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Another Co2 kit thread...

Aqua360

Aqua360

Member
Joined
15 Feb 2016
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2,275
Location
UK
Hi all,

I'm new to the forums, sorry if this is going to be a question that you've read numerous times...I'm looking for a long term co2 kit for my 62 litre tank, ideally one that features all the standard parts such as regulator, bubble counter etc; but specifically a solenoid valve that i can use with a timer, with the kit able to work with at least a 500g cylinder, ideally 1 litre.

I've had a look at the site sponsors, specifically CO2 art; I've heard great things about their products, my confusion is really over sodastream, paintball cylinders; and whether i should avoid a certain type of system at my location (Paisley, Scotland).

Would really appreciate any opinions on this as I continue my research lol, this is my first venture into co2; after messing about with a disposable fluval 20 kit 😀
 
CO2Art are a good company, service is very good. They have had some problems recently with some of their dual stage regulators not maintaining pressure, this has happened to me with a replacement unit I got before new year, but they have been really good about it and have replaced it with an upgraded unit. The one I had problems with was the "Professional" version, I'm not sure if they also had issues with the "Advance Professional" version. I believe the issue was a QC problem with some of their parts they received from their supplier. Loads of people have bought these units without issue though and if you were to be unlucky, the service is good and they will resolve the problem.

A lot of people run from a Fire Extinguisher, as do I. When an FE gets to 10 years old, companies have to replace them. I e-mailed all the fire safety companies in my area, many were not interested and a few even gave me some safety lectures, but I found a small company that was happy to pass on 2 KG FE's for £5 each. That lasts 2-3 months on my 120 litre, so its a cheap way of running a CO2 system. I don't bother refilling them as Chubb wanted stupid money to refill them, I could have bought a brand new extinguisher cheaper online than having an old one refilled at Chubb in Aberdeen. I just take the empties to the local recycling centre that accepts cylinders.

Sodastream is an easy way to do it on a smaller tank, but I guess could get expensive on larger tanks as you will have to refill frequently.
 
Wisey said:
CO2Art are a good company, service is very good. They have had some problems recently with some of their dual stage regulators not maintaining pressure, this has happened to me with a replacement unit I got before new year, but they have been really good about it and have replaced it with an upgraded unit. The one I had problems with was the "Professional" version, I'm not sure if they also had issues with the "Advance Professional" version. I believe the issue was a QC problem with some of their parts they received from their supplier. Loads of people have bought these units without issue though and if you were to be unlucky, the service is good and they will resolve the problem.

A lot of people run from a Fire Extinguisher, as do I. When an FE gets to 10 years old, companies have to replace them. I e-mailed all the fire safety companies in my area, many were not interested and a few even gave me some safety lectures, but I found a small company that was happy to pass on 2 KG FE's for £5 each. That lasts 2-3 months on my 120 litre, so its a cheap way of running a CO2 system. I don't bother refilling them as Chubb wanted stupid money to refill them, I could have bought a brand new extinguisher cheaper online than having an old one refilled at Chubb in Aberdeen. I just take the empties to the local recycling centre that accepts cylinders.

Sodastream is an easy way to do it on a smaller tank, but I guess could get expensive on larger tanks as you will have to refill frequently.
Click to expand...

they do offer a sodastream kit for tanks up to 250 litres, that looks quite good; also read these sodastream bottles are available quite commonly in supermarkets etc, but ive never seen them personally, do you know if they are quite common?
 
Can't say I have ever seen them, at least not since I was about 8 years old and that was 30 years ago, but I have not been looking for them either. Sodastream website has a thing that tells you where you can get them:

https://www.sodastream.co.uk/

Do keep in mind that the system might work up to 250 litres, but it's probably a lot more expensive to run as you will be swapping those small bottles out more often.
 
