# JBL or Dennerle co2 system



## Richard Aldridge (17 Jan 2021)

I want to start injecting co2 into a 100 litre tank that contains mainly low tech plants,Crypts,Anubia and Amazon sword.

I don't like the idea of having a big red fire extinguisher on show, I'd rather go down the route of ready to go systems such as JBL or Dennerle with the disposable cylinders.
I'm aware that it's not the cheapest option but it still wouldn't cost the earth at 1bps and my plants would appreciate even this low amount of co2.

So if any of you guys could recommend any of these systems for a small low tech tank I would be very grateful for your advice.

Thank in advance


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## Nick potts (17 Jan 2021)

Is a SodaStream bottle out of the question? I use one on a nano tank and it is cheaper than the branded systems, plus you can take the empties back to argos or the range etc and get a new canister half price.


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## Richard Aldridge (17 Jan 2021)

Hi Nick,thanks for replying,well sodastream isn't completely out of the question but the fact that you can't have the refills delivered creates a problem for me because I'm quite badly disabled and travelling would be problematic for me.
I would be interested in listening to advice regarding systems using sodastream bottles in case my circumstances change in the future.


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## Nick potts (17 Jan 2021)

No problem.

In that case i don't think the sodastream would be any more economical, the sodastream bottle holds 425g of gas and both the jbl and dennerle use 500g canisters ( I am guessing you are talking about these kits?) Dennerle CO2 Kit 300 quantum System for Planted Aquarium Disposable, JBL ProFlora u501 + - CO2 System for Planted Aquarium

Both will do the job, I would advise getting the more expensive of either version that comes with a solenoid to turn the gas off at night.


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## Kezzab (17 Jan 2021)

Does your tank have a cabinet under it with space?


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## Tim Harrison (17 Jan 2021)

Richard Aldridge said:


> I don't like the idea of having a big red fire extinguisher on show,


I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but neither the the JBL nor the Dennerle options are particularly attractive either.
And if you get the doping bug, as many do, you'll find yourself investing in a fire extinguisher kit and caboodle anyway.

Have you given any thought to a silver chrome fire extinguisher, there are always a few on eBay. You should be able to find somewhere local to refill it.






Or failing that you could go old school, and invest a relatively small amount of £12.99 on a Tropica CO2 system 60. The refills are readily available from Aquarium Gardens or in Pets at Home stores, and elsewhere online etc and cost around £20.00 for 3 bottles.


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## GHNelson (17 Jan 2021)

This might be an option....but you would have to pay a Royal Mail handling customs fees  
2L Aquarium CO2 Generator System Kit, CO2 Stainless Steel Cylinder Generator System, Carbon Dioxide Reactor Kit for Plants Aquarium: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home
hoggie


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## Kezzab (17 Jan 2021)

The dennerle bottles just look like you are paying over the odds for one of these:





						Clarke CO2 Gas Cylinder (600g) - Machine Mart - Machine Mart
					






					www.machinemart.co.uk
				




I use these on my nano, get them home delivered.


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## Stuart_B (17 Jan 2021)

Richard Aldridge said:


> Hi Nick,thanks for replying,well sodastream isn't completely out of the question but the fact that you can't have the refills delivered creates a problem for me because I'm quite badly disabled and travelling would be problematic for me.
> I would be interested in listening to advice regarding systems using sodastream bottles in case my circumstances change in the future.


Sodastream do deliver but I don't know how  cost compares with getting refills locally...other outlets might also deliver too.


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## Richard Aldridge (17 Jan 2021)

Nick potts said:


> No problem.
> 
> In that case i don't think the sodastream would be any more economical, the sodastream bottle holds 425g of gas and both the jbl and dennerle use 500g canisters ( I am guessing you are talking about these kits?) Dennerle CO2 Kit 300 quantum System for Planted Aquarium Disposable, JBL ProFlora u501 + - CO2 System for Planted Aquarium
> 
> Both will do the job, I would advise getting the more expensive of either version that comes with a solenoid to turn the gas off at night.


