Anyone have an AB or DIY Phyto Reactor?

[plaz]

Tried the equipment forum - thought maybe this question would get a better response here.

How do you setup a slow Co2 feed to an AB Phyto Reactor (or a DIY reactor)?

Can the Co2 from a calcium reactor setup be split to feed a Phyto Reactor???
If so:
- How much Co2 would you feed the reactor (and how would you be sure how much is going in)?
- Since the best way to feed plankton is straight to the tank, would Co2 then be going into the tank or would the Phyto absorb it all?

Thanks in advance!

[chtan]

The AB Phyto reactor runs separately from the main tank and only after feeding the rotifier, do you have to top up the salt water.

If you were running a DIY, it would be the same ... why? because you to have a separate water source to feed the green water so that no rotifier will get into the green water container and contaminate the green water.

If you are thinking of feeding CO2 to improve the green water culture ... look at using a ceramic diffuser ... you will also need a bubble counter to know the among of CO2 you are dosing .... its what plant tank hobbyist use to diffuse CO2 into the tank (well one of the types of diffuser).

[plaz]

I read somewhere that you can feed the phyto from the tank if you send the feed water through a strong UV. Would that work?

Either way, if you get the Co2 adjusted is there enough in the green water to hurt a reef tank when you feed it the Phyto or does the phyto absorb it all?

Thanks!

[chtan]

I m not too sure about that ... but I once ran the phyto /rotifer thing as a separate unit ... IMO, if you are using tank water where you fed the live rotifer there is always the risk of contamination.

And it would also mean an additional pc of equipment.

Actually, you would be feeding phyto (the green water) and the rotifer ... though most of the green water would be consume by the rotifer so as long as you feed carefully, I don't think you would pollute the tank ...

Though you shd be careful about not using commercial fertilizers that may contain phosphates and nitrates (use to feeed the phyto) then you will have some serious problem.

[Dwayne]

Here is another thread that may be of interest.

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...ighlight=phyto

[chtan]

Oh so all plaz wanted was a phyto reactor and not a phyto /rotifer set-up ... that is fairly easy and I think there wld be no issues with rotifer contaminating the green water.

[Dwayne]

Rotifer may not be such an issue, but something else from the tank could very easily be a contaminant. I think the same precautions need to be taken in both endeavors. JMO.

[Dwayne]

plaz - we have answered lots of questions, but no response to your question about CO2. I don't have any experience using CO2 for phyto growth. I never found the time or equipment (too lazy and too cheap) to try using CO2. Hopefully someone will chime with some CO2 experience.

[chtan]

I have experience with plant aquariums ... IMO if you are going to hook up the reactor to the main tank, then you would need a PH controller to check that you do not depress the PH too much because of the CO2 dosage ... you will have to hook up the controller to a soleniod and as a rough guide check that the bubble counter drips about 1 drop in 2 seconds or so ... in really depends ...

for roughly 90 gallons of water with a fully planted tank to achieve oxygen saturation (where you can see that oxygen bubbles start floating to the surface, we roughly drip at 1 second 1 bubble in a freshwater plant aquarium). Just like plants, algae also photosynthesize.

So I think a PH controller /solenoid would be needed to keep the CO2 levels in check.

.... I m not using a phyto reactor .... but I hope you find the info useful.

[plaz]

Chtan, that does help. I have a calcium reactor and PH controller... am hoping to split off from that co2 (don't know if it will work or not).

Great link Dwayne!!!

Thanks everyone!

[chtan]

I do not know if you could get a multi outlet valve in the States ... but we have it here .... it is possible to share the CO2 for the same cylinder though it is much better to have separate units.

[plaz]

Thanks! Is it better to have separate units so that you can easily control the amount of Co2 to each, or is there another reason?

[chtan]

it is better because it is easier to regulate the amount of CO2 flowing in ... this is from my own experience using a 4 valve unit on my plant aquariums; there may also be a bit of a loss of co2.

Actually, I was thinking when you return your calcium water filled with CO2 why don't you return it to the green water and then the green water gets direct contact with the co2 at the same time you will not lose calcium ... the downside is the concentrated calcium water may inhibit the algae count .... just thinking ...

[plaz]

That sounds like it is definately worth a try!
Thanks!
It will be a while before I set it up, but I will let you know if it works out!

[chtan]

Ok ... do let me know how it turns out

[reefnewbie54321]

I wouldnt think feeding pytho from the tank is a good idea.

1. Your parameters would have to be horrable to be able to quilify as pytho ferilizer. If you are thinking about going through the trouble of running co2 in your reactor you should try to be as efficient as possible. Running tank water into the reactor would cripple your pytho production a fertilizer would work much better.

