Co2 Components....

[thefirethief]

Right boys and girls Ive finally got my plank of a head round pressurized CO2 and came to the conclusion Id be cheaper getting the components seperately (any disagreement welcome). Just wondering if anyone can help clear up a few questions.....



Do CO2 connections and hosing come in a universal diameter or do they vary according to bottle size and the purpose of the regulator?
Where can I get a seperate return check valve?
Teflon tape advisable to seal connections...... yes?



I wasnt sure whether to post this in the hardware section or not but I figured Id get a more specific response here.... apologies if this needs moved! Thanks for your time,
Mark

 

[Themuleous]

Ebay is your friend when it comes to getting the parts separately, as you say it can work out far cheaper, certainly did for me.

As to your questions, in general, yes all the parts are made to a standard size, i.e. any aquarium reg can fit any co2 cylinder (not sure about the 20oz paintball cylinders, so best avoid these, far to small in any case). I've had three different regs and they all fitted both my cylinder types which were JBL 500g and a pub type 12lb cylinder, and I'm fairly sure they fit fire extinguishes which have become more popular due to the easy of getting them refilled. The only issue you should be aware of is that the older JBL regs dont fit cylinders other than the JBL 500g cylinder, as they made them a bit big for some reason. Just something to be aware of if you go the second hand route. Besides I found the JBL reg to be the worst of the lots, very difficult to get fine adjustments of the bubble rate, so best avoided IMHO.

Dont worry about the tape, if all the parts are working ok, the system shouldn't leak. You can get return check valves from most LFS, have a look with the air pumps and tubing as we use the same check value for both air and co2 pumps.

Sam

 

[thefirethief]

Ahhh, thank you sir! Ive just realised I've got a non-return valve on old air pump here. Didn't even cross my mind about it being the same thing, assumed it would be some expensive piece of machinery. Ebay is the very place Ive been hunting through. I dont think Im going to go for second hand equipment, got my eye on a couple of new seperate pieces so hopefully it will all come together ok. Like you mentioned, my biggest fear is lack of precision so probably going to get one with a fine adjust needle control.

Thanks for the info, much appreciated!

Mark

 

[Themuleous]

Can I suggest you check out this German seller, in particular his regs, Ive got one (along with several other people on here) and they are a superb bit of kit and far cheaper then getting a new one from the UK, even with postage. I wouldn't however get a cylinder as you might have difficulty getting it refilled. Have heard good things about his CO2 reactors as well.

Sam

 

[thefirethief]

Cheers mate! I actually just bought some equipment from far far away before I managed to read this post. Here is the very item. I really do hope its not cheap crap. Bought a decent looking diffuser with built in non-return valve as well, just need to sort out my CO2 cylinder and im ready to go..... hopefully.

 

[Themuleous]

Looks good, spoke to someone the other day about these regs and they said its very good, easy to set up and adjust so no doubt it'll be good, and it comes with everything you need in a handy kit which makes life easier. Diffuser sounds good, have you got a link to that as well? Not heard of ones with in-built non-return valves.

Sam

 

[thefirethief]

Looks good, spoke to someone the other day about these regs and they said its very good, easy to set up and adjust so no doubt it'll be good, and it comes with everything you need in a handy kit which makes life easier. Diffuser sounds good, have you got a link to that as well? Not heard of ones with in-built non-return valves.

Sam

Thats encouraging to hear
This is the diffuser. Its just a simple ceramic plate one but I figured that as Im only setting up a 20Gal tank I wouldn't need anything spectacular and considering the amount Ive already spent on this tank in the last month.... it wasn't a hard decision to make.

 

[Themuleous]

Looks like another good piece of kit, certainly like the inbuilt check value. Let us know how you get on with it.

FYI I think these glass diffusers are the business, ok so its a piece of kit inside the tank, but I actually think it suits planted tanks, as its sleek but functional.

Sam

 

[thefirethief]

Okayyy, Ive finally got all this gear together and having a few problems.

First off, Ive been phoning round local bottled gas suppliers about a refillable bottle and have been told by most of them that they wouldn't sell me anything for use in the home for safety reasons. Ive had to resort to a 600G disposable just now which I bought off ebay however the thread on the regulator is a completely different diameter...

You can see in the photo what Im on about. Any ideas if its just the wrong kind of cylinder Ive picked up?

I was also wondering how to fit the CO2 tubing. Does it securely screw into the regulator output much the same as filter tubing?

Any advice would be amazing!
thanks, Mark

 

[Aeropars]

Can I suggest you check out this German seller, in particular his regs, Ive got one (along with several other people on here) and they are a superb bit of kit and far cheaper then getting a new one from the UK, even with postage. I wouldn't however get a cylinder as you might have difficulty getting it refilled. Have heard good things about his CO2 reactors as well.

Sam

Is it just me or is he rather expensive? You can get a Aquamedic 1000 for £40. This would be about 50 - 60 including shipping.

 

[Dave Spencer]

Thats encouraging to hear
This is the diffuser. Its just a simple ceramic plate one but I figured that as Im only setting up a 20Gal tank I wouldn't need anything spectacular and considering the amount Ive already spent on this tank in the last month.... it wasn't a hard decision to make.

Be careful when handling the diffuser. I just received one this morning from Aquaessentials and managed to snap it in half whilst attaching it to the inside of my tank. £11.99 and not one CO2 bubble passed through it.

 

[Spank]

Okayyy, Ive finally got all this gear together and having a few problems.

First off, Ive been phoning round local bottled gas suppliers about a refillable bottle and have been told by most of them that they wouldn't sell me anything for use in the home for safety reasons. Ive had to resort to a 600G disposable just now which I bought off ebay however the thread on the regulator is a completely different diameter...

You can see in the photo what Im on about. Any ideas if its just the wrong kind of cylinder Ive picked up?

I was also wondering how to fit the CO2 tubing. Does it securely screw into the regulator output much the same as filter tubing?

Any advice would be amazing!
thanks, Mark

Disposable bottles won't work with a regular CO2 regulator, I know that you can get adaptors for disposable bottle regulators to fit refillable bottles but I'm not sure about the other way round. I think you may be stuck with using refillable bottles only though.

CO2 tubing should just fit on like any other airline tubing, mine simply slides over the outles of my regulator with no screwing involved.

 

[thefirethief]

Cheers spank! What can I say... bollocks. I guess the search is on for somewhere that puts fishkeeping before safety. Who knows.