# Glass diffuser problems



## Emily6 (Feb 14, 2006)

Hey folks- so my coiled glass diffuser finally came but I don't feel like it's working right. It's slowly filling with water and it seems the CO2 can't overcome the small amounts of water in the coil. Honestly, I'm not really understanding where the water is coming from (I guess slowly seeping in from the ceramic disk) but when I crank the CO2 up, it works great! So I don't think I have a leak somewhere. Anything around 1 bubble/second or less seems to never escape the diffuser. It seems I need to put a lot more through the line than anyone's tank would ever need in order to see tiny bubbles.

Should there be water in the diffuser? Before I put the diffuser on, it seemed the CO2 couldn't overcome the slight back-fill of water in the tubing. Maybe there's something wrong with my set-up? I tried very hard to keep everything dry before connecting the tubing to the diffuser. I wish these things came with instructions....


----------



## Daniil (Oct 30, 2009)

I had coiled glass diffuser and it was filed with water all the time, I had same thoughts as you, but if Google it for images you will see that all diffusers have some water inside. Increase pressure, my pressure reads about 9psi, 2bps


----------



## Emily6 (Feb 14, 2006)

Thanks- I filled it with water and I think you're right about the pressure- it seems now there's a slow trickle of bubbles in a single stream but increasing the flow dramatically makes it fizz like crazy. I'll have to play with it some more... I think I'm on the right track, though. 

As an aside, why aren't there any instructions online? There's no way I would have just figured it needed to be filled with water or known how if I hadn't googled like crazy. I'm still not sure how much water it should have. Luckily, I have a dental syringe so I can fill it to a point.


----------



## Emily6 (Feb 14, 2006)

Ok, I played with the needle valve and that was the problem- not enough pressure. Thanks!


----------



## Franzi (Dec 7, 2009)

I had the same with my glass diffuser. The only problem was that when the CO2 turned back on (solenoid) in the morning, the pressure was too much and the tubing popped off the diffuser, floated to the top, and I had pretty much no CO2 in the tank, but came home to plenty of algae...the stuff grows incredibly fast. After the second or third time that happened, I went with a regular ol' oxygen stone or whatever their called. Keeps my CO2 levels constant and never pops off.


----------



## lanceduffy (Jul 15, 2010)

When I first rigged up my system I had this problem too. Use co2 proof tubing and place your check valve as close as possible to the diffuser but still outside of the tank. 
Hope this helps.


----------



## ray-the-pilot (May 14, 2008)

I have two glass diffusers someplace. I had the same problem with balancing the pressure. I finally went to a CO2 reator. I've had one for almost two years and never a problem.


----------



## theaquarian (Jul 22, 2010)

It's normal for them to fill with water. Watch out for the algae growth and calcium build up on them. When this happens the bubble increase in size. Just remove the difuser and place in a container of water with some bleach for 30 minutes. They'll work like new again. Remember to soak them in dechlorinator before placing back in the aquarium.

I'm now using a CO2 reactor. Better diffuser zero maintainence.


----------



## lanceduffy (Jul 15, 2010)

Nah, its not really normal for them to fill with water. Mine doesn't. I think that a lot of people that have been injecting CO2 through a reactor place their check valve close to their CO2 tank or reactor with no problem. With a glass diffuser, place the check valve as close to your diffuser, and outside of your tank, and your will get very little water sucking back into your diffuser.
Cleaning: I learned this from someone else, while doing water changes, pull it out and place it into a 20:1 water to bleach solution with the CO2 still running. About 30 minutes. Rinse it before putting it back inside the tank. 
I really like the glass diffuser, when I stand back I can't see the bubbles. However, when I get close it allows me to see the flow in my tank. 
In a planted tank, flow is important in my observations.


----------

