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Bottle running out?

Elephantnosey

Member
Joined
23 Feb 2019
Messages
33
Location
South Yorkshire
Hi. New user of CO2.
6.25 kg bottle, purchased from a reputable dealer?
Showed 600 / 700 psi at the gauge.
I'm dosing around 3 bubbles per second on a brand new CO2 art elite system.
Last night the pressure gauge had dropped to 400 psi.
Tonight it's down to 100 psi.
I assume this means it's running out of gas?
Perfectly normal you may think. It doesn't last forever.
HOWEVER..... it's been in use 2 weeks !
Can anyone explain?
I've checked for leaks using a washing up liquid / water sprayer method. Nothing.
This leads me to think the bottle wasn't full.
Any ideas?
 
My 6Kg bottle doesnt last long about a month but BPS


So I have an high CO2 injection rate

The PSI on my bottles is always around 1000PSI and when it starts to fall it last a few days and its empty, at 500PSI maybe a day left and at 100PSI a have a few hours maybe left. assuming you have no leaks which you have checked for the only reasonable explanation is it wasn't full IMO/IME in fact I would stick my neck out and say it was well empty to start with :eek:
 
Could you feel liquid CO₂ sloshing around in the bottle as you handled it, if not then it's gas only in the bottle at pressure with no liquid component.

What volume of water are you trying to saturate with CO₂?
 
My 6Kg bottle doesnt last long about a month but BPS


So I have an high CO2 injection rate

The PSI on my bottles is always around 1000PSI and when it starts to fall it last a few days and its empty, at 500PSI maybe a day left and at 100PSI a have a few hours maybe left. assuming you have no leaks which you have checked for the only reasonable explanation is it wasn't full IMO/IME in fact I would stick my neck out and say it was well empty to start with :eek:
 
The problem I have now is I've hired the bottle and there's only a 50% refund if I surrender it. I may get it refilled once more and if I have the same issues....ill bite the bullet and go elsewhere. I wouldn't know a full bottle from an empty one to be honest. Obviously ones heavier
 
I can't remember to be honest. I was too busy juggling trying to get it in the boot of the car. Its a 350 litre, but due to what I've got in there it's only about 300 litres of water. I'm certain I'm not dosing enough, just mindful of over -dosing and still playing around with it at the moment.
 
I would make another bubble solution up and check again, might have just sprung a leak mate. post a few pics of the setup.
how long is your co2 on?
what tubing you are using from reg?
 
Last edited:
You should weigh the bottle before use and then compare with empty weight to make sure you are getting what you pay for.

I haven't tried this yet but the next time I suspect that I have leaking hardware I'm going to use that Magic Ballon paste you get in a tube and paint it round where I suspect a leak, if I get a nice big balloon then I will know there's a leak.
 
Its CO2 art tubing that came with the full set up. Its on about 7 hours, an hour before lights on, and goes off an hour before lights out as I was advised.....but I'm open to other advice. Its very heavily planted. I'll look again for leaks before it runs out
 

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You should weigh the bottle before use and then compare with empty weight to make sure you are getting what you pay for.

I haven't tried this yet but the next time I suspect that I have leaking hardware I'm going to use that Magic Ballon paste you get in a tube and paint it round where I suspect a leak, if I get a nice big balloon then I will know there's a leak.
 
My 6Kg bottle doesnt last long about a month but BPS


So I have an high CO2 injection rate

The PSI on my bottles is always around 1000PSI and when it starts to fall it last a few days and its empty, at 500PSI maybe a day left and at 100PSI a have a few hours maybe left. assuming you have no leaks which you have checked for the only reasonable explanation is it wasn't full IMO/IME in fact I would stick my neck out and say it was well empty to start with :eek:
 
Would you recommend using an inline adaptor into your filter like yours? I've been using the ceramic diffuser that came with the kit. I have a spray bar that goes from front to back ( it's a Trigon 350) and water movement with that is sufficient I would say. I can see all the plants moving all around, even the smaller ones at the bottom
 
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