Pressurised Co2

[ebrcknrdg]

Ive been looking into going pressurised as my tank is developing algea due to unstable co2 with my yeast method. I am going to buy everything separate as i already have a glass diffuser, bubble counter and non return valve. Ive been thinking about two options involving the co2 bottles. One regarding disposables and one regarding refils

Option 1
My brother in law is a welder and im sure he could get the the co2 welding bottles for a cheap price. However, i cant really expect him to do this for me every couple of months. Those of you who do use pressurised could you tell me approximately how long disposable bottles last you? I will be using a solenoid to turn off co2 at night so this will make the bottle last longer.

Option 2
Buy my own bottle (i dont know how much this will cost?) and get it filled up at my local fire station. Having looked on the web ive found a local station does the bottles in 2KG and 5KG which would be best? Would the regulator fit all sized bottles? How long would a 2KG bottle last before refilling?

I have read that fire extingushers have to be checked after 5 years, would i need to buy another one at this time?


My brother in law should also be able to provide a regulator and needle valve (i dont know about a solenoid) However, will the regulator be sensitive enough for me to get the appropriate bubbles per second i require on a 125L (33USg) tank? If not ill buy these online

 

[DevUK]

From the advice I've been given in a thread I started earlier this week, its the needle valve that has to be very accurate as this is the valve that you set your BPS with. As we're wanting quite fine adjustments it needs to be quite precise. The one your brother can get might not be up to the job if its an industrial one, as these (from what I've read/been told) aren't as precise.

I believe the 2kg and 5kg bottles have the same attachments for the regulator, as the regulator screws onto where the spray nozzle would normally go, which is a standard size.

Would be interested to know what solenoid and other parts you decide to go for as I too and considering pressurised (over Excel dosing) at the moment Just need to save up over the next few months

 

[ebrcknrdg]

From the advice I've been given in a thread I started earlier this week, its the needle valve that has to be very accurate as this is the valve that you set your BPS with. As we're wanting quite fine adjustments it needs to be quite precise. The one your brother can get might not be up to the job if its an industrial one, as these (from what I've read/been told) aren't as precise.

I believe the 2kg and 5kg bottles have the same attachments for the regulator, as the regulator screws onto where the spray nozzle would normally go, which is a standard size.

Would be interested to know what solenoid and other parts you decide to go for as I too and considering pressurised (over Excel dosing) at the moment Just need to save up over the next few months

Hi, thanx for your reply.

I guess id be best getting the regulator off him then. He might be able to get one for disposable ones, then i can get the needle valve off this guy. Supercoley uses the same one and i trust his judgement!

As for the solenoid im also using the same ebayer here

For both items it will be about £20 plus postage which i think is really good!

If my brother in law cant get me the disposable regulator ill get this one (also used by supercoley!) Its the second one down.

Ive emailed a couple of fire extingusher place to see about prices but i think im swaying towards buying 3 disposable cylinders for £33(with delivery) here. I just need to know how long they last

 

[Rob.S]

Emma, the bottle I'm using has been on for 3 months (at 1 bps); it's a 500g, so is smaller (capacity) than the ones you are looking at (600g? I think).

If you go the extinguisher route, you may need an adaptor to fit the regulator to the bottle (AE sell them).

Hope this helps


By the way, does anyone know where I can get a gauge to read bottle pressure ???

 

[DevUK]

Thats usually the dual gauge regulator. I believe it has the gauge for bottle pressure and one for flow? Something along those lines. I know that we generally want a dual gauge regulator for planted tanks

 

[SuperColey1]

As with all regulators the adjustment on them is very sensitive and therefore is almost impossible to adjust the bpm accurately which is OK for welding but not for our very precise requirements.

Therefore we use a needle valve so that we can open the cannister to potentially send far far too much CO2 into the tank and then use a needle valve to limit the actual amount deapatched down the cable.

The adaptors that AE (and other sellers including most welders sites) sell adapts a disposable regulator to be able to use refillable so IMO that makes it a good idea to buy disposable regs because then you have the choice as I have searched for other people and cant find any adaptors to turn a refillable regulator into a disposable (although Im sure there must be such an item)

The solenoid and needle valve were recommended to me by Themuleous and Zig which is why I had no hesitation in buying them and the shipping is something like 19euros so it makes sense to pick up everything you want in one purchase so but some proper CO2 hose as well and if they do sell the adaptors (I havent seen them) then it may be useful for the future.

