How's this for a reactor?

[leng]

So because haven't purchased a reactor or diffuser yet, I decided to drill a bigger hole in the spraybar and inserted the CO2 tubing into the spraybar.  Not sure how well this will work but it looks to me it is acting like a reactor and a bell type diffuser all  at once.  I see lots of big bubbles rising to the top but I also see tiny bubbles floating across the tank and then back again before rising up to the surface.  Have a look at the pics.

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[dan2x38]

again no professional but what I've read and learned from mine is you need to dissolve the CO2 into the water... the CO2 needs a lot of contact time with the water... create a lot waste when it just surfaces... with very little benefit...

I use this method in one tank and I don't even see the tiny bubbles it is all obsorbed... I enter the CO2 into the reactor with a glass diffuser selconed into the side so they raise to the top of the chamber then get churned around...

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/diy_reactor.htm

In the other tank I use a glass diffuser under a PH to suck the bubbles in then use the ventri to direct into the tank... the bubbles out of it are minute... hope some of this helps... be cool to see your set-up... :-)

here is excellent article I used for my system... it explains dissolving CO2 and shows a good DIY one:

http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html

[PaleoFishGirl]

Not a bad idea for a cheap & easy reactor, leng!  That way you don't have CO2 going in to your filter (I used to hook mine up to my filter intake to let the impeller chew up the bubbles).

As dan2x38 says, you're probably wasting a fair bit of CO2, but there is still bound to be quite a bit of dissolution.  The water movement from the spraybar should keep a lot of the bubbles circulating until the CO2 is dissolved!

[charlie]

Leng , i`ve read where some people have used this method with success, but they use a small fine mist air stone  in the spray bar to create micro bubbles which gives the gas a better chance to dissolve, this is more along the idea of misting the co2 instead of dissolving it( some argue misting is better) the only way to know is to try it for a bit.
Regards

[kennyman]

It does look like the co2 is hanging out in the bar and not just blowing out the holes. I think it is pretty clever 

[dan2x38]

No matter how you decide it is fun figuring it out... I enjoyed tweaking mine... idol hands are the devils worship...  got way to much time on my hands so reading, learning, experimenting keeps me out of some trouble... I keep notes so I can always go backwards to repeat success and avoid a previous failure... my changes are always small because after all it is my beloved fish's lifes... 

[Glouglou]

I think that any design will be good until the C02 is reduced to fine bubble at the start (limewood aerator) and travel the longer its possible to be release with enough current to spread around in your tank.

My C02 is in a small lime wood home made aerator and place in the intake of a maxijet power head with coarse filtering sponge. The output is an old undergravel tube were the CO2 travel trough many detour to finally escape almost completely dissolve in the tank and because I'm a bad boy, The exit go in the direction of my eheim filter to capture any micro bubble not dissolve.

[dan2x38]

that is one reason I like aquaria so much... there are so many ways to things... if you follow the rules, use common sense, it will usually turn out well... it took me awhile to get my system tweaked to take advantage of all my CO2... since it is DIY...

[leng]

OK, so I gave this a try and it is not working.  The green algae on the rocks and aquarium glass seem to grow even faster, haha!  Time to buy a reactor or diffuser.