Recommend Me a CO2 System

[johnny70]

May dip my feet into a full Co2 system for my rio180, what would you recommend for me, I a novice coming into co2.

Cheers
JOHNNY

 

[Ed Seeley]

This is really spooky as I was going to ask everyone what they thought the 'best' CO2 kit was!

I have a JBL Easy 2 CO2 kit currently running on my Rio 180. I bought it as it was the only kit I could find with a solenoid for under £100 at the time. I'm know going to keep on using it on my Rio as the two cabinet sections on new models are pretty tight for a larger system, though I think I could squeeze a slightly larger one in like George has.
I find the regulator adjusts easily and I can control the CO2 fine with a bit of careful tweaking. I have added a glass bubble counter just after the non-return valve to help when adjusting.
In my opinion though, the JBL diffuser is rubbish and I used a DIY external reactor on my old tank. In a year of running I am only on my second bottle with the reactor (and not running at 30ppm CO2), but on the new tank I have teamed it up with a glass diffuser and I think I will go through far, far more...

 

[johnny70]

thanks for the info, does that come with a night shut off too, thats a must for me as my tank is heavily stocked so I want a night shut off

Cheers
JOHNNY

 

[cousin it]

it is worth having a look at this setup on ebay it is basically the bioplast profistar setup which in my opinion has a superior regulator to the jbl ones, mainly due to it allowing you to set the operating pressure manualy.
I have been using a bioplast profistar set on one of my tanks now for over a decade with no issues what so ever, I also have a jbl setup and do not like not being able to set teh operating pressure which is a pain when using glass diffusers.

 

[johnny70]

thanks

Does that include everything i would need? inc solenoid for the night switch off?

what co2 bottles does it take, or do you buy from them?

Sorry for the dumb ass questions I just haven't done anything with co2 before

JOHNNY

 

[cousin it]

that set uses the same bottles as the jbl ones, often I get jbl bottles returned to me with bioplast deponit stickers on them, there is a solenoid ( night shut off ) and it apears to have everything you need to get started.

 

[johnny70]

cool. can these be refilled then?

Cheers
JOHNNY

 

[cousin it]

yep they are refillable.

 

[johnny70]

excellent, how long do you get out of it before it needs refilling? what the approx cost to refil?

Thanks
JOHNNY

 

[cousin it]

it depends on the size of the tank I'm using it on.
on my 4' tank I get about 3-4 months use at 30ppm using an aquamedic 1000 inline reactor, on my 2' tank i get about the same running an ada pollenglass 24/7 but on my 27L cube I get nearly a year using a cheapo glass diffuser.

I have used that regulator to run a rio400 and a 4' tank using a 2kg bottle and had about 5mths from a refil.

i have a deal with my lfs which happens to be owned by a plant nut and on an exchange bottle ( I take the empty in and take a full inspected one home ) it costs me about £10 a time which I feel is good value considering he keeps a spare on the shelf for every size bottle I own.

You should be able to find a company locally that refils fire extinguishers ( sp ) that should be able to refil it for you at a good price.

 

[Ed Seeley]

thanks for the info, does that come with a night shut off too, thats a must for me as my tank is heavily stocked so I want a night shut off

Cheers
JOHNNY

The '2' set does come with a solenoid. In the past George has made a really good point about using a solenoid even if you run CO2 24/7, as if there's a powercut then the CO2 will go off along with the filters, lights etc. hopefully preventing an overdose.

The JBL Easy sets use disposable bottles. They do make a refillable set called 'Pro' I think, for more money. The Easy sets use different regulators with only one knob for adjustments but it works really well for me with a reactor or glass diffuser so far. Talking to a Welding supplier he was amazed we use such comnplicated regs most of the time, especially for disposable bottles.

Personally for my next set I'm looking at using much bigger bottles. Either Fire Extinguishers (see Sams post in the tutorial section) or a large cylinder from a local supplier.

 

[cousin it]

Talking to a Welding supplier he was amazed we use such comnplicated regs most of the time

because your not playing with animal life when welding, tolerances are much tighter, my local hydroponics supply shop sell very cheap regulators that I would not touch as their accuracy is rubbish.

 

[james3200]

I use that reg ( cousin it linked to) on my 34kg bottle. My jbl one lasted around 18 months and now i cant adjust it and only get a reasonble flow out of it. It works on both big and small bottles, just have to change the o rings after every other refil, very good, would def get it over the jbl, and im not the only person to experience similar probs with jbl

 

[jolt100]

I just bought a kit through ebay from lunapet.de the website is in german but you can see he has different kits, a filled 2kg bottle, diffuser, solenoid and regulator comes on at just over the £110 mark delivered. Regulator looks ok to me, all metal construction and needle valve adjusts ok. No instructions so I had to work it out from scratch.
Only got it this week so dont know how long the gas will last. ( how many bubbles in 2000g???)

 

[Themuleous]

Check this out

http://www.ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=266

Sam