I thought that too,thanks Nick.



Kezzab said:


> The dennerle bottles just look like you are paying over the odds for one of these:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'll look into that,thank you.

Thanks for all your replies guy's, you've certainly given me food for thought, I'm very grateful to you all.


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## Nick potts (17 Jan 2021)

Stuart_B said:


> Sodastream do deliver but I don't know how  cost compares with getting refills locally...other outlets might also deliver too.



The sodastream bottles aren't actually all that economical, looks like the price has gone up on the refills, it's now £14.99 for 425gr refill, and the dennerle or jbl are £19.99 for 500gr and you can get the welding bottles for £14 for 600gr


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## Siege (17 Jan 2021)

A proper 3kg or 1.5kg in your cabinet?
Consumable Solutions - Medway, Kent​NEED TO CALL FIRST
Gillingham
Medway
ME7 2HY

Tel: 01634 578370 / 07786564487

2 miles from your location

Expect to pay about £60 deposit and the £30ish for 3kg of gas.

Bargain!


ps. You are gonna be using a lot more than 1bps of a 100L tank!


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## Richard Aldridge (17 Jan 2021)

Stuart_B said:


> Sodastream do deliver but I don't know how  cost compares with getting refills locally...other outlets might also deliver too.


I can't imagine it cost effective,they charge £3.95 for delivery.


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## Richard Aldridge (17 Jan 2021)

Siege said:


> A proper 3kg or 1.5kg in your cabinet?
> Consumable Solutions - Medway, Kent​NEED TO CALL FIRST
> Gillingham
> Medway
> ...


I'll look into that,thanks for the information.


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## Siege (17 Jan 2021)

This type of bottle (or FE) will fit a standard DIN 477 regulator. You won’t be tied into one bottle manufacturer. Expensive and may become hard to get in today’s times.


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## jaypeecee (17 Jan 2021)

Tim Harrison said:


> Or failing that you could go old school, and invest a relatively small amount of £12.99 on a Tropica CO2 system 60.



Hi Folks,

I have a Tropica System 60 but I wouldn't recommend it. Diffusion of CO2 into the tank water is _very_ slow in my experience - even when there is plenty of water flow across the bottom of the unit from which the CO2 diffuses. I used one in a 5 litre tank (yes, 5 litres) but gave up on it.

JPC


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## Siege (17 Jan 2021)

Yes not great on large tank or if flow is super low.

My friend does well on a nano tank. Took it off and quickly put it back on. Grows a carpet quite well. Far better than with no CO2.

check out ridge.scapes on Instagram. He’s posting a bit more recently. Also has a really nice 80cm scape changed to full Co2 on that last year with Twinstar S.


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## jaypeecee (17 Jan 2021)

Siege said:


> Yes not great on large tank.


Not even a 5 litre tank!

JPC


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## Siege (17 Jan 2021)

I’m surprised you could get the diffuser in a 5L tank! 😂


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## jaypeecee (17 Jan 2021)

Siege said:


> I’m surprised you could get the diffuser in a 5L tank!


No problem. 

JPC


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## Andy Pierce (18 Jan 2021)

Kezzab said:


> The dennerle bottles just look like you are paying over the odds for one of these:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


These are exactly what I use as well.  They last about 4 months.  The downside is you'll have to assemble/homebrew the rest of the system rather than getting it all as a pre-made kit.


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## Kezzab (18 Jan 2021)

You can get a standard set up from co2 art or co2 supermarket, all you need additionally is the adapter which they also sell. Easy as pie.


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## Richard Aldridge (18 Jan 2021)

Kezzab said:


> The dennerle bottles just look like you are paying over the odds for one of these:
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Kezzab said:


> You can get a standard set up from co2 art or co2 supermarket, all you need additionally is the adapter which they also sell. Easy as pie.





Kezzab said:


> You can get a standard set up from co2 art or co2 supermarket, all you need additionally is the adapter which they also sell. Easy as pie.


