How much did you spend on your pressurized CO2?

[ErrorS]

I'm seeing guides that quote anywhere from $50 to $300 for one.

These 5LB tanks aren't very big, right?

and how much did you spend on your system? I'm seeing regulators for $30, needlevalves for $15, etc. Will the tank really make up that much of the cost making these things so expensive? Right now it seems like common sense and unless the tank is $100+, a CO2 system will be the cheapest equipment used on my aquarium.

I'm getting sick and tired of mixing sugar and yeast. it never comes out right, it's messy, it's a PITA having to buy yeast all the time (accidently set 3 packets in my sink and forgot about them, now my plants go without CO2 tonight)

at, say, 2 bubbles a second, how long would a 5lb tank last? Is it a matter of days? (would explain a lot) or months?

In other words, what's the catch?

[Mgamer20o0]

same as my thoughts. i have bought 2 systems for $100 each. one came with a 5 pound tank the other a 10 pound tank. both came with regulators needle valves and Solenoid. 5 pound should last 6 months or so.

[ErrorS]

6 months?!

I'm gonig to call a local party store to see what it costs for a 5lb tank. Also considering a 2.5lb tank, they're smaller than your typical canister filter.. If a 2.5LB lasts 3 months that's more than enough, much cheaper than stupid yeast+sugar.

you said systems, what exactly do you have and where did you get it? if I could find a place that had it all for $100 (needle valve, regulator and tank) that would be great.

[Mgamer20o0]

one i got on ebay the other from a person on here. i now got a 20 pound tank. the bigger the better.

[Rex Grigg]

Check the costs to refill the different sizes of tanks. You may find that it's almost the same cost to refill a 2.5 lb as a 5 lb.

Do you want a manual regulator or a controlled regulator?

[skeletonhand]

This is where I've got my equipment from.

http://www.aquariumplants.com/CO2_Accessories_s/50.htm

They have 2.5 to 50lb Aluminum cylinders, regulators, and anything else you need.

[Rex Grigg]

I built all my own CO2 systems.

The first thing you need to do (taken from my Guide) is research on the cylinder and getting it filled. Quote from my Guide.


For pressurized CO2 you will need a cylinder. The best places to find a cylinder are welding shops, home brew beer shops, and fire extinguisher shops. I have found that fire extinguisher shops normally have the lowest prices on cylinders. Before you drop a wad of money on a nice shiny new aluminum cylinder make sure you have a location close to you that can/will fill while you wait. If all the shops close to you swap tanks you are going to get a nice rusty steel tank on the first swap so there is normally no reason to buy a cylinder. Again many times the larger fire extinguisher shops can fill while you wait and normally they have about the best price around on CO2.

A short history of pressurized CO2 in the hobby here in the US.

Back in the dark ages (about 4-5 years ago) when I got my first pressurized system most all the available commercial systems were from Germany. These regulators were around $150-$200. Then the Chinese got into the act and started importing cheap knock-offs. At one time there were some price wars going on and these cheap knock-offs were selling for less than $60. But then a funny thing happened . People started noticing that the cheap knock-offs that had run the high quality German products off the market had problems. So people starting looking for a quality regulator again. I had built all my own regulators and a couple for friends and people that asked me to. This started a whole new wave of higher quality product availability. There is one regulator available from a major plant seller that is a close copy to what I still build. Other plant sellers have jumped on the band wagon and are offering higher end regulators.

It's a market where you get what you pay for.

If you are willing and able to build your own regulator and have a source on the parts you can get by cheaper with the same quality. I even have a pictorial in my Guide showing how to build a regulator.

It's pretty easy to assemble a basic manual pressurized system for ~$150. A controlled system (only difference is a solenoid) will run about $20-$30 more. When I say complete I'm including the cylinder.

[ErrorS]

I'm not going to try to build one myslef. I might be able to do it but I might not, accidents with a 3000PSI CO2 tank could end up pretty bad.

I'm taking a vacation at the end of this month.. one that ended up quite a bit more expensive than I had hoped. My family has already got me for a $1000, two day trip to Disney World in the middle of our one week trip to the beach. I would like to get something done before the vacation but if I do, I'm going to have to do it on a budget.

http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/regulators-cid-614.html

Are these any good? I know that they're cheaper than most.. but are they so bad they're not worth buying or should they get me by for a couple of months while I recover from this stupidly expensive vacation?

I've read through your site and it's a lot of help.. but it also added a bit of confusion.

All I would need to do is buy a regulator, a needle valve and a tank, right? I can make my own diffusor.. is there anything other than that I would *need* to do this?

[skeletonhand]

$6 to fill my 5 pounders

[ErrorS]

Oh, I asked about the 2.5LB tanks because I thought the 5LB would be too big.. after seeing them in person they're pretty small, I can fit them under my cabinet easily.

It is just as much to fill a 2.5 as a 5, the 2.5s cost about the same intially as the 5s as well ($5 difference).. really no reason to buy them unless you really need the space.

[WeeNe858]

they have a new system that runns off paintball cylinders... dunno about cost or whatever but just thought i would bring that up


http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/product/productInfo.web?infoParam.mode=1&infoParam.itemKey=207607


tad bit pricy

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=15526&Ntt=co2&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&N=2004&Nty=1




some parts arnt even needed

[loaches r cool]

All I would need to do is buy a regulator, a needle valve and a tank, right? I can make my own diffusor.. is there anything other than that I would *need* to do this?

You'll need co2 resistant air line to hook everything up. If you cant see it and dont have to make any bends(its very stiff) then 8 cents/foot at lowes (if memory serves) is polyethylene tubbing. Teflon tape will be needed on threads like when screwing the reg to the tank. You'll probably also need a bubble counter to measure the flow. Selenoids arent required as some run thier co2 24/7 or feed it into a powered reactor and put the reactor pump on a timer so it goes off at night and co2 just bubbles to the surface. If you run 24/7 make sure to provide surface agitation at night! You should have some even if you dont run 24/7 but the need will probably be more so if you dont shut off the co2.

[ErrorS]

I was planning on keeping the way it was with an airpump on timer that goes on when my lights go out.

I might just buy something like this (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=9935&Ne=40000&R=15686&N=2004+113219) and pick up a tank from another store. $95 isn't bad for everything you get. I think I definitely want a solenoid, it will save me some money in the long run not having to waste CO2 all night.. in fact, with one I could remove my air pump completely which would be nice

[Rex Grigg]

NEVER and I mean NEVER use Teflon tape on cylinder threads.

The first reason not to do so is that a CGA 320 valve doesn't seal on the threads. It's a flat faced seal and the threads only exist to provide mechanical force to flatten the washer.

The second reason not to do so is the Teflon tape can shred and if a tiny bit of that tape gets into the regulator body you can pretty much kiss it goodbye.

[loaches r cool]

Oh yes, of course. Guess I was overthinking what Errors might possibly need. Guess its been a while since I set mine up... thinking back if I remember correctly I used a teflon disk (not tape) - but I cant remember if that was included with the regulator or if I had to get it seperate.

[Rex Grigg]

The first seal will come with most regulators. Then you should always get a new one when you get more CO2. The seal needs to be replaced every time you remove the regulator from the cylinder. Unless you have a permanent seal. Which I use on all my cylinders and would never go without.

Here's a picture of a couple of different permanent seals.

http://rexgrigg.com/seal.jpg

This one is good if your cylinder has threads inside the nozzle and you own your cylinder.

http://rexgrigg.com/seal1.jpg

This one works for just about everyone.