I have an inline reactor....I made this using pvc, and have it inline with my rena xp3. Unfortunately due to space constraints in my cabinet under the tank, I had to hang the reactor from the underside of the cabinet in a horizontal position. The output of my cannister goes into the reactor through bio balls and then out to the spray bar. The co2 line comes into the reactor before my bio balls to help mix things up. Is this an ok way to do things? Ive been reading and reading on this site, and it seems like there is a lot of talk about co2 "mist"? I not only have space constraints, but expense constraints now.....will be a daddy in december of this year!

I would like to hear some suggestions on how to improve my co2 injection, or some cheap ways to try this "mist" application? While keeping in mind the space issues. I like not having much in the way of equipment in my tank now, only the heater and filter intake and spray bar is in there right now, but I will be adding a powerhead today after I get home from work so I can raise my co2 BPS rate until the surface skimmer arrives.

Thanks very much, as always!
Eric

If you are already going to put a powerhead in the tank, you can drill a hole (carefully) in the side of the inlet to the powerhead and stick the CO2 tube there. That lets the powerhead rotor chop up the CO2 into mist and blow it around the tank. I did that for several months and it worked well.

Thanks VaughnH, is this for DiY CO2 applications? I have my only co2 tube in the inline reactor? The powerhead is a small maxijet, and I think it has a spot to put an airline tube into it already? It is submersible too, so is the benefit of a mist application and doing it this way, the ability to place the powerhead down deeper in the tank? I really dont understand this at all. I dont see bubbles coming out of my spray bar, so I "assume" its being dissolved well, but with it being dispersed at the top of the tank out of the spray bar, I dont know how well it reaches the bottom of the tank?

Thanks very much, and sorry for a bunch of questions that have prolly already been brought up, and trust me I prolly read it on here, but just dont understand it or its benefits

If what I have is good, then I will just let it go....just curious if I could make any "tweaks"?

Thanks again

This is one of those cases where a picture of the configuration would be very useful. I believe the reactor should somehow be placed in a vertical position for best results. Otherwise you'll likely have a much greater volume of Co2 build up dead heading for the entire length of the cylinder, and may encounter belching at higher flow rates.

The simplest way to achieve a controlled misting application with a canister filter arrangement would be to use a double T manifold for two needle valves and bubble counters eBay: 2 way Brass Co2 splitter, for solenoid gauge regulator (item 250018659638 end time Jul-10-07 18:02:50 PDT) and placing an inline mister such as the Cal-Aqua L abs inline unit. CAL AQUA LABS - CO2 Glassware This would allow you to independently adjust the rates for both dissolved Co2, and ambient mist.

I don't believe there is any one perfect distribution for Co2 in a closed system. Whether it be Dissolved or Misted Co2 or a Venturi Reactor. For the most part Dissolved Co2 is the most economically efficient application for the hobbiest, but Plants definitely do enjoy some percentage of misting and make more efficient use of Ambient/Gaseous Co2. HTH Prof M

Thanks Professor M, I dont know how to go about making it vertical

It is a mess under the cabinet, and im not happy about it at all, but since you cant really see, I dont mind that much, but here are some crappy pics showing the configuration I have going now

I looked at your link, and they look like a bubble counter, and I dont know if I know how to go about hooking this all up in the future. It took me a good bit of time just to get the inline pvc reactor under control, and I dont even know how under control it really is anymore

Thanks again for your help

Enjoy my crappy pics! haha

For some reason I didnt see there was a link there for the two bubble counters (splitter) the first time around....that makes it a bit clearer now! lol! I will have to do some thinking, but for $30! Thats not bad!!

Thanks again

I more than understand the economics, but I am one of those people who has acquired a black belt in making a Silk Purse from a Sow's Ear. In retrospect there were way...WAY Too Many Times I should have simply bit the bullet and purchased a Quality Component. I have gone to many extremes to cope with a situation instead of simply managing it from the Git Go ! Fortunately lots of folks do the same thing daily...so I can keep my head down and hide in the back row.

Generally when I'm adamant about certain advice it's only because I've thoroughly buggered it up sooooo many times I know "precisely" what NOT To Do !!! For discretionary purposes we will call these EXPERIMENTS and hopefully the wife believes me...

Thanks Professor M

So does that mean you would make some changes if it was your setup? Since I cant make it vertical, would doing the mix of the mist, with the crappy setup I have now be a good idea?

The tank is angled in a corner, so getting behind the tank, to mount the reactor on the back wall in a vertical position isnt gonna work

Thanks again for your help....I dont really know where to go from here with this co2 injection

I used a Maxijet 600 when I ran it like I described. I wanted it to be a filter also, so I stuck the filter holder on the inlet, and shoved the CO2 tube thru a slot in that piece. Then I put a filter sponge over it to filter the incoming water. The objective is to have the CO2 go into the water ahead of the powerhead rotor, not after it. The air fitting that you found for the Maxijet is on the outlet of the unit, not the inlet, so it won't work well there, giving much too big bubbles of CO2.

I can see from your photos that you could put the external reactor vertical, but with some effort. It will work a lot better if you do that. Otherwise, the Maxijet method will also work fine. The object of the mist method is to provide gaseous CO2 to the plants in additiion to what is dissolved in the water, because it is more easily absorbed by the plants in the gas form. This method "wastes" CO2, but CO2 is so cheap it doesn't really matter if we waste some of it. The results are spectacular when you use mist CO2 - the tank is just filled with microscopic bubbles of CO2 and the plants are all pearling all day long. This causes maximum plant growth rates which can be a nuisance if you don't want to do a lot of regular pruning. I stopped using that method largely because I'm too lazy to prune twice a week, but also because I had more difficulty keeping BBA under control than with regular CO2 dissolved in the water.

Thanks VaughnH.....my plan this weekend is to figure out how to mount it vertical. I think it is gonna be tough, but I may be able to figure something out. The mist method sounds good, but I dont think Im going to tackle that adventure right now. I will work on getting this thing mounted vertical, and see how things go

You said it looks like I can do this, but with some effort....what do you suggest? I also need to get straight barbs.....I know the 90* angles in the reactor arent the best either

Thanks again