Luke* Posted September 20, 2004 Report Share Posted September 20, 2004 Hey, I'm researching this at the moment as I find my DIY CO2 a bit erratic/non-productive. My tank is also 75 gallons. Has anyone here got the pressurised setup? If so I'd like to hear how you went about it. Just seeing if there's someone with experience out there and where they got the bits and pieces from. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted September 20, 2004 Report Share Posted September 20, 2004 Yeah I have 3 different Co2 systems. The c02 bottle can be sourced from a gas company like BOC. You can rent or buy your own, people have different expeances. I own my own, costs me about $12 every 9 months fill + $30 every 5 years to have tested. The expense comes in the valve need to connect from the bottle to the defuser. Some have gagues (Dupla Alpha for example) some don't (JBL). I would DIY, there is no value in the ehiem/JBL kits other than convienance. 2nd hand gagues is the way to go, the internet is your friend. Most reef aquairums use Co2 for calcium production so there are always bits for sale if you look around. Good luck. Pies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted September 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2004 Thanks for the reply, I want to source it all locally if I can that way I can see the quality as well if it will fit with what pieces I do have. There must be places that sell gauges and fine needle point valves? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DubbieBoy Posted September 21, 2004 Report Share Posted September 21, 2004 Just a point of information on this topic- If you go browsing the net for the bits and pieces to put a pressurised CO2 system together, you will quickly see that the American market has some wonderful, relatively inexpensive, specialist CO2 regulators and gas tanks which regularly come up on ebay and the like. Be warned though, these are not compatible with NZ fittings or BOC tanks (the Americans use a CGA 320 fitting whereas NZ uses the British/European equivalent - they're not interchangeable however...). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted September 21, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2004 Thanks for that Dubbie, I get the feeling this mission will not be easy but not impossible either. I think I will just have to ring around/search a lot. It's difficult to know everything will work when I haven't even got the CO2 bottle yet, e.g I will have to find a regulator/fine needle point valve that fits. There's no point buying the bottle if I can't get the other necessary compatible parts. Pies, I've read on the net you can get CO2 bottles from liquor shops and when you take it in to get refilled they just exchange your tank for a new one, thus avoiding the $30 safety check every 5 years. How much did your tank cost you and what size is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 Liquor stores, pubs and restraunts just 'hire' there tanks, they don't own them. This is how they exchange them, you can't 'own' an exchange bottle. I paid $50 for my bottle and its about 5L. It was out of test so add $30 to that (the test includes the fill). If you want to talk to the expert on Co2 bottles, PM JetSKiSteve, he has just been through this, and if you have the cash, he may even have one for sale and be able to find you some reasonale priced gagues. Tell him PieMan sent you For freshwater you probably want to get a gas solinoid as well. Piemania Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deranglerhaken Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 What about Soda-Stream bottles.Every garagesale or fleamarket has them for a few bucks.The problem is to get the gas to release slowly.need needle valve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iqofone Posted December 28, 2004 Report Share Posted December 28, 2004 Could you use a warehouse LPG (2kg) tank for CO2, and just but either a dupler or sera tap/regulator? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted January 3, 2005 Report Share Posted January 3, 2005 Would be suprised if anyone would fill it. I believe bottles are certified only for the type of gas they are made for. I've used sodasteam bottles they are ok but run out quickly (month or so) and cost almost the same as the bigger bottles to fill. But IMHO the bottle is the easy/cheap part, the regulator and valve will be what costs $$$. I used a fed into my filter output tube to defuse the CO2, works really well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiverJohn Posted January 3, 2005 Report Share Posted January 3, 2005 BOC do a range of regulators for welding. ( check out thier website www.boc.co.nz then select, products > Gas Equipment » Regulators ) the cost is about 150 - 180 +gst. I know nothing about gas regulators... does anybody know if these are ok? obvious advantage is they will fit a bottle from BOC then its just the needle valve to get the fine controll cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted January 3, 2005 Report Share Posted January 3, 2005 The are no good. They can't do the fine adjustment needed for our purposes. They are designed for comerical uses. Been though this myself. By some purpose built units from Dupla, JBL etc. Cost new less than $200 with gagues, often $120 without gagues. I got my Dupla Alpha gagues for $120 2nd hand. There where some for sale on Trademe a week or so ago (dupla alpha). The bottle needs to be a CO2 bottle. Any bottle will do, dive tank, bbq bottle anything. BUT it must be tested for C02, and if its converted it needs to be acid cleaned first. Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiverJohn Posted January 4, 2005 Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 Cheers Pies! Wasnt sure but i suspected the flowrate of 30l per minute might have been a weeee bit high! And would be a big ask getting a needle valve to control it. Will keep an eye on trade me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted January 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 I just talked to the BOC guys and they reckoned the regulator would be sweet as you can use it to totally shut off the flow if you want. Therefore you can turn it just slightly to get desired flow. Have you actually tried this out Pies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted January 4, 2005 Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 Could you use a warehouse LPG (2kg) tank for CO2, and just but either a dupler or sera tap/regulator? No, cause it's made from steel. CO² bottles have to be aluminium... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted January 4, 2005 Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 I use a BOC 6.8kg commercial CO² bottle with a BOC regulator. The bottle costs $9.00 a month and about $25 a fill (once every now and then). The regulator came with 2 guages, the tank pressure and the regulator pressure. It cost $140.00 inc GST. It's a special regulator as CO² is very abrassive and the normal brass guts of the regulator doesn't last. CO² regulators have stainless steel guts... I run my reg at 1 Bar (about 15psi) and feed it to a needle valve to adjust the flow. Have been using this method for about 8 years now with no trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted January 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 Hey Warren, do you tape up all the joins? Or does it all fit nicely with no leaks? I read an article that said you needed to tape it all up to avoid leaks which I didn't think sounded very good... Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted January 4, 2005 Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 The bottle connection self seals but yes, thread-seal tape or liquid sealer is used everywhere else or it leaks badly... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted January 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Hmmm that sounds frustrating, and you don't want any (possible) leaks in your bedroom. What's the difference between delta and alpha regulators from Dupla? Does any know if aqua medic do them cheaper? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMemonic Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 CO2 is used as one of the possible inert gases in MIG welding, you can pick up regulators at any decent welding supplies outlet. Here is Christchurch ASCO will sell you a 9kg bottle it you do not wish to rent from BOC which can become expensive. I am a little concerned about the mention of a flow rate of 30 liters per minutes as you only need 6-7 for welding. The real key is to get the gas to infuse with your water, just bubbling it in would have similar effect as and air pump's ability to add oxygen to you water, the reactor kits available have some form of delay to ensure that the CO2 bubble stays in contact with the water for a reasonable period. I have had a thought on this and will get a unit built and a details up on a web site soon, also there is no reason that you could not use an air stone and inject the bubbles from this into an impeller on a pump should you have a spare lying around as well. I would suspect that unless you are trying to grow plants on a commercial scale and can diffuse the CO2 you would only be needing a flow rate of around 2 liters per minute tops. If you really wanted to get the best usage of the gas a solenoid valve could be added in parallel with the light switch so flow is only available when the lights are on, no point wasting gas when its not needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 I'd imagine 2lpm would be enough CO2 for a tank about the size of your average swimming pool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Agreed, I only ever ran mine at a bubble or two a second, didn't know what this is in LPM but would think it would be more like litres per hour!!! This is the problem with using welding regulators it's really hard to get the flow low enough and stable. I used one for a while, I had to put a bigger needle valve then a smaller needle valve, both of which had to almost be turned completely off. What I found was a chnage in temp was enough to change the flow rate, plus there were a couple of times when I moved the valve with out knowing and dumped the whole bottle of CO2 in a night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Many units house the c02 cylinder in a polystyrene box to hold its temprature stable to get a stable bubble count. Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMemonic Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 I have posted a link to my home built diffuser in the DIY section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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