The cannisters on a 125 last for 3 months+ (judged on my tank with high plant mass, 2.5WPG, rhinox 200 diffusor and very good circulation) Therefore the 3 cylinders should last you about a year.

The question on the cylinder pressure gauge. There are some for sale but you have to make sure the seals are all correct or you will have leaks, so I would suggest buying a new regulator unless you know what you are doing.

If you decide to go the refillable route, There will be somewhere near to you where you can either buy the cannister and then pay for refills, or where you can just pay nominal rent (normally something like 1.25 a month) and then pay for refills. AirProducts or InstaGas are 2 that spring to mind.

Ândy

n.b. Escuse the accents and lack of apostrophes etc this is a portuguese keyboard. Also no pound sign. lol

 

[ebrcknrdg]

Andy great help as always.Ive decided to go disposable as im lazy! Plus i will be able to change a cylinder instantly.

As with all regulators the adjustment on them is very sensitive and therefore is almost impossible to adjust the bpm accurately which is OK for welding but not for our very precise requirements.Therefore we use a needle valve so that we can open the cannister to potentially send far far too much CO2 into the tank and then use a needle valve to limit the actual amount deapatched down the cable.The adaptors that AE (and other sellers including most welders sites) sell adapts a disposable regulator to be able to use refillable so IMO that makes it a good idea to buy disposable regs because then you have the choice as I have searched for other people and cant find any adaptors to turn a refillable regulator into a disposable (although Im sure there must be such an item)The solenoid and needle valve were recommended to me by Themuleous and Zig which is why I had no hesitation in buying them and the shipping is something like 19euros so it makes sense to pick up everything you want in one purchase so but some proper CO2 hose as well and if they do sell the adaptors (I havent seen them) then it may be useful for the future.The cannisters on a 125 last for 3 months+ (judged on my tank with high plant mass, 2.5WPG, rhinox 200 diffusor and very good circulation) Therefore the 3 cylinders should last you about a year.The question on the cylinder pressure gauge. There are some for sale but you have to make sure the seals are all correct or you will have leaks, so I would suggest buying a new regulator unless you know what you are doing.If you decide to go the refillable route, There will be somewhere near to you where you can either buy the cannister and then pay for refills, or where you can just pay nominal rent (normally something like 1.25 a month) and then pay for refills. AirProducts or InstaGas are 2 that spring to mind.Ândyn.b. Escuse the accents and lack of apostrophes etc this is a portuguese keyboard. Also no pound sign. lol

By the way, how many bpm do you have on the 125?

 

[Rob.S]

The question on the cylinder pressure gauge. There are some for sale but you have to make sure the seals are all correct or you will have leaks, so I would suggest buying a new regulator unless you know what you are doing.

I'm pretty handy with superglue . OK, I'll buy a new one.

muitos agradecimentos para isso.
aprecíe seu feriado B)

 

[ulster exile]

Hiya, Don't know whereabouts you are in the West Midlands, but I visited barber brothers last week to get my 2 KG fire extinguisher refilled (for a whopping £2!!!). They mentioned that a reconditioned 2KG Fire extinguisher would cost about £20 and they sold about 10 canisters to Shirley Aquatics a werek or so ago.

They're in Balsall Heath, which isn't too far from the ciy centre.

Place doesn't look like much but for cheap refills and decently priced new-ish canisters, it's worth a visit. Also, they must get a few aquarists in there as they were telling me that "the aquarists" prefer a slightly different type of canister to mine (apparently it's old enough to need testing next year).

You can buy a standard industrial regulator to fit fire extinguishers if you want to go this route.

 

[SuperColey1]

Bearing in mind I am overfiltering and am using Lily pipes that circulate very well PLUS I raise mine to always ripple the surface (thus loosing some CO2) I had mine on about 3bps to send the drop checker limeade colour. (Is off at the mo and only have the 0.6WPG tube on as I am on hols)

Andy