It appears that sellers are having problems getting supplies of JBL and Dennerle items due to due to import restrictions etc,so I'm thinking that it's not such a good idea, considering that 2kg fire extinguisher costs £25 brand new I'm beginning to think I'd be a bit of a fool not to choose this route.

Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced system for a 100 litre tank,oh and what do you do with the cylinders when they're empty?


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## Tim Harrison (18 Jan 2021)

Richard Aldridge said:


> 2kg fire extinguisher costs £25 brand new I'm beginning to think I'd be a bit of a fool not to choose this route.


It's the only sensible way really.


Richard Aldridge said:


> Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced system for a 100 litre tank,


Check out Aquarium Gardens, any of the CO2 Art regs they have will be fine. Quality at a decent price, and fantastic sales and after sales service.








						Aquarium Co2 Set up Kit  from Aquarium Gardens
					

Aquarium Co2 Kit from Aquarium Gardens. Includes Co2 Regulator & solenoid, bubble counter, diffuser and Co2 tubing.




					www.aquariumgardens.co.uk
				











						Pro-Elite Aquarium CO2 Kit
					

Pro-Elite Series Complete Kit is the highest quality CO2 System available in the aquarium market. This CO2 System is a combination of our best




					www.aquariumgardens.co.uk
				





Richard Aldridge said:


> what do you do with the cylinders when they're empty?


If they're in date they can be refilled. If not trade them in or give them to your supplier to be recycled or reused.


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## Kezzab (18 Jan 2021)

Find a local fire protection  firm near you and give them a ring and explain what you want. They are probably already doing it for other people. 

I paid £30 For first bottle then it's £15 For each replacement.


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## Richard Aldridge (18 Jan 2021)

Tim Harrison said:


> It's the only sensible way really.
> 
> Check out Aquarium Gardens, any of the CO2 Art regs they have will be fine. Quality at a decent price, and fantastic sales and after sales service.
> 
> ...





Tim Harrison said:


> It's the only sensible way really.
> 
> Check out Aquarium Gardens, any of the CO2 Art regs they have will be fine. Quality at a decent price, and fantastic sales and after sales service.
> 
> ...


Thanks for your advice, I'll have a look at co2art and co2 supermarket and see what the have to offer.


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## Kevin70 (3 Feb 2021)

hi I wouldnt get a dennerle co2 kit if I was u  I got one for my 60 litre cube and it struggled to send the drop checker green and that was full on , I had to buy a jbl kit and that is perfect  but the dennerle co2 kits must be just for about 20 or 30 litres  it just couldn't cope with 60


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## Richard Aldridge (4 Feb 2021)

Hi Kevin,
I've noticed that a lot of my regular sites like Pro Shrimp have stopped selling German kits like Dennerle and JBL and it's because of import problems,so I'm going to get my stuff from either co2supermarket or co2art, can't make my mind up because they both have good and bad reviews.
Anyway thank you for replying to my post.


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## Richard Aldridge (4 Feb 2021)

By the way Kevin if that's a picture of your 60 litre tank then your certainly doing everything right.👍


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## Nick potts (4 Feb 2021)

Richard Aldridge said:


> Hi Kevin,
> I've noticed that a lot of my regular sites like Pro Shrimp have stopped selling German kits like Dennerle and JBL and it's because of import problems,so I'm going to get my stuff from either co2supermarket or co2art, can't make my mind up because they both have good and bad reviews.
> Anyway thank you for replying to my post.


co2 supermarket is fine till you have a problem, I have found them to be rude and rather unhelpful.


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## Ivan Stoyanov (4 Feb 2021)

I have a problem with co2art.eu to, if its costs a lot. So just have something on mind,  if things goes wrong


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## Richard Aldridge (4 Feb 2021)

Nick potts said:


> co2 supermarket is fine till you have a problem, I have found them to be rude and rather unhelpful.


Nick,out of curiosity I went on the Trustpilot site to look at reviews of co2supermarket.co.uk and I was a bit shocked to see one of their replies to a negative review.