Wisey said:
Can't say I have ever seen them, at least not since I was about 8 years old and that was 30 years ago, but I have not been looking for them either. Sodastream website has a thing that tells you where you can get them:

https://www.sodastream.co.uk/

Do keep in mind that the system might work up to 250 litres, but it's probably a lot more expensive to run as you will be swapping those small bottles out more often.
Click to expand...

yeah, I'm definitely looking for long term economy; it's why I'm steering away from the disposable cylinders etc. Unless it makes sense to use them, I have no idea how long the CO2 would last me etc; I have a lot to learn lol
 
Hopefully someone who has actually used Sodastream will chip in with some info. I would have a look at getting hold of FE's in your area and see what the chances are of getting a long term supply on the cheap.
 
Hi Aqua, I use the Sodastream Co2 System from Co2Art Started off with a JBL 500g Co2 Bottle To refill £20 😱 Sodastream To buy the first one £20 exchange £ 11 for 500g so cheaper to run.This lasts 3 months in my 30 cm Cube I do run High Co2 though Dropchecker stays lime green 24/7 I do not have fish or shrimp so not a problem.
If I were you I would go for FE its the cheapest way.

Photo of the system before Sodastream 69.JPG
 
I use Sodastream as backup gas when I take my bottles to get refilled, usually I can't get my 1L tanks (CO₂Art) filled straight away, I sometimes have to wait a few days as only one person at the gas fillers I go to knows how to fill my bottles from CO₂Art (filled by weight and if a kilo goes in accidentally I may have an eventful ride home in the car) and if he's out on rounds then I don't need to panic. I have two Sodastream bottles just in case my Gas Man is on his annual leave so I'm never without gas!

A Sodastream bottle lasts me about 30 days if I have no leaks and I'm not aiming for a yellow drop checker. (50L system volume)

You can get Sodastream bottles from Asda, usually found in the aisle with all the kitchen utensils. It's £20 for a new bottle and when you empty it you bring the old bottle back and grab the replacement from the shelf which will then only cost £9 (take both bottles to till, they need to scan labels on both for you to get the discount). If they're charging £20 for a refill the cashier is scanning the barcodes wrong, there's a knack to doing it, the Magenta barcode on the empty bottle is what triggers the discount.

There has been a few occasions recently at Asda when there has been a third off offer on the new bottles for which the refills are discounted also but an even better deal and only cost £5! (taps the cash in his back pocket and whistles a tune).

🙂
 
Just seen Greenfinger2 CO₂ usage, wow I seem to appear to have more leaks than the Titanic, can't seem to find them though, well at least I found the one coming from the screw fitting of my inline that hissed at me.
 
Greenfinger2 said:
Hi X3niTH,Just a Though, Have you used soppy water to find the leaks🙂
Click to expand...

Loads of times, never find anything, possibly intermittent, soap and wiggle test shows up nothing, all leaks I have ever found have been either from the regulator (leaky bottle stem) or from inlines, first inline (Intense brand) had a slow releasing pressure crack on one side and the new UP one recently that hissed worked its way loose at the cleaning access screw threads despite me using gas tape on the threads, just tightened it up a bit more and the leak stopped (granted I did use the mole grips to get a good purchase and turn tighter until the fear of it cracking on me took over). I'm currently at 25days on 700g filled 1L bottles, that's including discovering the loose nut 1 week in on the fresh bottle.

I'm using a 20" reactor that gives me 100% CO₂ dissolution. Worst usage so far is 600g in 10 days (was testing 24/7 gas at this point so time period for gas was doubled, but there was no gas in pH drop (pH drop of 2) phase which is 2 hours of injection daily from above atmos equilibrium, topping up doesn't require much more than one or two 10 minute gas on periods per hour. This poor use coincided after a tank gut and rinsed and reused Fluval Stratum was used as substrate, any KH it had absorbed over the previous 18months+ use was released over the week, KH at start was <1 (not tested at time as there was no deviation from original routine), by the end of the week it was up at 12+, drop checker was yellow all week, there were no canaries (fish) in the tank to warn me of the over gassing, pH was running on controller set to pH5.1. Stem plants were wiped out (apparent problems with leaves going glassy, the day before I found the KH up above 12), first initial response was to drop the lights down from 50% total output down to 20% (which I later found out (a lot later) after sorting things out was below the LCP for Buce and above the LCP for BBA). My Buce continue to struggle despite my efforts, they keep growing and just when they look like they are beginning to thrive again the new young growth just catastrophically melt, it's so frustrating, flipping Java fern thrives even after almost being wiped out in the KH debacle.

