]

First off, I have tried every form of CO2 injection under the sun.

On smaller tanks, in-tank diffusers are simple and get the job done with little fuss, so I run those.
On larger tanks (50 gallons and above) I have always had issues with CO2 injection.

• If I used in-tank diffusers, they had to produce a TON of bubbles to reach a 1.0-1.2 pH drop (30ppm CO2).
• If I used in-line diffusers, they worked better than in tank, but still produced a ton of "sprite water" and would eventually start working poorly after a few months. A few professionals I've spoken to believe that the ceramic body inside the in-line diffuser is a "consumable" part, and cleaning/eventual replacement is part of the tank's lifespan.
• I tried the more common "vertical" spin-type CO2 reactor (also from Aqua Rocks), and while it was able to eventually reach a 1.0pH drop on my 55gal and did eliminate "sprite water", it would require a HUGE Co2 gas pocket built up through , made a ton of noise with the water vortex, and seriously slowed my Oase filter flow down quite noticeably, and gassed my fish a couple of times.

Enter: The Yugang Horizontal Reactor (forum post here)!
What a brilliant idea. Low maintenance, little flow impedance, NO noise, 100% CO2 dissolve rate, and built-in maximum adjustability (with reactors that have an off-center return/outlet). So so smart... I had to try it!

The basics are covered in the link above
View attachment 7179

I had to cut the built-in locked mounting plates so I could two 6" holes in the inner walls of my stand just to fit this design. I did it with a jigsaw (the acrylic is super easy to cut and sand into a smooth 6" diameter:

View attachment 7180

The one downside is it is really really HUGE. Besides my filters, this is the largest piece of equipment for the tank.The photos don't do it justice, this thing is massive. It's over two feet long with the outflow attachments, 4 inches in diameter at the acrylic tube, and the outer "plates" are just under 6 inches in diameter if you don't include the mounting plates.

It comes with "locked" mounting plates, but you can rotate the inflow/outflow plates by moving the blue screw holes by 1 screw in either direction. It's not a bad idea, but one of the main benefits of a horizontal reactor is the offset outflow (see left side above). On other horizontal reactor designs, you are able to rotate the outflow to adjust the CO2 pocket "overflow". This sets a maximum-sized CO2 pocket, which determines the max CO2 dissolve rate, and helps as a built-in safety feature to prevent gassing of your tank's inhabitants.

See the stainless steel horizontal Yugang reactor from Aqua Rocks:

View attachment 7181
Honestly, I could have gone with the stainless steel version. I would have only needed to cut a 4" diameter hole in my stand's walls vs 6" (since the reactor is easily removed from the ring-mounting-clamps), and it freely rotates without "segmented" rotation like the default Acrylic reactor (meaning, before you saw off the acrylic mounting plates like I did).

However, you can't see what's going on inside the stainless steel reactors. That was the deciding factor for me between these reactors.
The first few days/weeks of using this reactor, being able to see inside has been amazing for troubleshooting, adjusting, and understanding what's going on.

However, now that I know how easy it is to set one of these up, and I have firsthand in-person experience seeing the mechanics with an acrylic reactor, I would consider a stainless steel reactor in the future.

How do you set one of these up?

Rotate the reactor until the top of the offset-outflow hole is just barely touching the level of CO2 pocket height you want to try:

View attachment 7182
Original graphics by @Yugang , the rest by me!

Results to follow...

Hello Rocco & SC community. I’m setting up a new 120P tank. I have two Oase BMT2 350’s. I am running the output of one of them through a UV disinfection unit I purchased from cuboid aquatics. I am running the output of the second through a small acrylic yugang reactor from ARC. I haven’t put water in the tank yet - playing with hardscape now. I’m aware that folks on scapecrunch community have been working through using the reactor and concerns over flow rate. Any suggestions for me?

Thank you,

Joe

 

[Pepere]

I have a 75 gallon using two Oase Biomaster 350s. One pumps water through a horizontal reactor from the outlet before going in one side of a back wall spray bar.

The other one flowing in to the other side of the spraybar. About3 1/2 feet long spray bar.

One Biomaster just did not have adequate flow for a 75 gallon tank.

The Oase Biomasters pump significantly less water than their documentation suggests. Manual says up to 300 gph.

I am only getting about 120-140 gallons per canister as installed.

Running them with short stubs of hose and no media I only got a little over 200 gph iirc. I was unimpressed.

Now, clearly a 75 gallon tank neds the flow, but does t need nearly so much filtration media.



Since I bought 2 and they are installed and giving me what I need I am leaving as is.

