Co2 reactor

[HayleYoyo]

has anyone had a problem with their Ista co2 reactor not spinning?
Mine starts off ok, then just randomly stops

[HayleYoyo]

I figured out the internal blades needed to be on a certain way (proper way shown in photo)This massively increases the pressure come out of my canister! However, the blades ultimately stopped spinning again

I turned the BPS down, and burped it. I think that seemed to fix it. It looks like I can't go higher than 3bps with my current set up (Eheim 2232 w/uv sterilizer and homemade spray bar).

I'm going to try two different things.

1. I picked up a Fluval 407. I hate Fluval, but my LFS had it on sale... for $150... seriously... this should be more that strong enough to keep the 'wheels a turning'

2. I bought an in-line defuser. I'm going to try hooking it up before the reactor. I think it will allow some of the bubbles to dissolve before it gets to the reactor, and give the reactor smaller bubbles to break down.

[HayleYoyo]

I tried removing the bottom blade, and replaced it using some vinyl tubing. The tubing was basically to hold the top blad in place.

At first it seemed to spin faster, but still couldn't handle more than 3BPS.

So today I added an in-line atomizer before the reactor. The idea is that the atomizer will send smaller bubbles that are easier to break up, and possibly dissolve them before they even get to it.

If anyone wants to replicate this, just remember you have to close the co2 intake on the reactor. I did that with some tubing filled with silicone.

Hopefully this works. I have a Fluval 407 that I got on sale. $177 tax in! I want to avoid setting it up, because I rather have the money. I like my Eheim, and I avoid Fluval when I can.
Here is a photo of my set up

[HayleYoyo]

So the defuser didn't work. I feel if I added more hosing between the reactor and the defuser, I would have better luck.

However; oddly enough, I may have a MUCH simpler solution.... as I was taking off the reactor, I turned it on an angle. About 10-15 degrees. That resulted in the propeller spinning full speed. It isn't enough to cause 'burping', just enough for the water to hit the propeller on a better angle.

Which is awesome!

[HayleYoyo]

Adding a longer piping didn't really help. The blade gassed off any dissolved co2, creating a bubble in the top of the reactor. So in the end, it was the same. The slight angle worked, but still not enough.

I'm trying just the in-line defuser. It's only been 2 or so hours. I wanted to see how bad the sprinting would be.

My current set up has a spray bar under the waterline. I find this gives me the best flow, and most of the bubbles dissolve before they get too far. So hopefully this will be a better option.

[lucius]

Do you have your inline diffuser on the outtake of your canister filter or the intake?  If it's on your outtake, you can try putting it on your intake and see if the canister filter will help reduce the bubbles even more.

[HayleYoyo]

At the moment it's on the outtake.

I thought about doing it on the intake,
I'm just worried about a gas build up ruining my impeller. I spent so much time messing with my reactor, and trying 'odd ball' set ups.

I figured I would see how much 'spriting' I actually got from the defuser alone.

At the moment, I'm able to get up to 5ppm no problem, which is so much better then what my reactor gave me

[HayleYoyo]

I switched to the Reactor and the Fluval 407 at set my co2 to 5bps.

It works really well. When I first set it up yesterday, the reactor was almost half filled with air within a few hours. However, the blades where still spinning! Eventually the air dissolved into the water.

I checked today when the co2 turned off, and there was only a small bubble left. I'm attributing the abundance of gas from yesterday to the fact it was a new filter, with lost of trapped air. So the problem was definitely a flow issue.

At the moment, I don't see any less 'spriting' then I did with the atomizer. This could be a result of my plumbing, causing the water to slightly off gas. However, I barley saw it with the atomizer anyway. I also found my drop checker changed colour faster with the atomizer.


So my conclusion:
If you used a reactor either:
   Use a very strong pump/canister
Or
  Be prepared to have a maximum of 3bps. (I was thinking about having my co2 turn on 2 hours ahead of time to make up for the difference)

Also try an atomizer. It might actually work way better then you think. Having a long tube after the atomizer might solve any 'spriting' issues.
I am glad I figured all this out. I know I haven't been getting any community response with this post, but I felt like cataloging my process might help someone else. I found lots of other posts elsewhere with no resolve.

[HayleYoyo]

Damn thing stopped spinning again.

If anyone is reading this and having the same
Issue, buy a diffuser. I set mine up, and have no issue with tiny bubbles.

I know the reactor gives you ‘100%’ dilution. But if you constantly have to burp the damn thing to get it to work, you’re losing the co2 anyway.