Co2 Fe Method Safety

[mike455555]

ok. my mums objecting to having a FE in the house rigged up to my tank. she says its dangerous, (witch i admit it is if it's not rigged up correctly )
do any of you guys use the FE method. and have any of had problems with it?. can you try to convince her? (she also said that pressurized co2 is not the way to go because of the dangers).
i would use a yeast system but there will be problems with algae? (3.2wpg, im using liquid carbon at the moment,but this isent producing pearling (that does happen when i do water changes))

basically i want back up saying its fairly safe if done right. and the benefits of using it

 

[SO19Firearms]

Tell her the chances of a Fire extinguisher setting on fire are less than her hair straighners or the candles she has next to the bath......

 

[mike455555]

im going to show her this thread =] lol

shes not worried about the FE catching on fire... shes worried about it exploding and going in the roof...

 

[ian]

we walk past FE every day of the week. They don't go exploding do they??


I am yet to see or hear of anything happening regarding FE's exploding and the such.

 

[mike455555]

i agree. but she said that we shouldn't be messing around with them, there designed to release the co2 fast - i replied with and the regulator is designed to reduce the pressure its released by

iv not heard of one going off.. i was just wandering how many people on here use them safely (that might convince her how safe they are)

 

[ian]

I use one, i am very safety conscious, i have to be with children in the house. All pressurised canisters are designed to release quickly and you're right the regulator is there to regulate the flow. It's no different to having a gas canister in your caravan (not that you live in a caravan Mike lol). Once set up, it is as safe as safe can be.

 

[mike455555]

we do have gas bottles for the cooker and a camper van,they are regulated as well (thanks for pointing that out) =D
id be safe with it as well... you couldn't give me the with of your canister? and the hight? (want to see if it will fit behind the tank or to the side) for extra protection

one thing i dont understand about co2 is the bubble counter, what's the use of it?

FE to produce co2
regulator to keep the pressure down
solenoid to turn it on/off at night/day
bubble counter - for ?
defuser to make the bubbles defuse into the water easier

and 4- something solution to measure the amount of co2 in the water?

also do you regulate the amount of co2 from the regulator? by turning it one way or the other? (what should it be set at)

 

[SO19Firearms]

and 4- something solution to measure the amount of co2 in the water?

also do you regulate the amount of co2 from the regulator? by turning it one way or the other? (what should it be set at)

4dKH iwth pH solution in - Water that's set a 4 degrees hardness so you dont have to check charts pf pH against hardness to work out co2

Some regs have adjustment - Aquarium regs like Wave tend not to (or are capped) - You adjust the flow with an extra needle valve.

Bubble counter gives you an instant visual reference of how much co2 you're injecting...as opposed to the xhours for the drop checker

HTH

 

[ian]

495mm 117mm (height x diameter)

 

[mike455555]

is it the same solution in the bubble counter as the drop checker and thanks ian =D

 

[SO19Firearms]

is it the same solution in the bubble counter as the drop checker and thanks ian =D

Bubble counter is just water...some diffusers (the spiro's) have one built in...

 

[mike455555]

so whats the need for it? your passing co2 in water then into your tank? why?

 

[SO19Firearms]

so whats the need for it? your passing co2 in water then into your tank? why?

Bubble counter gives you an instant visual reference of how much co2 you're injecting...as opposed to the xhours for the drop checker

 

[mike455555]

so there not really needed?

 

[DrRob]

it's a pain in the proverbial to not have a bubble counter, otherwise you have no idea what a fine turn of the needle valve is actually doing for hours afterwards. Not a problem once you're running, until you knock it.

As for the cylinders, pubs use CO2 cylinders all the time, and don't explode all that often, welders do as well, they're not that prone to firing cylinders through the ceiling either. For the more extreme example, ambulances throw oxygen cylinders around (which is far scarier than CO2 if it releases suddenly, as it does tend to ignite) with no concerns. A fire extinguisher has a tube inside to keep the gas coming from the bottom of the tank where the CO2 is liquid (which is why you have to hold them upright for fast release) so actually have to be modded to allow fast release, but this makes no difference to the slow release set ups.

edit, and I'm happy to admit that I pulled the lever on my FE set up when it was outside to test the set up first time, but have no worries about it sitting in the living room, so long as it's kept away from the small children and furry animals.