Thursday, June 5, 2014

[REVIEW] UP-Aqua Co2 Super Diffuser System

I just bought this UP-Aqua Co2 Super Diffuser system and I have decided to write up a review for you guys to consider before you purchase this unit.

First of all the build is quite sturdy. Comes with screw ins on either side to hold the pipes. One major grip i did have was that the unit will leak if you do not take care to screw the cap on properly. Mine leaked even with the cap screwed tightly so i had to use 2 revolutions of teflon tape to seal the cap on. Lucky for me i noticed this leak early otherwise I would have either lost a LOT of CO2 or ended up with a wet cabinet.

It comes with 2 ceramic cylinders built into the system. Having them both twisted on at the same time is POINTLESS. 

Some possible questions:

If you fill the reservoir with water, will it diffuse twice?
The answer is yes but it will be pointless. It will diffuse into the water reservoir and then the water will diffuse into the pipe. However once all the water goes into the pipe the reservoir will fill up with CO2 and again nothing else will happen.

You can either go with the large diffuser (top picture) or the smaller one (lower picture). I took both these pictures today to show how differently they work. By going with either method you may save one ceramic diffuser for later use in case the other one will need cleaning later on.

Using the SMALL diffuser ONLY
As you can see from the picture below if you just use the small diffuser the atomiser turns into a mini reactor. This may be a good idea but there are a few problems with this.
1. Flow rate slows using this method due to turbulence in the pipe.
2. CO2 bubbles rise to the top of the reservoir and eventually form a small pocket. This is wasted CO2 as it has only had a short time to dissolve in the water. The CO2 will eventually leave the pipe by gurgling to the outlet.


Using the LARGE diffuser ONLY
In my opinion this is the way to go as it has shown better results when i have used this reactor. When sealed correctly you will get a VERY FINE mist of CO2 throughout your aquarium. I have a powerhead just below the spraybar that pushes this fine mist throughout the tank.
See below picture


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