# What type of Reactor/Diffuser do you use?



## Mr. Fish (Oct 24, 2007)

Would like to get a thread going to see what everyone's using to inject their Co2 these days. With all the cheap diffusers going around and in line reactors that slow water flow I wanted to get something going for _WHAT WORKS!_

*1) What have you tried that you can honestly vouch and say is junk?

2) Diffuser or Reactor?

3) Which product do you think works best in your Opinion?*


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

I have a needle wheel impeller in a Danner mag drive pump. It's on it's own line. It is a CO2 misting. It's extremely affective but it put little bubbles in the tank all the time and so obscures the view. All the plants thrive.


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## pjb9166 (Apr 2, 2012)

Mr. Fish said:


> Would like to get a thread going to see what everyone's using to inject their Co2 these days. With all the cheap diffusers going around and in line reactors that slow water flow I wanted to get something going for _WHAT WORKS!_
> 
> *1) What have you tried that you can honestly vouch and say is junk?
> 
> ...


I have a diy in line reactor. I had to learn that the playing with the size of the inside diameter of the hose helped my problem with the water flow. I did a thread .

Paul B.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2


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## The Trigger (Apr 23, 2012)

I use one of those atomic diffusers from GLA. I placed it under my spraybar and aimed it slightly downward so it mists all the plants. They begin pearling 3 hours after the lights come on  I also have the co2 come on an hour before the lights do. I think it works great


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## Big_Fish (Mar 10, 2010)

I use a mini submersible filter in tank... it does work VERY well, and has the same issue Tex Gal reports.. seltzer water effect.  tiny bubbles.
the plants LOVE it, the fish aren't affected at all (at ~ 3BPS/29 Gal tank)


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi All,

I purchased the Boyu CD-01 Diffuser on January 11th, 2010 and they arrived from Hong Kong on 01/23/10. The packaging was adequate; basically a standard padded mailing envelope that contained the two boxed diffusers.










It is a diffuser and can it can be attached externally either to the input or output tubing of a canister filter. The unit can also be used internally in the aquarium as well. There is a picture on the box showing the unit replacing the strainer on the input tube of a canister filter. It may be able to replace the strainer of an HOB filter, I have not tried that configuration yet but the end does fit into the strainer tube of an Aquaclear 50 HOB filter, so it would probably work.

Each diffuser measured about 5 ½ inches long by 1 ½ in diameter. The pictures below show the diffuser with the strainer basket in place for use internally in the aquarium attached to the input of a canister or HOB (hang on back) filter.

Here is a picture of the unit with the stainer basket removed for use on the input or output of a canister filter showing the overall unit length to be about 5 inches.










This unit is a diffuser and as such generates fine bubbles of CO2. It is not a reactor, which typically dissolves most of the CO2 generated, releasing few bubbles into the aquarium. In the picture below you can see how I attached my CO2 line with a check valve and where I cut the output line of my canister filter and installed the Boyu diffuser with wire ties. The CO2 enters the unit on the outside of the ceramic cylinder (the side you can see) and diffuses through the cylinder into the water that passes through the center. The are no obstructions so the flow of my filter is not drastically effected.









Update 02/2012
After two years of trouble free operation I can tell you that I really like
the Boyu CD-01 External CO2 Diffuser that I have been using. In fact I
installed another one on my second tank today. I have found the diffuser to
be trouble-free and easy to clean (I just run my 5' bristle brush through
the diffuser when I clean the canister filter tubing. In fact, I have only
had to clean my diffuser twice in two years!

Keep in mind that this is a diffuser and not a reactor, so I do get some
small CO2 bubbles expelled from the output of my filter into the aquarium,
but the amount is very minimal and they dissipate almost immediately.

I have not been able to find them online recently, they are manufactured in
China. I have included a link to video I did of the diffuser in operation, sorry one of my first attempts.

5' Tube Cleaning Brush


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## Tot3nkampf (May 10, 2012)

i use an aquamedic 1000 reactor which is in principal the same as a rex reactor. i bought mine for what materials would have cost me so i went with it over DIY. it does a pretty good job but i am one that doesnt want to see ANY bubbles in my tank (it occasionally burps). i am playing around with a design that will use a needle wheel impellor pump upstream of the reactor and with the venturi hooked up to the bleed valve on the reactor so that it siphons bubbles off of the headspace in the reactor. the co2 will also enter the venturi so that its chopped prior to entering the torturous path of the reactor. to avoid the flow reduction issue, i have my reactor on a bypass manifold with its own flow control valve so that overall flow is unchanged. i have another leg that i will use for a purigen reactor unless i figure out how to combine the two.


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## m00se (Jan 18, 2011)

Mag 5 into a 20" whole house filter. Spray bar on the right is output.


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## jsadlersos (Apr 24, 2012)

I use a cotton ball shoved into a piece of airline tubing...... Ha!! I'm so cheap!


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