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Reccommended CO2 set

Verminator

Member
Joined
29 Mar 2009
Messages
62
Location
Coventry, West Midlands, UK
Been researching CO2 sets online and in local retail outlets. Just wondered if people here have any that come with good experiences and ease of use. Places i've looked online are aquaspotworld.com (singapore based), aquaressentials.co.uk. Not really to fussed about pricing currently, i'm in the mindset where i'm throwing money at my tank. Which in the currenct econimical climate its probably not advisable, ah well. I've used a TetraPlant CO2 Depot over the last 4 years and to be quite frank its quite bad. It does its job in supplying extra CO2, but since i started out in the hobby my experience has grown and what i hope to achieve requires somewhat more substantial, effecient and reliable CO2 injection.

So if anyone has any good sets please shout out names, plus the sort of price range that i can expext to cough up. Or is it really just as simple as going out and buying a £120 CO2 set from an aquatics store?

Thanks in advance,
James
 
Well it kinda depends on budget but Dennerle do a reasonable set I believe, as do JBL (Pro Flora sets). To be honest they're a bit over priced. You could buy a Lunapet set from Germany (via eBay) which tend to be pretty good. With these you get the whole thing, including some sort of diffuser or reactor (reactor is usually a good way to go if you've got a larger tank).

You could go the fire extinguisher route, buying all the required bits seperately. This is the way I went in the end, and I was able to buy bits over a short period, instead of paying out a lump sum.
 
Funny you should mention the fire-extinguisher method. It certainly would be cheaper but i'm concerned at the fact its a fire-extinguisher. I did read the thread on making one yourself just yesterday and it looks damn simple enough. It would last a hell of a lot longer than most CO2 units so its certainly a good choice. I'm reluctant to have 'the usual' DIY setup ones with yeast ect for no obvious reason but reluctance. I think i'll look into the fire-extinguisher method.

Any mishaps or bad experiences with it so far Steve? Or is it simple enough.
 
Only major problem so far is that neither of my regulators fit the current FE I have. This is the first time I've had this though, and I think the FE I've got is a bit old. I've been through about 3 2kg bottles and 2 5kg bottles before getting to this one.

Best thing is to find somewhere that will refill them and to make sure you have a fairly new FE (most places won't refill anything older than 10 years old). I have had one FE refilled up at a place oposite Walsgrave/University Hospital (what ever it's called now). Cost about £12.50 for a 2kg refill. They wouldn't touch the older FE but refilled the newer one I had.

Other than FE's, it might be worth looking at LFS's. You might be able to get 600g bottles on a loan/hire/refill basis. I know Coventry Aquatics were going to be doing something like this, but no sign as yet (he was talking about getting a CO2 refilling station sorted out). You can still build your own CO2 kit using a bought aquatics bottle (usually JBL) but they cost a lot to buy in the first instance compared to FE's. Being able to hire one and get it refilled would be pretty good.
 
Certainly the way to go. Especially if i can get it refilled in near Walsgrave hospital. I live on the estate in Walsgrave between the Hospital and Tesco on the other side :D Definately an easy choice and certainly what i'd call on my doorstep 8)
 
Verminator,
If money is no object then why not just join the B.O.C ? You can get as large a cylinder as you like and refills are not a problem as long as a distribution center is not too far away. you can get the bottle delivered as well but that is also a cost. Again, i mention this only because you've stated that cost isn't too much of an issue, so if that's the case this is the easiest route. The fittings are industrial standards so any of the normal regulators will match.

Cheers,
 
Currently asking around people i know with connections to see if i can get hold of a FE on the super cheap real easy. If not, then eBay :D I'm seemingly convinced on this idea now. Its seems so easily do-able. The fittings for the solenoid/regulators to attach to, is there much variation between sizes of fitting. Or is it a case of most FE will fit. Thats my only doubt atm. Not exactly in the know-how for FE, never actually had any dealings previously with any sort of FE
 
The only regs you have to be weary of are welding regs which have completely different connectors. All the readily available regs people recommend, such as those on ebay have standard size fittings. Similarly, all the cylinders have a correspondingly sized attachment which the regs will fit. The only cylinders that I understand a reg might not fit are the huge industrial ones, which I doubt you be using anyway! :lol:

Sam
 
Themuleous said:
If money is no object then why not just join the B.O.C ? You can get as large a cylinder as you like and refills are not a problem as long as a distribution center is not too far away.

i've got a BOC account for my work, but not all dealers deal with CO2...i asked. i couldnt get it through mine :D best check before starting an account.
 
Themuleous said:
The only regs you have to be weary of are welding regs which have completely different connectors. All the readily available regs people recommend, such as those on ebay have standard size fittings. Similarly, all the cylinders have a correspondingly sized attachment which the regs will fit. The only cylinders that I understand a reg might not fit are the huge industrial ones, which I doubt you be using anyway! :lol:

Sam
Hi Sam, I don't think this is true. These connectors are industrial standards and they came first. The connectors are the same regardless of the cylinder size. The aquarium regulators were designed around these industrial standards. Welding uses a variety of different gases so those connectors associated with other-than-CO2 gas cylinders may be different but if it's CO2 the connector specifications are the same throughout Western Europe. I believe that only those specialized miniature CO2 sets have non-standard connectors for which I believe there are adapters to allow them to fit on standard cylinder connectors.

saintly said:
i've got a BOC account for my work, but not all dealers deal with CO2...i asked. i couldnt get it through mine :D best check before starting an account.
Yep, that's true, and not all cylinder sizes are available at all locations. You also have to specify when getting a cylinder that you want vapor CO2 as opposed to liquid.

Cheers,
 
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