# CO2 Reactor Vs Glass Diffuser



## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

I've been reading up on reactors and inline options. Are there any real benefits from using one instead of a glass diffuser?


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

for the most part, glass diffusers break up the Co2 into smaller bubbles, but those bubles inevitably find their way to the surface to be lost into the air. Reactors are designed to keep the Co2 in contact with flowing water for a longer amount of time so that the gas can be fully dissolved into your tank water, giving more of it to the plants, and less to the living room.


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## Natty (Apr 2, 2008)

Down_Shift said:


> I've been reading up on reactors and inline options. Are there any real benefits from using one instead of a glass diffuser?


From my experience with both, I think I like the diffuser more. If you use it well, it'll work nicely.

From my findings on a few forums and most from personal experience:
1. mazzei (misting)
2. needle wheel (misting)
3. glass diffuser/limewood air diffuser
4. reactor

Plants seem to benefit more from CO2 misting than CO2 enriched water as from a reactor. 

Reactor is much bulkier out of tank and lowers your GPH significantly. It does, however, work decently and keeps your tank clear of bubbles as much as possible. Glass diffuser, some people are annoyed at the bubbles flying around and the continuous weekly or two efficiency maintenance due to algae build up.

Reactor:
-Much more bulky
-Diffuses CO2 better but plants seem to react more to being directly sprayed with CO2 than CO2 enriched water
-Much much less maintenance
-Least amount of bubbles in your tank unless your GPH is too high or reactor is too short to keep bubbles in.
-Works decently enough to still be a good CO2 diffusion method.

Diffuser:
-Much less bulkier than reactor
-Plants seem to respond a bit better if used correctly.
-More maintenance, maybe once every 2 weeks or so. Efficiency level drops gradually until you have to clean it. Excel can extend the time you need to clean and a good bleach bath will work, with the addition of a water conditioner at 2-3x its strength at the end to dechlor.
-Makes your tank look like soda container if your plants start pearling too.


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## EdTheEdge (Jan 25, 2007)

you can have both!


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## imeridian (Jan 19, 2007)

Speaking of both, I've been giving new thought to the old school ideas of air stones inside of reactors. It'd be easy enough to have a silica airstone connected through a threaded plug for periodic swapping. The reactor would basically just be an inline manifold of sorts, no need for the upside down flow, etc. It should be functionally equivalent to the Cal Aqua inline diffuser, but without the high cost and fragility of glass. In fact, I think I may go to lowes today and buy some PVC to give that a try.


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## rhodesengr (Nov 23, 2008)

I have two tanks with CO2. In one I have a glass diffuser. In the second, I am using a chopstick with a power head. I have about two inches of chopstick terminating the CO2 line. I have the end of the stick stuck into the powerhead inlet. The resulting bubbles are very fine; finer than the glass diffuser. The bubbles from the chopstick (by itself) are about as fine as the glass diffuser but the small size of the stick fits easily into powerhead or filter inlets. I don't know if the impeller is a needle wheel or not; probably not. Both methods are getting CO2 into the water with similar flow rates (bubble count) although the diffuser looks like it loses more to the surface. I could see where you might want an inline reactor for large tanks because multiple diffusers don't share well on the downstream side of the needle valve. You would need a needle valve per diffuser.


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