Best sealant for DIY CO2 systems?
- Thread starter WinterWind
- Start date
Im going to HD and Im going to pick up some stuff, for an inline reactor, Il try some of the glue as a selent too.
My bottles take about 30min to get bubbleing, 3hours to get at the right level for my tank.
My bottles take about 30min to get bubbleing, 3hours to get at the right level for my tank.
Liquid Nails from hardware store
I use Liquid Nails from hardware store, only on the outside of the lids. I've even used it on an active system, it dried fast enough to seal a leak under pressure.
Aquarium silicone sealant is too flexible, it gives if you bump the sytem and eventually it breaks, it is good under pressure but not under tension!
I use Liquid Nails from hardware store, only on the outside of the lids. I've even used it on an active system, it dried fast enough to seal a leak under pressure.
Aquarium silicone sealant is too flexible, it gives if you bump the sytem and eventually it breaks, it is good under pressure but not under tension!
I use some quick-dry epoxy that i bought at meijer, it seems to work well as long as you don't mess with the tube too much after it dries. for example if you twist the cap on and off then that puts pressure on the seal and it eventually comes unstuck and leaks.
I had a problem when I set up my DIY CO2 with it leaking throught the cap as well. Did a fairly thorough search on google and found that a #3 rubber stopper that comes with a pre-drilled hole works great. It was stated that the tubing could be run directly through the hole (5mm usually) but the place where I got the stoppers also had 4-5" glass tubing that fit throught the stoppers perfectly. It was fairly easy to fit the silicon tubing over the end of the glass tubing. I picked up mine at a lab supply store (enough for 2 bottles) for 90 cents. If you're interested you can possibly find these items at a school lab supply, chemical supply or a berr/wine making shop. Makes bottle changes a snap, is inexpensive and requires no sealant.
I just used a valve that came with a package of disposable airstones, drilled a hole through the 2L cap, put the valve in, sealed around with silicone, and have had 3 leak-free units.
I'm gonna try my next one using a backflow valve through the cap, so that if the CO2 pressure ever drops, it won't siphon back.
I'm gonna try my next one using a backflow valve through the cap, so that if the CO2 pressure ever drops, it won't siphon back.
Man, I can't believe this thread has gotten this long and nobody uses the same method I do! I have used this on 2 different Nutrafin (Hagen) DIY systems, a 2 Liter DIY system, on several powerhead reactors (using pressurized CO2), and my latest use is with Pressurized CO2 (at almost 4 or 5 bubbles per second) going into a Filstar XP-3. It is extremely simple, and I've never bought any additional equipment for the installation. I always seem to have several of those plastic 2-way airline tubing connectors (the kind that connect two lengths of tubing together to form one). I have a bunch of CO2-resistant airline tubing left over from a purchase almost 2 years ago. I simply drill a hole in the intake tubing cap (screw on) on the XP-3 plastic tubing (or 2-liter cap....same thing) that accepts one side of the 2-way tubing connector, then use SUPERGLUE or CRAZYGLUE to seal it. This actually melts the plastic from both the cap and the connector and forms a permanent seal! I've NEVER had a leak in any of my rigs! It only takes maybe a half hour to get the glue hardened enough to use.....compared to 24 hours or so for Silicone!
Almost everyone who's been keeping fish for any length of time has these BASIC items laying around, not being used: tubing (preferably CO2 resistant, but other works fairly), 2-way airline connector, and SuperGlue. I guess I should say that your need a drill to make the hole also...but all methods need this! If you don't have these items around, you can get them all for about 3 or 4 bucks. A tube of silicone itself costs about this much! Work smarter....not Harder! :idea:
Almost everyone who's been keeping fish for any length of time has these BASIC items laying around, not being used: tubing (preferably CO2 resistant, but other works fairly), 2-way airline connector, and SuperGlue. I guess I should say that your need a drill to make the hole also...but all methods need this! If you don't have these items around, you can get them all for about 3 or 4 bucks. A tube of silicone itself costs about this much! Work smarter....not Harder! :idea:
Swimfins
This is as good as it gets.
I keep the gaskets pretty well lubed up. I think it would be tough to get through that. I check it every time I clean filter. But thanks for the thought.....good idea to be careful!Kasakato said:
