Getting A Pressurized Co2 System

[MrNiceGuy]

ive decided to stop cutting corners in order to improve my disappointing planted tank.

i want to get a pressurized co2 system for my tank. its a 20 gallon long. any info on what would be the ideal choice for me? any help will be appreciated. im willing to spend about 150 dollars.

 

[philja]

ive decided to stop cutting corners in order to improve my disappointing planted tank.

i want to get a pressurized co2 system for my tank. its a 20 gallon long. any info on what would be the ideal choice for me? any help will be appreciated. im willing to spend about 150 dollars.

I also am looking into a pressurized system for my 20. It seems that most of what I have found is a bit more than I'm wanting to spend at this time. I might need to stick with the yeast for a bit longer.

 

[GrayScale]

Aprox cost ~$140.

You will need:
Regulator
Co2 cylinder / fire extinguisher
Drop checker
Bubble counter
Diffuser

I would recommend a regulator with a built in bubble counter, needle valve and solenoid valve. The solenoid will allow for on/off control through a timer. The needle valve adjusts rate of co2 after the tank is opened.

I would buy the regulator new and you might be able to find a welding shop that will sell you an already filled 5lbs tank for a lot cheaper than a brand new one. The diffuser and drop checker can be bought on eBay for about $10 each, or you can diy a drop checker.

The drop checker measures the amount of co2 being dissolved in the water. Too much co2 gases your fish, too little causes algae.

The diffuser breaks the co2 into micro bubbles that dissolve into the water.

 

[waterdrop]

I agree with you MrNiceGuy, I'm not quite as ready as you but I need to stop experimenting around the edges and get busy laying more groundwork so I can buy all the right equipment to do pressurized. I've read tons of articles about it and yet it keeps slipping away from me when I don't have time to follow through.. it still feels complicated. I think I'm going to compose a thread about the CO2 cylinders themselves...

~~waterdrop~~

 

[GrayScale]

I haven't setup my pressurized yet but I have all the parts and I know the feeling of being overwhelmed. Thinking "I want to but I don't want to gas my fish" or "I want to but all these articles and diy stuff just confuses me even more."

My overwhelming feeling actually went away when I just sat down, made a list of necessary parts and ordered them. Once you have all the parts and you see how they actually go together will make you think "man was I really overwhelmed by all this?" haha

The only thing that should truly be stressed is making the proper solution of 4dkh for the drop checker. But if your worried about it or don't have the proper measuring equipment for it, you can always find premixed solutions on eBay.

What sort of concerns do you all have about it (other than price)? When you do the math, pressurized is more expensive up front but after 6 months it is cheaper than the tiny co2 kits you can get with the cartridges that aren't refillable and only last 2 weeks.

Yeast is a great alternative but requires more maintenance to keep it at a stable injection rate.

 

[waterdrop]

That's a very good observation. The more concrete I manage to make the process for myself the less stressed I would feel about it and I'm sure proper lists and actually having the stuff in your hands would go a long way.

I think part of it is worrying about buying expensive parts and then finding myself later greatly disappointed that I've somehow not bought the right or best equipment (certainly regulators seem to carry this aspect, being both expensive and having stories of people sometimes being disappointed.)

Another thing that gives on pause is that there are safety issues. (It took me some reading to realize that the reason they have those heavy chains on the cylinders in the backs of those trucks is because the cylinder would fly around like a rocket.. and that you have to figure some way to attach it to your tank cabinet or something to provide similar safety...) Or another example on the safety list is wondering what sort of thread sealer tape or whatever should be used when putting screwing reguator parts together that are going to handle high pressure. I guess there are just a lot of items for the list that need to be covered. (Why does this hobby attract detail freaks like me? lol)

Your list of 5 top level items seems like a good start up there. I think I'll start building out research notes based on those five.

WD

 

[GrayScale]

You can actually buy metal stand type things that can be bolted down to the cabinet and a strap holds the tank upright. I've got a metal stand with no cabinet so I can attach some string or a bike lock around the leg of the stand to hold mine up. the regulator I bought was a Milwaukee brand with solenoid, bubble counter and needle valve. I haven't tried it out yet but I've read really good things about them. I think it was $96 after shipping cost.