Paintball CO2 cylinders in aquariums

[LiberalFishLover]

Has anyone used paintball CO2 cylinders for CO2 supply to an aquarium. If so is there any special equipment required? :?:

[flukes]

First off it needs to be new not second hand.
Depending on the brand you may need a addon that changes the thread from male too female. These can be found a beer brew shops and there are some gas company's out there that sell these aswell.
Not sure if you just meant to make it useful but just in case you will also need.
A regulator forthe top of the cylinder, again regulates the amount of air passing although this is not fine enough to where you want it so you will need a needle valve to reduce the pressure and amount of co2 going into the aquarium.
Then you need a reactor for mixing the co2 into the water, there are many DIY's if you do a google or they can be bought. Some people run them into their cannister filters but i would not advise.

And check valves.....dont want water going back up the tube.
HTH

Why do you want to use a paint ball cylinder?? unless you dont have the space for a larger one. But filling it will cost you alot more in the long run.

[LiberalFishLover]

Well the reason why I was looking at paintball cylinders is that they seem to be far cheaper than the ones sold by aquarium shops / websites. Thats really the only reason and I was just exploring any cheaper methods of delivering CO2 to my tank

[Bad Inferno]

Go find yourself a fire extinguisher supplier - refiller. They maybe able to provide you with a second hand CO2 fire extinguisher bottle and fill it. You will have to adapt the thread however it works fine. I have a 3.5kg Quell bottle on my tank and just use a good quality air stone in the tank. I was going to make a reactor however the air stone for me worked just fine. I can see the bubbles coming out of the stone at the bottom of the tank and as they travel up they get smaller & smaller. A very small bubble does eventually make it to the surface so it would only be 80% efficient however who cares.

[Al]

I have a quell fire extinguisher too, i managed to get a regulator, solenoid, needle valve and bubble counter all in one from www.milwaukeemeters.com for quite a good price, bolted it staight up to my fire extinguisher, and it works great.

[Bad Inferno]

That is a great link...wish I would of known before.

I purchased just the TUNZE reg for $~140 (I think) and I already had the PH meter. I am having trouble with my solenoid valve so I have asked them for a price.

thanks again...post a pic of your setup

[Al]

Here's a couple of pics under the tank:

On one side, canister filter and CO2 hardware.

On the other, the sump, which has since changed. There are HEAPS more bio balls, and a different drip tray now.

[flukes]

Nice setup!
You arnt a seachem rep by any chance??

[Al]

No, not a rep, it would be nice though!

I bought a lot of seachem products when i first started up keeping discus. With names like 'Discus Buffer' and 'Discus Trace' I thought i couldn't go wrong!

Now i don't use any of it, the only seachem products i use is Prime and Purigen in my water storage containers.

[flukes]

Yeah Prime is a great product, although i dont care for many of the buffers they make, their conditioners are good.

[Bad Inferno]

Great setup would like a sump however little room under my tank inside. I have a 200 litre running of a Eheim 2215 with some internal sponges.

Just a tip for fitting equipment I found that a large hose clamp can be used to mount the solenoid valve directly to the fire extinguisher. I drilled two holes through the SS band then mounted the solenoid and just did up the band around the fire etingiusher.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/rjconway/IMG_0030.jpg

[ml29]

Is the CO2 in fire extinguishers food grade or industrial grade? As I understand it only food or medical grade CO2 should be used in planted aquariums. If it is industrial grade has anyone had any issues with it?

Thanks

Marvin

[flukes]

Nice setup Marvin..

[kalebjarrod]

how much do you pay to refill one of those extinguisher bottles?

beer gas cylinders should do the same thing?

just testing some theories

[Bad Inferno]

Never had to fill it...Paid $40 for the cylinder full...Suggestions have ranged from 1/2 dozen to dozen VB's

[kalebjarrod]

the only thing you would get from me if you offered VB would be a dirty look! :evil:

and how long do they last? and what are the regulators you use?

[Bad Inferno]

VB will last at least 12 months in the can

[kalebjarrod]

RAOTFIFOL

they would last forever in my house! i would rather drink dam water

but that was very funny :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

seriously how long does the canister last?

[Bad Inferno]

I have only had mine running a couple of months so really don't know myself. However I have had people say it will last at least 10-12 months. I have mine a a PH controller thus not running continuously.

You need a Co2 regulator I bought a Tunz reg for $140 from perth. You need a Specific reg for CO2 as the diaphram material can tolerate what I think is carbonic acid which is CO2 and moisture.

The fittings can cause concern and I paid another 25 for the two adapters.

Hope this helps

[kalebjarrod]

the regulator was $140 how much was the pH controller?

[Bad Inferno]

I purchased an industrial unit off ebay for US25 without probe. The unit itself is worth $1700 in Australia.

I work for a company that specialises in Instrumentation. Foxboro.

There was a link a while ago about this and I think somewhere in QLD their was a company called milwaukie instruments that had ph controllers for 300 dollars

[kalebjarrod]

i hate this forum

every day i come here and find more things to spend cash on :wink:

thanks for the help Bad Inferno

[DiscusMad]

soda stream gass bottles are cheap too!

[kalebjarrod]

surely beer gas is food grade C02?

the reason i ask is that i already have a CO2 Cylinder to fill my beer keg

couldn't be that hard a job to tee the cylinder, second regulator, some valves, diffusor bingo

[DiscusMad]

surely beer gas is food grade C02?

the reason i ask is that i already have a CO2 Cylinder to fill my beer keg

couldn't be that hard a job to tee the cylinder, second regulator, some valves, diffusor bingo


DRUNK FISH!!! LOL

[kalebjarrod]

DRUNK FISH!!! LOL

DRUNK FISH OWNER!

[TomNS]

surely beer gas is food grade C02?

the reason i ask is that i already have a CO2 Cylinder to fill my beer keg

couldn't be that hard a job to tee the cylinder, second regulator, some valves, diffusor bingo

Yeah beer CO2 is certainly food grade - they now are mostly using the "Air-Up" 4wd systems - see a lot of people talking about them online

Tom

[ILLUSN]

Al that is a GREAT DIY set up, Who supplied your bottle? No one round my way (PENRITH) wants anything to do with selling me a 2nd extinguisher.

[ILLUSN]

Sorry that should read 2nd HAND fire extinguisher :)