CO2 Question for you plant pros

[Fatts]

I am running a AM 1000 reactor on the input side of my Magnum 350. Everyday about 1500-1600 the reactor get to the point that it is full of air and needs to be burped. This also corresponds with the time that the plants are pearling the heaviest. But at this point the CO2 is not desolving into the water and the PH starts to rise in the tank. It only makes it up about .3 before I get home and burp the reactor and then the PH falls again.
Any ideas how I can fix this? I have no leaks that I can find. And the reactor was running fine when I had it hooked up to a Rio pump (about 300 gph) that was not as fast flowing as the canister is.

 

[kingborris]

hi fatts

I run an AM 1000 (i assume you mean aquamedic?) on my discus tank. has to be said, i havent ever experienced the problem you describe. in about 9 months of use, the chamber has never had more than a very small amount of air, nowhere near getting airlocked or similar

what are you using as your source of CO2? if its a pressurised system, then the air is most likely being drawn in at somepoint from the intake (there wont be that much air in the gas itself.... its a very low percentage). if its from a DIY yeasty setup, its possible that the venturi effect from the reactor is causing air to be drawn it from the CO2 brewer?

it may be worth shifting the 1000 to the outlet of the filter (mine sits on the outlet from an eheim 2026)...see if that fixes your problem

 

[Fatts]

KB,
Yeah sorry, it is a presurized system, and I am refering to a aquamedic. I watch the bubbles enter the chamber and it looks like it happens as the same rate that the bubble counter shows. I guess I should not say 'air' and I should say 'gas', as I am not sure what exactly is in there. I was thinking that maybe the O2 was escaping the water inside the chamber, but that doesn't make since. What do you mean by there is not much air in the gas itself?

Thanks

 

[farm41]

the plants pearling means the water is saturated with oxygen, and that saturated water is also drawn into the intake of the cannister filter, and the o2 can build up in the reactor along with the co2.

You know you have it working well when that happens, two things you can do, turn down the co2, or ignore it. If the fish begin showing signs of stress, definately turn the co2 down.

 

[kingborris]

CO2 from pressurised systems isnt 100% pure....it contains a little bit of this, and a little of that. the little valve on the AM1000 is to release any inpurities which wont dissolve in the water. Hence the 'isnt much air in the gas' comment, as its about 98-99% pure. only after a long periosd of time should you get enough of these gasses building up to become visible

You shouldnt have much, if any, O2 coming out of solution in the reactor, as the whole unit is pressurised below the water level. infact, if anything, more O2 should dissolve at these greater pressures than in the water when its in the tank (more gas will dissolve under pressure... watch what happens when opening a coke bottle! the pressure drops and gas is released) Otherwise, you would have the same thing happening in any external filter, which would just airlock very quickly. this just doesnt happen.

I get plenty of pearling in my tank, and never have this problem... so i really dont think its that.

As said, i'd stick it on the output of the filter. you have the unit mounted vertically i assume, with the input flow running down?

 

[Fatts]

KB,
That was my reasoning for why there should not be gas in the reactor as well, but it is there somehow, and it is driving me nuts. Is there a chance that I have a CO2 bottle that is contaminated? Maybe the CO2 is not as pure as it should be. I got it from a welding supplier so I would think it was pretty good.
This weekend I plan to shut off the CO2 and run the reactor on the canister to see if anything builds up in there. That should tell me if there is a leak somewhere and I am getting air drawn in as you suggested. But like I said earlier, I have not found any water leaks anywhere and I would assume that to be more telling.
If all else fails I will move it to the output side, but won't that slow the flow rate down some?

Thanks

 

[farm41]

You shouldnt have much, if any, O2 coming out of solution in the reactor, as the whole unit is pressurised below the water level. infact, if anything, more O2 should dissolve at these greater pressures than in the water when its in the tank

there won't be any pressure on the suction side with the filter running. maybe 1 psi with the filter turned off. But then it is not being turned off.

2.31 feet of head equals 1 psi.

 

[kingborris]

there won't be any pressure on the suction side with the filter running. maybe 1 psi with the filter turned off. But then it is not being turned off.

2.31 feet of head equals 1 psi.

ok fair point... but i still would be very suprised if there were sufficient O2 coming out of solution to fill the reactor.... external filters would airlock if this was the case?

Fatts:

that would be a good test. turn the CO2 off and see what happens. Also, there should be no less flow on output as on input, as all the water that enters the external must get pumped back into the tank.

 

[Fatts]

I will give it a try on Sat. Thanks for the help guys. I will let you know what I learn from that.

Scott