co2 setups

pharoh08 · 10-05-2003, 10:03 AM

okay , im planning a co2 systm for my 55, i would like to do a diy but ive heard of problems with doing it for tanks this big. so what should i do.

thanx for the help

125gJoe · 10-05-2003, 8:42 PM

http://www.floridadriftwood.com/store.asp

They have what you need for "pressurized" CO2 - except the tank. You can get that locally..

rich · 10-06-2003, 4:31 PM

you could also look around your town for places that carry co2 tanks and regulators. brew supply shops, soda distributors, theres all sorts of places. buying a tank and regulator will be a lot cheaper than buy a "made for aquarium" kit. i spent around 100 bucks on all my stuff and while its not the best it does the trick. a regulator was 50$ a huge tank with deposit was 50 bucks and only costs 25 to refill. i got all of the hosing at a hardware store and i just run the bubbles into the hob filter. i can get around 15 ppm with 2-3 bubs a sec. and i can still run my keg off the same setup

djlen · 10-06-2003, 6:13 PM

I did the DIY thing in a 55 for quite a while before going pressurized.
It can work, but it requires a lot of mixing. I had to use four 2-liter bottles to get 20ppm, and they had to be replaced every 3 weeks or so. If I had to do it over again, I'd rotate the bottles, replacing 1 per week. This keeps the gas fresh and keeps the flow of CO2 more stable.
It worked fine for a while, but it gets old having to replace that many bottles. And that was on just one tank. I had two more bottles going on a 40 gal. as well.

Len

bobalston · 10-06-2003, 9:45 PM

I also did the DIY co2 thing in my 55 gallon initially. It did get old real fast always having to make up a new bottle of "brew". I used two 2-liter bottles. Not sure what co2 concentration I got. But it worked well enough I decided to go pressurized.

With my DIY I used a generally available mix and a simple airstone. I think I used one of those ceramic ones to get fine bubbles. Also used a small water pump blowing across the airstone so it would better disperse the bubbles.

For info on pressurized options and sources, take a look at my web site. You will find useful info on sources for low cost tanks, regulators and needle valves.

http://members.cox.net/tulsaalstons/...Pressure%20CO2

Bob