# Eheim CO2 diffuser



## TeeItUp (Mar 18, 2004)

Is anyone still using an Eheim CO2 diffuser instead of a reactor? 
How long have you been running it? I am very happy with my external DIY reactor that is powered by my 2215 filter but for some reason I am drawn to the simplicity of the Eheim diffuser and I am thinking of giving it a go. Any comments good or bad?


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## TeeItUp (Mar 18, 2004)

Should I take that as a no then?


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## Raul-7 (Oct 17, 2003)

Someone told me it is good for tanks up to 75g and that it is very effecient. He even made a bet that he would buy anyone's reactor if it were more effecient than the diffuser!


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## TeeItUp (Mar 18, 2004)

Raul-7 said:


> Someone told me it is good for tanks up to 75g and that it is very effecient. He even made a bet that he would buy anyone's reactor if it were more effecient than the diffuser!


Funny thing Raul I couldn’t sleep last night and was doing some searching on this and I saw that very post. He is a moderator of a Planted Tank forum but I am at work right now and don’t remember which one. I do plan on picking one up tonight as it is filter cleaning time this weekend. I will give it a try. I am only on a 55.


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## Rolo (Dec 10, 2003)

Right here, go to Steve's post.

Recently I got interested in CO2 diffusers again. I had a Boyu glass one, but those were in the days of DIY CO2 and I stopped using it b/c of enormous pressure build up. Now I have pressurized...but I lost it! They do infact work, and I really want to get rid of my inline reactor to keep filter flow up.

Now, where did you find the Eheim diffuser?


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## Pearljam11 (Sep 23, 2004)

www.petwarehouse.com has them rolo

do these have to be hooked up to a canister , or do they work alone?

I was considering this instead of the hagen ladder


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## Rolo (Dec 10, 2003)

Pearljam11 said:


> do these have to be hooked up to a canister , or do they work alone?
> 
> I was considering this instead of the hagen ladder





Steve Pituch said:


> when I was trying to feed a smaller reactor with the fine eheim bubbles in order to increase the efficiency of the reactor. The bottom bubble chamber is blocked by the black suction cup. *As it turns out the eheim worked better just by itself.*


It doesn't need a canister filter. Alot less bulkier then a ladder too. But, usually ladder users are on the DIY CO2 plan in which these diffusers won't work.


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## Rolo (Dec 10, 2003)

Thanks for that link. Hm, didn't know Petwarehouse was DrsFosterSmith.


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## TeeItUp (Mar 18, 2004)

Rolo said:


> Right here, go to Steve's post.
> 
> Recently I got interested in CO2 diffusers again. I had a Boyu glass one, but those were in the days of DIY CO2 and I stopped using it b/c of enormous pressure build up. Now I have pressurized...but I lost it! They do infact work, and I really want to get rid of my inline reactor to keep filter flow up.
> 
> Now, where did you find the Eheim diffuser?


Thanks Rolo that is the thread I was looking at last night. I just purchased the Eheim from a local higher quality LFS for $20. I figured it was cheaper than adding the shipping and I wanted to get it running this weekend.

I too like the idea of getting filter flow up too.


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## Rolo (Dec 10, 2003)

FYI, you may need to make modifications - 
In Steve's post, he mentions removing the built in check valve. Same observation made here (half way down, Eheim diffusers
by Dave Gomberg) Apparently these need 15 psi of pressure with the check valve still on, which a needle valve isn't supposed to do; removing it must make it work if you have a needle valve.

One reason I still didn't want to go back to diffusers - algae clogs them. :icon_idea Then a genius mentioned shielding them from the light solves that problem. Stupid me.

Let us know how it turns out.


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## TeeItUp (Mar 18, 2004)

Rolo said:


> One reason I still didn't want to go back to diffusers - algae clogs them. :icon_idea Then a genius mentioned shielding them from the light solves that problem. Stupid me.
> 
> Let us know how it turns out.


Thanks again. Shielding certainly will work; another thought I had after looking at mine is to put a piece of something over the disk when you install it like a piece of fabric and simply dispose of that after any algae forms.


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## Rolo (Dec 10, 2003)

How well does it work?


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## TeeItUp (Mar 18, 2004)

Rolo said:


> How well does it work?


It has only been a couple of days for me but so far I am extremely pleased. I needed 2 bubbles/sec to maintain close to 30 ppm with my external reactor. The Eheim is running 65 b/min (just over 1 per second maintaining the same CO2 levels. I place mine under a driftwood ledge so the light does not hit it to minimize cleaning. Cleaning seems extremely simple.


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## Rolo (Dec 10, 2003)

TeeItUp said:


> I needed 2 bubbles/min to maintain close to 30 ppm with my external reactor. The Eheim is running 65 b/min (just over 1 per second maintaining the same CO2 levels.


You actually meant 2 bubbles/*second*, right? Otherwise that would be a huge step down in efficiency. :icon_conf


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## TeeItUp (Mar 18, 2004)

Rolo said:


> You actually meant 2 bubbles/*second*, right? Otherwise that would be a huge step down in efficiency. :icon_conf


Yes, thank you for catching that. I corrected it. 

As it has been running now for a week the only negative I see is that the water level in the reservoir bowl is being pushed out by the CO2 gas. I have not heard of this from anyone before.


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## Marc (Oct 13, 2004)

TeeItUp said:


> Yes, thank you for catching that. I corrected it.
> 
> As it has been running now for a week the only negative I see is that the water level in the reservoir bowl is being pushed out by the CO2 gas. I have not heard of this from anyone before.


 Mine does the same thing! I just leave it alone now. Its a great little unit.


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## TeeItUp (Mar 18, 2004)

Marc said:


> Mine does the same thing! I just leave it alone now. Its a great little unit.


Been running it now since initially posting this and this is one efficient simple unit and it is working fantastic now. I could not be happier with it. I say efficient because I am getting the same readings with less b/min then before.


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