Pressurized Co2, Which One?

[aaronnorth]

i have a 180l tank i have 1 nutafin co2 on, i am going to get another shortly. but not if i get pressurized!

What pressurized system would you reccomend, cheapest possible.

what about fire extinghuishers, what equipment would i need and which 'style' is cheapest to run (kit or fire extinghuisher)?

How do you set up a fire extinghuisher.

EDIT: just looked at sam's extinghuisher guide , seem a little dangerous if something goes wrong so thats out!

Also what settings do you need like BPS/ BPM (which one do you use?) What bar to set it at? Do i need to switch it off at night with solenoid? Anything else i've missed out?

 

[aaronnorth]

Someone can help surely!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

It is no so much price/quality as it it is how elaborite a system one uses. There are required and optional items involved depending on what sort of setup you have and how many toys/conveniences you can afford.

Required:
1. Co2 cylinder. Holds the gas.
2. Regulator. Steps down the pressure from the cylinder.
3. Needle valve. Provides fine control for adjusting co2 flow rate.
4. Bubble counter. Lets you see the effects of using the needle valve are.
5. Co2 resisitant tubing. Lasts way longer than regular airline.

Optional:
1. Diffusor/reactor. Used to mix the co2 into the water.
2. Solenoid. Used to turn the co2 off and on.
3. pH meter and probe. Used with the solenoid to control the flow of co2 to produce a desired pH level.

It is possible to use other methods of mixing the gas into the water besides a diffusor or a reactor. I push mine through an Eheim Pro II canister and it works great.

If you discover you need to reduce co2 flow during lights out and dont want to be manually doing an on and off every day, you can connect an air pump to a time set to go on right after lights out and to turn off about 30 minutes beore lights on. It will outgas the co2 when running.

A good co2 system should last you for many years. It does not pay to skimp on quality in terms of the required items.

 

[aaronnorth]

Thanks, really helpful.

Can any one tell me how many BPS and what pressure i need (bar).

 

[fozziebear]

you need a drop checker and 4dkh solution to tell you when your at 30ppm of co2 then you know what bubble rate is your optimum rate, theres not really any other way to work out the right bps,it varies from tank to tank. BAR is the pressure the cylinder is running at my fire extinguisher runs at about 50 bar.

 

[Themuleous]

Please dont be put off by what I put that was just to stop people suing me! Its really not that tricky and the FE route is by far the cheapest for most people.

Really, really dont be put of by what I put, and pressurised cylinder, be it JBL or and FE is dangerous, you just have to be sensible.

Run the reg at around 1.5bar. The BPS will depend on many factors, such as the size of the tank and the efficiency of your system, but it should only take a day or two to get the bubble rate right, esp if you use a ph drop checker as its an easy visual guide. Slightly blue up the rate, slightly yellow reduce the rate a bit

Sam