# Local Source for DIY CO2 Parts



## jonathan03 (Oct 20, 2005)

I'm looking to build a CO2 reactor and I've been having trouble finding all of the parts needed. I was first looking at the Hoftiezer reactor a while ago (after a google search I didn't even see it online anymore) and it was very difficult to find all of the parts. Has anyone been able to build a reactor and buy all of the parts from the Cincinnati area? Usually I don't mind ordering online (since you don't have to pay tax) but I could see having to order from multiple places to get all of the parts which would be quite a bit in shipping. I'd like to be able to go to Home Depot or Lowes and get everything in one place if possible. 

The other problem I had was finding the diameter of the outlet pipe of a cansiter filter. Right now, I haven't picked a filter yet. I've been using Penguin power filters but they are not so good for CO2 so I was thinking of the Penguin canister filters or the XP filters. My tank is 38 gallons and I'm looking for something cost effective and low maintenance. I will be using a JBJ regulator.

My last plant tank had multiple problems which I think was from lack of CO2. It broke out with the green hair bacteria algae and blue green algae. I'm really looking to get something simple started up that doesn't take a lot of maintenance. I can adjust it later on. The first time I think I tried to use the hard to grow plants to start off with.

Thanks for any suggestions.


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## redstrat (Apr 3, 2006)

-you can definately find all the parts at lowes or HD, I did when I built mine. There is only one thing that I couldn't get anywhere like that and its but Bio Balls that go inside, I just added them onto an order I was allready placing to save on shipping, check this link for bioballs, I used almost the whole 1 gallon box. I basically modified the design featured on the sticky in the DIY forum so that all the parts were easy to find. I also changed the pipe size and length to 3"diam and longer so the overall height of the device to 27". I wanted it to be big enough to dissolve anything I threw at it using the space I had available. Anyway take a look at that link and post any questions you have. I should be able to post a couple pics of my reactor when I get the chance to snap some pics.

-filter outlet pipe size, the Filstar series uses 5/8" ID tubing, I'm not sure about the others but you could probably look it up, ask the Manufacturer, or post the specific question on the forum. whatever you do just remember the reactor goes on the outlet side of the filter not attached to the inlet.

-sounds like your regulator should work fine if your using a pressurized system. The title of your thread made me think you were talking about DIY CO2 not a DIY reactor on a pressurzied CO2 system.

good luck


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## mahamotorworks (Nov 7, 2006)

Get a list of what you need. then go to ACE Hardware for whate evre reason they seam to have all the hard to find fittings. Home deopt will have the common pipe and fittings. Check out Rrxx's Design.

MAHA


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## vic46 (Oct 20, 2006)

jonathan03 said:


> I'm looking to build a CO2 reactor and I've been having trouble finding all of the parts needed. I was first looking at the Hoftiezer reactor a while ago (after a google search I didn't even see it online anymore) and it was very difficult to find all of the parts. Has anyone been able to build a reactor and buy all of the parts from the Cincinnati area? Usually I don't mind ordering online (since you don't have to pay tax) but I could see having to order from multiple places to get all of the parts which would be quite a bit in shipping. I'd like to be able to go to Home Depot or Lowes and get everything in one place if possible.
> 
> The other problem I had was finding the diameter of the outlet pipe of a cansiter filter. Right now, I haven't picked a filter yet. I've been using Penguin power filters but they are not so good for CO2 so I was thinking of the Penguin canister filters or the XP filters. My tank is 38 gallons and I'm looking for something cost effective and low maintenance. I will be using a JBJ regulator.
> 
> ...


This site is an in line diffuser designed by "Gomer" from this board. I got all of the parts except the bio balls at home depot. The bio stuff at a LFS. Easy to build and wort ks very well.
Vic.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...y-inline-reactor-plans.html?highlight=Reactor


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

If you want an easy to build reactor without having to look everywhere for parts try Ghazanfar Ghori's Reactor. I used this on my tanks for quite a while and was quite pleased with it.


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## jonathan03 (Oct 20, 2005)

Thanks for the replies. How hard is it to find the fitting for the CO2 tubing input line? I would think that this would just be at the LFS. Did any of you find it at Home Depot? Did you have any leaks since you have to drill through the PVC to insert this piece? It seems like this point would be the most probable for leaks. I would assume that a straight connect fitting is all you need for this? Like this:

Tom Airline Straight Connect (4Pk.) at Big Al's Online

I think I'm going to try the Rena XP1 since my tank is 38 gallons. Is the tubing from the filter flexible? If not, it will be difficult to connect the reactor to the filter.