2. I think it will ben inevatable that you would contaminate your culture. After reading the Plankton Culture Manual I realized how important sterilization and contanimation risks are. In the book they suggest that the continuos bottle method is to risky and that ou should do one culture at a time and steriize all bottles air tubing and the gang valve and dispose of the airstone. They also said you should run the culture water through a UV (and thats not tank water I'm talking about super clean RO/DI water). Contamination is a major risk for pytho cultures.

As for CO2 ... I would be interested in to how much this would improve a culture. I know that CO2 is not used in any commercial cultures but that might be becuase they are large scale operations and its not cost efficient. On a small scale culture I wonder if you could use homemade CO2 via yeast and see any effects.

[chtan]

Quote - As for CO2 ... I would be interested in to how much this would improve a culture. I know that CO2 is not used in any commercial cultures but that might be becuase they are large scale operations and its not cost efficient. On a small scale culture I wonder if you could use homemade CO2 via yeast and see any effects.

reefnewbie54321 - you will definitely have better results with the CO2 and since you were running a closed system (independent from the main tank), you can be quite liberal with the CO2 ... but there is no need to waste the CO2 ... you will know how much to dose once you see oxygen bubbles forming in big qualities ...

That is what happens with moss and plants in a freshwater plant tank when the water is saturated with oxygen after photosynthesis.

And if you were not using a pressurised cylinder CO2, it is possible, but it is much more troublesome and less efficient as the pressurised CO2 is much more consistent.

[reefnewbie54321]

I'll let someone else do it before I invest into a Co2 setup ... for now I'm happy with my soda bottle culture.

[redox]

I happen to have and run a phyto culture with co2 and a controller. The purpose of the use of co2 is a fertelizer to help the phyto grow quicker .The controller maintains a ph value of7.5 in the reactor ,this ph value is thought to be optimal for the growth of the macro algae culture. It seems to work well and I have had great success with their culture as well as rotifiers. The way it works is I have the standard air pump bubbling in the culture vessel , but there is a tee in the line before it enters the vessel. two check valves,one before the vess and one after the seleniod valve. one other thing you must have a ph probe in your vessel to moniter ph values. The hole unit is cleaned with hydrogen peroxide every month to eliminate any contaminants ,cleanliness is very important.I would say yes to co2

[plaz]

Thanks Redox!
Great information! What type of vessel are you using as the reactor?

[reefnewbie54321]

redox, pictures would be greatly appreciated

[redox]

they are aquamedic plankton reactors, not diy but they could be built with some tube acrylic . There is not much to them .I will go take a pic and put it in my gallery

[GreshamH]

Originally posted by reefnewbie54321
I know that CO2 is not used in any commercial cultures but that might be becuase they are large scale operations and its not cost efficient.

Thats a pretty bold statement, you positive about that? We're one of the worlds largest producers of phytoplankton, and we use Co2 like you wouldn't belive

[redox]

I see your sight and I think I will order some goodies from you guys thanks redox

[sphelps]

You want the perfect CO2 injection for basically nothing? Think old school, you may have read before about the old yeast and sugar method for planted aquariums.

It's simple take a 2L pop bottle, drill the cap and glue and airline through it so it seals. Add 2 cups of sugar and 1/2 tsp of yeast and fill bottle with warm water.

Make a bubble counter or buy one to monitor the CO2 rate. You can't adjust the CO2 rate as it could blow the bottle, you can however use different amounts of yeast to create different reaction rates.

I find with the recipe stated above makes a steady rate of about 20 bubbles per minute, and lasts for 2-3 weeks.

I used this is my culture system................

Culture system:
• Volume = 8L
• Custom Cast Acrylic Box
• Uses Maxi-jet with modded impeller for less damage on the phyto
• CO2 and air are injected into the system with a venturi connected to the maxi-jet.
• Outside air is pulled through a DIY carbon air filter (activated carbon, polywool, inside sealed PVC pipe)
• The unit is completely sealed except for a 1/32” hole on the top, next to this small hole is a ¼” airline where air is pumped from a small air pump through the air filter and into the top of the culture unit (next to small hole). This circulates the system with fresh filtered air, air is forced in with the air pump, and air if forced out through the single small hole.
• The culture system has a float valve installed and is topped off from another container containing sterile saltwater with f/2 fertilizer levels.
• The culture system also has another small (very small) pump located inside the unit which allows the automatic addition of live phytoplankton to a rotifer culture, tank and/or storage.
• As you may have guessed the system is a continuous culture system.
• Lighting: Single 17” 32Watt 10K Power Compact with reflector
• Lights on 9 hours, off 3 hours


……………………………………....................................... and it produced excellent results. I started the culture unit off with 0.5L of live phytoplankton (Nano-type) from ReefCrew.com. The remaining 7.5L was sterile saltwater (SG: 1.022) with f/2.

The culture reached maximum density in about 72 hours with CO2 injection, compared to about 5-6 days without CO2. The density was also much higher with CO2, I would guess about 50% more dense.