15
Fig. 4: reactor Fig. 5: reactor mounting
12. Connection hose 13. Minimum water level
9. Adjustion
Before using the
reactor
, the rest of the CO
2
system has to be assembled: The pressure regulator
regular
has to be mounted on the pressure bottle
station
. As soon as the regulator and the
reactor
have been mounted, the
reactor
can be adjusted.
1.
Turn the circulation pump on to start the water flow.
2.
Open the valve of the CO
2
pressure bottle.
3.
The working pressure gauge of the
regular
is set to 1.5 bar (+/- 5 bar).
4.
Open the needle valve of the
regular
slowly.
5.
Check the flow of the CO
2
bubbles on the bubble counter. The initial flow should be approx. 15
bubbles/minute.
6.
The CO
2
will flow into the
reactor
and dissolve in the water flow.
7.
Determine the CO
2
content in the water using a pH controller or a pH test. Take an initial pH
reading before starting the
reactor.
Raise the bubble count per minute daily until a reading of
7.0 – 7.4 (for fresh water aquaria) is reached. It may take some days until the proper CO
2
level
is reached and maintained.
Check the pH value regularly and adjust the amount of CO
2
bubbles as required.
The CO
2
gas in the pressure bottle is 99.8% pure carbon dioxide. The remaining 0.2% are
nitrogen, oxygen and other insoluble gases. These impurities are collected in the CO
2
reactor
and
can decrease its efficiency. An air hole allows these gases to escape automatically when they reach
a preset concentration. Because of this safety exhaust, the reactor will work continuously without
interruption.
Raising the carbonate hardness (alcalinity)
Aquarium water, fresh or salt water should have a minimum
carbonate hardness of 4 – 6 °KH (1.5
– 2 mmol/l). Below this limit, the pH of the water cannot be stabilized. Biological processes
produce permanently organic acids that reduce the carbonate hardness. Filtration with peat or
using other acids (phosphoric acid or hydrochloric acid). If peat products are used for filtration, the
carbonate hardness of the water should be checked weekly. If the KH drops below 4° in fresh water
or 6° in salt water, it should be raised. We recommend the buffer tablets Aqua Medic
aqua+KH.
Maintenance and Care
Always keep the CO
2
reactor
always clean. For cleaning, it can be completely
disassembled.