Last, do you recommend a way to take the reactor apart for cleaning? How dirty does the inside get? Is it even worth cleaning? I was thinking of using a clear PVC pipe in place of the whtie pipe in the link posted by Matpat. Is this a bad idea? The only bad thing a clear pipe could do is allow algae to grow in the reactor worst case...

If I really needed to clean it, would taking the reactor off the filter tubing and running water through it fast do the trick? Is there any reason to replace the bio-balls at any time?

Thanks for the help.


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## redstrat (Apr 3, 2006)

I had similar concerns about the airline fitting and leaks so I came up with an alternative.










I found this grey fitting at my LFS but I found out later that they sell them at lowes too but not in the normal plumbing section, they had a whole other section several aisles over that had a ton of these grey fittings. well worth it if you ask me. I just used the right size for my tubing from my filter then added an adaptor and a compression fitting for the CO2 tubing. Keep in mind there will be a ton of pressure inside the reactor, the pressure from the pump plus the weight of the water if the thing is below the waterline in your aquarium which I'd assume it would be. This pressure is more than I ever figured it woudl be, I hooked up my reactor to my pump shortly after building it and the pressure made it explode at the PVC cement seams, I couldn't pull the thing apart for the life of me but I watched it explode under my fishtank and cause a huge mess... anyway the moral of the story is avoid any weak connections because there will be a lot of pressure involved here, but its a good thing, it helps dissolve the CO2 which is the point of it isn't it. 

as far as the Clear pvc goes, its nice because you can see in but its pretty expensive so I opted to avoid it. I realized that if I were to build a reactor of this size using it even if all the fittings are white then it would cost more than just buying one so whats the point of DIYing it.


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## jonathan03 (Oct 20, 2005)

What did you do differently on the second try for your reactor that made it work? Did you ever figure out why it exploded? And did it explode right away? I would much rather it explode right away when I'm home if it does at all. 

In your case since the reactor is wider I could see more pressure being put on the reducing PVC coupler. I only have a Rena XP1 so I'm hoping it doesn't explode. Did you have a large filter connected to the reactor? 

I just build a simple reactor and I'm waiting until tomorrow for it to cure. I also need to take back the barb for the CO2 input since I changed the plans at the store to work with what they had and forgot about it  I hope it will work.


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## SpaceBug (Jan 10, 2007)

Just picked up all the parts but one from my local home depot for under $12 with tax. This is for the reactor described in the sticky in the DIY forum. The one part I didn't pick up was the connector for the CO2 input tubing. I'm still a little undecided, but I'm thinking of something along the line of what davis.1841 did. But instead of putting the tee inline with the tubing, I think I may get another PVC tee fitting to attach to the top of the reactor body.


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## redstrat (Apr 3, 2006)

oh no... over night curing would be great, the whole reason mine exploded was because I only let the joints cure for 5 minutes or so before using it, I just figured that the joint was strong enough because I couldn't pull it apart anymore. It was conneceted to a 300pgh powerhead, I just recently switched it over to running inline with my XP2. I haven't had any problems like that with it since I gave it a good enough chance to cure, not even a leak. when it happened it was an immediate thing too, I turned it on and watched it happen right before my eyes. 

soo if you let the pvc cement cure it will work wonders for you because of the added pressure.


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## jonathan03 (Oct 20, 2005)

Everything is together and I have two questions.

1) Should there be water in the bubble counter? I have a JBJ bubble counter and its still filled with air. Not sure how I can count the bubbles without seeing them! Is this workinmg correctly? I adjusted the valve on the CO2 regulator and it went from nothing coming out of the filter output pipe to a huge burst of bubbles. 

2) I used the same fitting you did to attach the CO2 airline. However, it has a very slow leak. I'd say about one drop a minute. I used the same grey plastic T peice, but I had to buy a bushing and a barb because the bard had 1/4" threads and the T had a 1/2" threading. Any ideas on how to fix this leak here? I was thinking PVC cement at first, but it probably wouldn't bond to brass. I already used teflon tape but it still leaks. 

Thanks for the help.


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## redstrat (Apr 3, 2006)

did you really tighten it with a wrench? Mine never leaked but I got it as tight as I possibly could with a wrench and I too used teflon tape.


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