All I can say is that I would be reluctant to have dealings with anyone that could respond to a negative review in this manner,also I'm surprised that a site that praises themselves for honest reviews allowed this reply to be published.

Co2 supermarket is definitely off my buying list!!


Nick potts said:


> co2 supermarket is fine till you have a problem, I have found them to be rude and rather unhelpful.


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## Richard Aldridge (4 Feb 2021)

Ivan Stoyanov said:


> I have a problem with co2art.eu to, if its costs a lot. So just have something on mind,  if things goes wrong


So you think that co2 art is expensive but their items are good?


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## Ivan Stoyanov (4 Feb 2021)

Nope, prices are ok,  but if you have a problem with some expensive item, they can make you crazy. About quality, last months I read a lot bad comments,  maybe I'm not right.


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## Richard Aldridge (4 Feb 2021)

I agree with you Ivan, I've been looking at reviews and I've seen the bad comments too,so now I'm not sure about them either.


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## Ivan Stoyanov (4 Feb 2021)

I bought there elite regulator, because used 2 years pro-se and was happy with him. The elite was with fault valve from start, dropped bubble rate every day. I msg them and we started two weeks of conversation. They asked me a lot videos and pictures without to solve anything,  no matter I said them what is the problem. At end I asked to return to them,  but they stopped to reply to me. Good,  I bought it via PayPal. Asked purchase protection from PayPal. After this they told to return the regulator and they will return the money. Ok , but next thing they will to return the regulator to their address in Ireland,    no matter they ship to Europe from Germany. Now I wait a month till he arrive in Ireland,  because shipping to Ireland is a hell now. So my drama is still not solved,  but will someday. Meanwhile I sold my old pro-se just to be sure,  won't have any problems with future guarantee.


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## Richard Aldridge (4 Feb 2021)

I think it's wise to use PayPal for every purchase, I use PayPal and credit card for any expensive items.

I've read other reviews where they were asked to send videos of the fault so as their service department can see what the fault is but this isn't easy to do,hope all goes well for you.


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## Majsa (5 Feb 2021)

I have both CO2 Art Pro-SE and the Dennerle Quantum 300 kit (with solenoid). They both have their pros and cons. The Pro-SE has been replaced due to leakage but works fine now. I find the Dennerle reg very sturdy, but mine came limited to 120 bubbles per minute. Apparently you can tweak it but wouldn’t know how, 120 bpm is just fine for my 175l with ferns (replaced the flipper with an inline diffuser). I run it with the adapter for reusable bottles (2 and 3 kg).


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## Majsa (5 Feb 2021)

To clarify, 120 bpm is on a Dennerle bubble counter, those are quite large bubbles - there are loads more going through the counter of the inline diffuser.


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## Richard Aldridge (6 Feb 2021)

Hi,
Just seen your post,do you like the Dennerle system?
The 500g cylinders are quite cheap to replace and there's no problem with the empty ones because they go straight into the recycling bin.
I think 2 bps would be ample for my 100l tank so I might look into this option because Dennerle have a good reputation and they've been around a long time.


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## Majsa (6 Feb 2021)

It looks like Dennerle has renewed their product line, though the Carbo Power E400 special edition looks a lot like the kit I have. I like it, but I have replaced some bits, I don't use the flipper and have another drop checker (though the one in the new kit looks nicer than in the old one). If you go for the more expensive version with the reusable bottle, I believe you get the adaptor too, which means you can use the regulator with both disposable and refillable bottles (you'll need different washers). I bought the adaptor separately.

I'd say if you have a cabinet where you can hide all the equipment then the Dennerle kits are good. My smaller tank has an open cabinet and the bottle doesn't even fit in, so it stands next to the tank and the CO2 Art regulator is more compact. Dennerle has the check valve and the solenoid separate from the regulator, and if you don't use the flipper you'll probably want a bubble counter too.


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## Richard Aldridge (7 Feb 2021)

Thanks for your relies to my post,I'm considering getting this system as it looks uncomplicated which is ideal for me.


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