5 lb CO2 Tank Survey

[colby]

Just wondering how long the average 5lb CO2 tank lasts. I know it depends on how you run it. How often do people have to refill?

 

[kimmisc]

6 months to a year depending on whether you run it at night and such.

Or if you don't tighten the nut between the regulator and tank good enough, like me, 1 week.

 

[colby]

I've refilled my tank twice since I set it up each time it lasted about 1.5 month which is way to fast. I can't figure out why though. Currently I only run it during the day at about 1 bubble a second. I've sprayed more soapy water on my system than you can imagine, no leaks. I'm out of ideas.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Have you checked the nylon washer where the reg and tank connect?

They look like this:

 

[colby]

What about it should I be checking?

 

[Yoemen]

When I first hooked mine up, it lasted about a week. 2nd time it lasted about 6 weeks. Then I changed out my filters and dialed back the CO2 and it is 6 months plus on a 75 gallon tank.

 

[kimmisc]

Before I found my leak, someone suggested I may be getting bad tank fills. You can read their explanation of that in the thread here: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148374 Weigh your empty tank before you take it in for your next refill, then weigh it when it's full and see if you're really getting 5lbs of gas.

 

[happybob59]

wow...mine lasts exactly for 4 months...exactly, its like clockwork. It could be because of the tubing I use? Is it polyurothane thats not good? or silicone? or am i not even close on either...

 

[kimmisc]

Silicone is better than regular airline tubing, but still loses some CO2. I use http://www.bestaquariumregulator.com/CO2.html#tubing but I'm not sure what it's made of. Though, I'm not an expert on making it last yet. Only had it a few weeks.

 

[jmhart]

Loss of CO2 through tubing at low pressures is negligible. People say use this tubing or that tubing but it really doesn't matter. The reason to use one tubing over the other is longevity. For example, some tubing hardens and degrades over time due to exposure to co2. Vinyl, for example, will really start to stiffen up. Permeation of co2 at 5, 10, 20 psig isn't an issue. I got some Tygon for cheap, so that's what I use, but before you go out and spend $50/ft on specialized tubing, think about whether it's worth it to spend $25 on tubing only to save $0.25 in gas.