If I get another 75 gallon tank, I will split them up and buy an Oase Optimax 560 pump and plumb a strait circulation line from intake to spray bar. I will then plumb in the Biomaster filter intake and outake into that line with closely spaced Tees to set up Primary Secondary circulation. The biomaster will simply get water from the flow of water flowing through the tees and return filtered water back in to the line.. this way the filter is only pumping water through the filter and horizontal reactor and not affecting or being affected by the flow through the circulation circuit. The two pumps have no affect on each other.



Here is a diagram as used with forced hot water heating application…same idea…

 

[Noahspapa]

I have a 75 gallon using two Oase Biomaster 350s. One pumps water through a horizontal reactor from the outlet before going in one side of a back wall spray bar.

The other one flowing in to the other side of the spraybar. About3 1/2 feet long spray bar.

One Biomaster just did not have adequate flow for a 75 gallon tank.

The Oase Biomasters pump significantly less water than their documentation suggests. Manual says up to 300 gph.

I am only getting about 120-140 gallons per canister as installed.

Running them with short stubs of hose and no media I only got a little over 200 gph iirc. I was unimpressed.

Now, clearly a 75 gallon tank neds the flow, but does t need nearly so much filtration media.



Since I bought 2 and they are installed and giving me what I need I am leaving as is.

If I get another 75 gallon tank, I will split them up and buy an Oase Optimax 560 pump and plumb a strait circulation line from intake to spray bar. I will then plumb in the Biomaster filter intake and outake into that line with closely spaced Tees to set up Primary Secondary circulation. The biomaster will simply get water from the flow of water flowing through the tees and return filtered water back in to the line.. this way the filter is only pumping water through the filter and horizontal reactor and not affecting or being affected by the flow through the circulation circuit. The two pumps have no affect on each other.

View attachment 10465

Here is a diagram as used with forced hot water heating application…same idea…

Thank you very much for your input. I guess I’ll eventually start things up as I have them and see how the system performs.

 

[Pepere]

guess I’ll eventually start things up as I have them and see how the system performs.

You can use a quart container in the tank collecting the flow from each outlet and time it to determine gph.

 

[Noahspapa]

You can use a quart container in the tank collecting the flow from each outlet and time it to determine gph.

My tank is roughly 80 gallons. From what I’ve read desired flow show be in the range of 5-10 times the volume per hour, so 400-800 gph. Do you agree?

 

[Pepere]

My tank is roughly 80 gallons. From what I’ve read desired flow show be in the range of 5-10 times the volume per hour, so 400-800 gph. Do you agree?

That is a rule of thumb I have seen kicked around.

I have heard some people state “based on manufacturer listed flow” as it presumes actual flow is significantly less than listed.

What I generally look for is to see enough flow all of the plants are gently swaying.

I usually set up a spray bar below water level in the back of the tank spraying forward to the front glass. As such you can see suspended bits in the tank flow across to the front of the tank, down the front glass and then circulate up over the substrate back to the spray bar when sufficient flow is present. With 1 biomaster 350, I was not seeing that curcular flow and I was not seeing the plants swaying.

Perhaps others have different ideas, but I think the flow is necessary to bring all the plant surfaces fresh oxygenated, and co2 laden water and nutrients to the surfaces and flush away products of plant metabolism from the leaf margins, hence wanting to see all plants gently swaying.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

I’m aware that folks on scapecrunch community have been working through using the reactor and concerns over flow rate. Any suggestions for me?

Thank you,

Joe

I wouldn't say there are any major concerns over flow rate, only minor ones -- all these reactors are are giant pipes. Even in my tanks where the tubing does a full 180-degree turn, the flow rate doesn't suffer much. In my tanks where the reactor is essentially a large horizontal pipe/tubing without a 180-degree turn,, the flow rate is barely affected at all!

If you understand the basics on how it works, and practice getting it dialed in before you add fish/shrimp inhabitants, you'll love it.

I HIGHLY recommend getting a Hanna CO2 test kit to dial in your CO2 (I have many threads and comments on this!). IT's been the most useful tool I've had this year, in my opinion.

 

[Noahspapa]

I wouldn't say there are any major concerns over flow rate, only minor ones -- all these reactors are are giant pipes. Even in my tanks where the tubing does a full 180-degree turn, the flow rate doesn't suffer much. In my tanks where the reactor is essentially a large horizontal pipe/tubing without a 180-degree turn,, the flow rate is barely affected at all!

If you understand the basics on how it works, and practice getting it dialed in before you add fish/shrimp inhabitants, you'll love it.

I HIGHLY recommend getting a Hanna CO2 test kit to dial in your CO2 (I have many threads and comments on this!). IT's been the most useful tool I've had this year, in my opinion.

Thank you!