FishProfiles.com Message Forums

I have tanks all over and intend to plant all of them and would like to get one CO2 canister and Needle valve. Then put regulators at each of the tanks with seperate bubble counters and then the silinoid at the tank that is on a timer. Is this advisable?

Also, is there a reason that CO2 cannisters from Paint ball guns cant be used to do the CO2 for aquaria? I am not thinking the small silver canisters though I dont see why that cant be used but the larger canisters that you can get.

Anythoughts?

I was kind of wondering the same thing. I used to work in a pizza place and I was wondering if they boss could get me a tank and the goods for really cheap. I wish you luck and I will keep a close eye on this thread.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

I have tanks all over and intend to plant all of them and would like to get one CO2 canister and Needle valve. Then put regulators at each of the tanks with seperate bubble counters and then the silinoid at the tank that is on a timer. Is this advisable?

The above is very confusing , I'm not sure if that's from a lack of understanding on your part or it's just badly written

The regulator goes on the Co2 canister so you can only use one. Maybe you meant diffuser/reactor ?

Whether or not you can use one needle valve is dependent. A 90gal tank is going to need a higher flow of gas then a 10 gal. So unless all 8 tanks are the same size I can't see how one needle valve can cut it.

Depending on how you are diffusing the gas a bubble counter isn't neccessary on each line. A check valve will needed on each tank.

There are ideal solutions available here from the Asian manufacturers who are producing Co2 systems.

One I've seen is a regulator with a built in gang valve after the solenoid. This has 6 outlets you can connect the tubing to. Each outlet has it's own build in needle vale to control the flow so you can operate six tanks from one gas cannister with different bubble rates on each one. These run for about $120 here which is a good price. If I remeber correctly the manufacturer is "UP", a Taiwanese company.

There are other accessories available here which are basically glorified T-Bars which allow you to split the Co2 tubing into 2. I suppose in theory you could use multiples of this to create 8. The disadvantage of these, while they are cheap,is that there is no individual control so the flow of the gas will be same into all aquariums, which may not be suitable.

Apart from that there are ways to rig up gang valves your self to operate multiple tanks, you just need to be sure each is invidually adjustable.

Apart from this I'd say one thing. Be careful what you wish for !!! Do you really want 8 Co2 tanks ? Even the pros don't want that kind of headache. 8 planted tanks growing afull speed because of the CO2 is a lot of work in trimming, dosing and maintenance.

Also you'd need a big gas cylinder otherwise be prepared to go get it refilled every few weeks. A 5lb tank will last about 6 months on one aquarium, with 8 running I'd imagine you'd have to refill about every 3 weeks !!!!

I barely have time for one. More then that I'd think long and hard and would be very careful of what I planted to cut down on the workload.


Last edited by bensaf at 22-Jan-2006 22:16

---

Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Yes, I apologize I was holding my fussy son at the time. What I intended to say is a little more complicated.

I used to regulate the flow from a single compressed air tank with a single needle valve by decreasing the flow from the tank to "the highest common denominator" or in this case to accommodate the tank with the highest demand of CO2. This was accommodated by a gang valve that utilized smaller valves that were rated for a lower pressure and regulated the CO2 even further. I figure that I could add solenoids after the second valve and then a check valve at the tank itself.

I don’t know if it’s logical. But as for the part about time, I have nothing but time at this point. I am kind of a stay at home dad and like to test and tinker with my tanks often. It would be fun to have a lot of nice planted aquariums. It would give me more to do then just test water hehe.

Has anyone used the larger CO2 canisters from the paintball guns?

Hi,
If you are going to supply CO2 to 8 tanks then you are
going to need more than a 5 pound bottle. Probably a
10 pound or larger. A 5 pound bottle supplies my 30G tank
with CO2 at slightly over 1 bubble/second for about
6-7 months. 8 tanks, you do the math.

Paint gun canisters are not the answer.

Generally one would set up "A" tank with a two stage
regulator and then use similiar make/model difusers
or reactors in each of the tanks. Set the regulator
using a bubble counter mounted immediately after the
regulator for the desired rate, and then supply the
gas down the line to the tanks. If you control
the KH of the tanks (adding baking soda as necessary)
then you can control the CO2 saturation of the tanks
that way.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I am kind of a stay at home dad

Lucky guy, wouldn't mind being able to that myself.

You certainly don't need 8 solenoids. 1 regulator , 1 solenoid. Actually solenoids aren't even necessary if you run the co2 24/7. Either way if the tanks all have the same lighting schedule 1 solenoid will do to switch the gas on and off in line with the lights.

It can be done, but I though know enough about gang valves to advise how to go about rigging up.But I think it's a lot simpler then you think. Once the gang valve is rigged up it's just a matter of a line of tubing with a cheack valve for each aquarium, and a diffuser on the end of course or to save money just stick the tube in the tank's silter inlets.

I'd imagine the paintball tanks would be too small to run 8 tanks, constant refilling. Unless you mean having a paintball tank on each aquarium.

---

Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Aye the paintball tanks would be a solution for running pressurized gas to all eight tanks individually. I figure it would be a little cheaper that way. Five pounds being enough for two tanks for around six months... I dont mind refilling them regularly. If I did a central CO2 supply to the entirty of my tanks I would be running two tanks on one regulator for a total of twenty pounds. Sure the tanks would be spendy however I would probably find it a bit easier to manage this way.

But then again thinking of how easy it is to get solid CO2 (dry ice) in theory I could setup my own pressure chamber and use solid CO2 chips to refill the canisters. I belive that the dry ice is compressed some ten or so times. I should look in on that ratio. And since it suflumates (spelling may be wrong) I dont have to worry about dealing with a liquid form of CO2.

Still not sure if you're getting it or I'm reading it wrong.

Aye the paintball tanks would be a solution for running pressurized gas to all eight tanks individually. I figure it would be a little cheaper that way.

Surely 8 tanks need 8 regulators, that's going to be pricey.

I would be running two tanks on one regulator for a total of twenty pounds.

By tank do you mean gas tank or aquarium ? Each cylinder of gas will require it's own regulator. There's no way around this.

Dry ice is very dangerous and difficult to handle. Apart from a supply of co2 you need some form of pressure to move it. Gas cylinders cannot be simply opened up and refilled.

---

Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Hey,

My expirence with preasurized gasses only come from scuba and my chem lab, just so you know where my info comes from. First off, Dry ice is not a viable source of CO2 for this application. The tank contains much more co2 by volume than the solid. You would need lots of dry ice delivered every few days to keep up a supply. This stuff does sublime pretty quickly and will just sort of seep away. Saftey is not a big problem though. You can handle small amounts by hand without any ill effects if you juggle it a little (you learn this quickly in a lab because gloves go missing often.) actually holding it firmly will burn your skin though. liquid nitrogen isnt terribly dangerous in small amounts either. I had some poured on me to show this once and it boils at such a low temp it never actually touches your skin.

But I digress. I dont think it would be terribly dificult to use a one tank system. This way you could make sure you got a good regulator and solonoid without spending too much and you would be sure you had a reliable preasurized system. In labs it is very common to have one tank and regulator supplying 10 small nitrogen lines, each of which has a simple valve regualting the flow so every line is individually controlled. A gange valve will serve you well here and should provide all the fine control you need for the tanks themselves. This will leave you with a simple setup and that is probably the most important thing with a system like this. (btw you may be able to save some money, depending on how big a tank you need, by contacting a company that supplies gass for labs. They might not be able to do anything for you but these companies genrally provide the tank with the gass.)

Chaos

__________________________________
- - - Humorous Bit of Wisdom - - -