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lol, I did a cheap DIY alternative, I get my refill at walmart and grocery store. Sugar and yeast...wow.

Oh, have you try calling the company? you could send it back to them for a refill.

Last edited by trojan_man at 17-Jan-2005 23:18

the place i get my tanks filled have told me that there is a "food grade" co2 which is different than "welding grade". their point was that for welding, a certain amount of impurities are allowed moreso than for food. they said it is possible to use either quality with no noticeable harmful effects, but supposedly restaurants in the area *must* use "food grade" if they want to stay in business.

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

thanks for the follow-up, Frank!

that's all very good to know.i mean, i know over dosing CO2 can be poisonous to fish, I just wasn't sure if there was a "grade" of CO2 that would do the same, even in small doses.

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Back in the saddle!

Hi,
Just returned. Here in the states, CO2 is well, CO2.
There are no differences in concentration or purity.
In fact, I learned that one of our beer companies,
Budweiser has at times claimed that their CO2 is more
"pure" than anyone elses, when in fact, everyone in the
area gets their CO2 from the same plant and same pumps.

I can't answer for Mexico, but here in the states,
weather it is for medical, beer, or welding purposes,
it is all the same gas. The difference is in the containers,
and if they are sterilized etc.

Frank


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

Hi,
Interesting comments. I've never heard of concentrations
of the gas. I have heard of purity, which, I guess could
be called concentration. Also the type of pump that is
used to get the gas. Oxygen, for instance is water pumped
as any oil from a pump would contaminate it for medical
and breathing purposes. For gas welding that would not
matte. Similiarly Nitrogen can be water pumped or oil pumped.

I need to refil one of my tanks this week and I will
discuss the process with them and get back with you
later.

Frank



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

Praxair, sold or better said, rented me the tanks, they come every 3 months to pick them up and leave me new filled ones, great service, they even make automatic charge to my credit card so I just have to be here whenever I tell them to come. Nice service.

I've heard of different concentrations of Co2, in fact when I first call to inquire about it, they asked me what concentration I wanted, of course I had no idea!! So, I told the story to like 7 technicians of different areas, medical, industrial, welding, culinary etc. till one of them actually had an idea about the use of Co2 in fish tanks (he said I needed to lower my PH right?), so I just told him yeah, and I use welding Co2.

I think Co2 for medical use is much less concentrated, and so it is the ones they use at restaurants (I have no idea for what!).

Hi,
I live in the Denver area and I use a "tap beer service."
They install the piping for the CO2 systems and the CO2
for many food chains and bars.
They will fill my tanks for $9 and some change.
I drop them off on a Friday, and pick them up Saturday
morning.
I also purchased my two tanks from them as well.
When I went in there initially to purchase the tanks,
they asked what I was going to use them for, and I told
them for my aquariums. That lead to lots of questions,
and later demands for pictures of the tank. I also told
them I wanted two that were nicely cleaned up and painted
as they might be visable in the room rather than hidden
in a cabinet

When I went in to refil the tanks the first time,
they asked how come it is 6 months between visits.
I explained that I'm dosing the tank at a rate of about
1 bubble/second, and they just shook their heads
and admired the pictures.
They all said that they had never heard of such a thing.
The funny part is, 6 months later for my next refil, they
told me someone else had come in and was doing the
same thing. Unfortunately, they could not remember who
the fellow plant enthusiast was.

Frank


Last edited by FRANK at 18-Jan-2005 15:45

Last edited by FRANK at 18-Jan-2005 15:56

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

the distributer i went to asked no questions what-so-ever.

"can i get this filled?"
"sure"
30 seconds later. "here ya go. want any beer?"
"suuure, gimme a 12 pack of miller lite. bottles."

thank you very much. not like those nosey welders...

j/k. didnt mean to offend any welders.

on the topic of CO2, though... has anyone heard anything about different "grades" of CO2? there is a small ariticle on thekrib.com about that, but i wasn't sure if anyone's had any experience getting "bad" CO2 and what the effect of that might be.

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Back in the saddle!

Yup, I get my bought my co2 tank and fill it at a beer place, I say it's for my kegmeister, 'cause I really don't want to deal with "What? It's for what kind of plants? Plants grow underwater?! No they don't. They'd die!"

falstaf

i got the same response when i first got my co2 bottle and tried to get it filled. you can't just say "i want to grow plants" cause they think they know which "plants" you want to grow with it luckily i live in a state where many many people drink beer and have their own home breweries/bars

Last edited by moondog at 18-Jan-2005 10:14

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

i've been having a heck of a time finding a place to fill up my CO2 tank. i've tried calling a few welding places, but they say they cant do it with the equipment they have. so where does everyone here get theirs done? anyone use a beer distributer type place, someplace that sells kegs? any other ideas? fire extinguisher places? i'm going nuts trying to find someplace around here but nothing... ]:|

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Back in the saddle!

i just get mine filled at Scheels or whatever place that fills paintball canisters.

Daka

I got always the same conversation, but I discovered that if you throw a really technical term as an answer eg: I'm using it for the enhancement fito-organisms in hydroponics cultivation... they just get really embarrassed that they have no clue what you are talking about and they'll just send you the gas.

Unless they have a former 60's hippie in customers service and then he asks you if you are growing pot in your closet

thanks for the suggestions, everyone

i'd been calling different places with little success. usually the conversations would go along the lines of:

"hi, could you fill a 5lb bottle with CO2 for me?"
"umm, i guess so. what's it for?"
"a fish tank"
"oh....... &lt;ten seconds of silence&gt;. click."

then i finally called a beer distributor and they did it for me in about one minute flat. i think i found my place

thanks again!

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Back in the saddle!

there's a place i go which deals specifically with gases. look in the phone book under "gas" or "air", you might find some place which can fill co2 bottles. if you know of any places which supply breweries, you can try them as well.

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

I don't know if this will work for you, these is the company that refills and even delivers mine, it's an international company so maybe they can help you

http://www.praxair.com
store locator


Good Luck


Last edited by Falstaf at 17-Jan-2005 20:48

Try a paintball shop.

maybe, but i think they'd deal more with O2 than CO2. any other places?

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Back in the saddle!

Diving places maybe? I don't have CO2 but that's all I can think of short of aquariums type stuff.

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