I stopped fretting over how much CO₂ I was using a long while ago, just want to ensure there's more than enough consistently going in to make sure the drop checker stays a nice 30ppm shade of green all day from before lights on to lights off, if it changes to yellow then I have warning that the KH has climbed (still no canaries in the tank although the snails from the tank beside have found this tank again, aargh).
 
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Hello Aqua360 , On what you describe the D-D 500/600 Freshwater Set as all need to start,I use one on a 200 litre,D-D have a good troubleshooting section section too if you have issues or questions.
 
Thanks a lot for these responses, really giving me a good idea 🙂

I'm very tempted by the sodastream...if I can get 3 months for roughly £10 once the bought bottles new are factored in etc, that is very enticing to me, especially with the convenience of buying them at local supermarkets.

I'm going to drop by tesco tonight, I'll definitely be looking for these 🙂

Does anyone else have experiences of how long a 500g sodastream would last on a 60litre tank? I realise its pretty variable, but even if I could get 2 months on one bottle, I'd definitely go that route
 
I have just set up a soda stream system using the co2 art advance regulator. I bought 2 cylinders at £20 each so I could alternate. The first bottle lasted 3 days but I had a bit of a mare setting it up and lost some gas. The second bottle lasted 3 days. I have checked for leaks using proper leak detector spray and found nothing. There is another fault with this reg in that the high pressure gauge does not respond but the low pressure gauge goes up to around 40psi. I have emailed co2art and they are going to send me a replacement but are adamant I check all avenues for leaks. Having read this I am now wondering if this is part of the batch fault problem described earlier. I have wasted £40 of gas so far and wish I'd have gone FE but that is no reflection on the system as for the 3 days it lasted it worked ok.

Does anyone know how much a full sodastream bottle should weigh? I've read problems with refills before also and the boxes and bottles I got from Argos look a little beaten so I don't trust them 100% at the moment but I need to confirm the reg is working before I go accusing Argos.
 
Thanks greenfinger2 perhaps you could weigh an empty cylinder then deduct the weight to calculate the weight of the actual contents That would be good 🙂 also I'm guessing the 2Kg FE is actually 2kg as a whole or is it referring to contents only?
 
Thanks. Really wish I'd have weighed mine now. I wonder if co2art would admit there was a fault with the faulty regulator and refund me the cost of the gas? By the time I've filled the two empty ones back up that will be £60 on gas for a grand total of 6 days co2 injection. Not a bad return 🙁

What other options are there after soda and FE cylinders?
 
You'll find that whatever container the CO₂ gas is stored in is that 99% of the problems with leaks happens after the bottle valve.

The remaining 1% for me is that on one occasion I have had a full bottles burst disc go pop while I was sitting next to it, 1kg of gas gone in less than 10 seconds which was quite exciting, not a soda stream bottle but CO₂Arts 1L bottle, my gas man says the bottle is pressure rated to hold 1kg but we think the safety burst discs are rated below this. 1L of CO₂ is about 600g, we are cautiously filling and have managed 700g without issue, he doesn't have spare burst discs that fit, he looked before I even asked that question so if another disc goes the bottle is rendered useless, hence only one guy in the shop can fill these bottles which is why I'm using soda stream bottle for any interim period.

CO₂Art replaced that bottle for me without question, they were really good about it!

My FE refillers can get me a 2kg rated bottle that's not a fire extinguisher but has a screw valve on top like CO₂Arts 1L bottles, cost quoted was about £50, so if we ever trash another safety disc (by slowly working up the fill weight) I know I have another alternative to head for, my other half has banned me misusing a FE so I'm stuck with bottles that either have valves built in or of small volume (soda stream).
 
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