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Which regulator + solenoid kit?

Costa

Member
Joined
20 Oct 2016
Messages
354
Location
Athens, Greece
Hi all, just got my first CO2 tank (hurrah!). It's a 5kg and must now buy a regulator kit. I've been browsing through co2art and co2supermarket and there are a lot of options available, and can't helpbut wonder if there really is any difference between all of them. My budget is no more than £100. Can you please help me choose a regulator-solenoid set? My tank is 200x60x60cm.

Thanks so much
Costa
 
Just seen the size of your tank, the large diffuser I got would be too small it only goes up to a 250ltr tank. I didn't want to pay that much for mine but I figured I might as well get a good one with a good warranty and hopefully no problems. At the end of the day you get what you pay for. :)
 
If you have got standard sized tubing eg 16/22 I’d get Tommy’s reg but change to an inline diffuser. Nice and easy just email AG and chat it through. But it will be more than £100 for a decent dual stagekit im afraid.
 
Thank you for the replies-
Considering the size of the tank, I was planning to stick the co2 outlet to the pump that sits in my sump. I had tried that with a diy co2 and was getting a nice co2 bubble cloud across the length of the display tank - that said I don't know how efficient the diffusion of the co2 was.
 
Yes if using a sump the large aquaRio diffuser placed next to sump return pump will work well.

Helps if sump is sealed so you don’t gas it off though.
 
If you just stick the end of the co2 pipe close to the pump intake so tye pump sucks the co2 bubbles in the pumps impeller will smash the co2 bubbles to a mist. Will make co2 mist all over your tank though. If you don't mind the mist in the tank works ok.
 
If you just stick the end of the co2 pipe close to the pump intake so tye pump sucks the co2 bubbles in the pumps impeller will smash the co2 bubbles to a mist. Will make co2 mist all over your tank though. If you don't mind the mist in the tank works ok.
If you haven't got your return pump sorted yet see if you can find one with the words 'needlewheel', 'pinwheel' or 'meshwheel' as these will smash the bubbles up a lot more than a standard impeller.
You should also be able to get a fitting that would fit/thread onto your pump and get a tee in then convert that for your CO2 in.
 
Thanks Andrew have wondered about using on of these pumps like the ones used on the marine power protein skimmers. Run into a APS booster/ reactor would work well I would think.
 
Thank you guys for the advice, the challenge is that my pump (Jecod 10,000 - super silent btw) accepts 25mm tubing and all tubing from the pump back to the 150cm long spraybar is pvc and I'm not comfortable drilling/cutting.
 
Thank you guys for the advice, the challenge is that my pump (Jecod 10,000 - super silent btw) accepts 25mm tubing and all tubing from the pump back to the 150cm long spraybar is pvc and I'm not comfortable drilling/cutting.

I think this changes thing somewhat; what size pipe is the spraybar, is it rigid all the way etc?

The method @Daveslaney mentions will probably be your easiest but with some simple DIY you can add a reducing tee before the filter then get a fitting to connect your CO2 tubing.
I'm not quite sure how effective it would be at dissolving the CO2 up and as Dave says will probably leave a mist.
I know Jecod / Jebao have started making some needlewheel type pumps so unsure if you can find a replacement impeller for your existing filter to turn it into a needlewheel which would work better at bashing the CO2 up but still probably not enough on its own..
There are other options if you're willing to do a bit of DIY the most obvious being an inline reactor but even that could be made for you if you're willing to pay so would just need hose adding.
 
Thanks @Daveslaney and @Andrew Butler

If you just stick the end of the co2 pipe close to the pump intake so tye pump sucks the co2 bubbles in the pumps impeller will smash the co2 bubbles to a mist. Will make co2 mist all over your tank though. If you don't mind the mist in the tank works ok.

Yes this is what I do at the moment and I kind of like the mist but:

- don't know how efficient the dissolution of co2 is

- using a 3+ year old dennerle regulator and co2 tubing at the moment and although I can see the bubbles in the drop checker, there's no gas coming out of the tube, unless I manually crank it up to 10 bubbles/sec and then turn it back down to normal (2b/s); not sure what the problem is with the reg, I checked the single post-counter connection and there's no leak. I'll get a new one anyway.

IMG_20181103_174400.jpg


think this changes thing somewhat; what size pipe is the spraybar, is it rigid all the way etc?

Right, it's all rigid, OD 25mm pipe, all the way from the pump to the spraybar.

15412607251108036036933890298781.jpg


I guess I could swap the PVC for tubing that I could more easily cut but then I'm not sure how I can install a spraybar.
 
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Running the co2 through the pump impeller will have the same dissolution rate as using a inline diffuser I would think? Or there shouldn't be much in it.
On my old tank river reef 90ltrs had a built in filter along the back I used to run the co2 straight into the pump input and it worked no problems at all.
 
Running the co2 through the pump impeller will have the same dissolution rate as using a inline diffuser I would think? Or there shouldn't be much in it.

I really hope so as it will save me the cost of a diffuser. I don't know if there's any leak through the PVC pipes, although I'm optimistic that since there's no water leak for sure (running 2 full years) there won't be any gas leak either.
 
So I am basically looking at those two regulator+solenoid combos:

https://www.co2art.eu/collections/c...dual-stage-regulator-with-integrated-solenoid

https://www.aquasabi.com/co2/co2-accessories/hiwi-pressure-regulator-sv-und-cv
(think this one is single stage)

Any thoughts? Is there a difference between single and dual stage regulators enough to justify the extra ££?


Go for the dual stage reg every time, much more dependable. Co2 Art Pro se is good.

Nothing wrong with a decent single stage one, but a poor one and you’ll be changing it within the year.
 
A few years back on this forum, there were regular postings about C02 dump!
You don’t read that so much nowadays because most folk use a two stage reg and that mechanism prevents the cylinder dumping its remaining contents when the pressure drops.
C02 dump is very often deadly for fish and shrimp.
 
Right, it's all rigid, OD 25mm pipe, all the way from the pump to the spraybar
I guess I could swap the PVC for tubing that I could more easily cut but then I'm not sure how I can install a spraybar
I've always used at least a short length of silicone tubing to connect the pump to rigid tubing to cut noise out if nothing else.
This would be easy to do if you wanted or needed to and would simply involve cutting the PVC you have then fitting a socket with a hose spigot on one end to your existing pipework - assuming you have the hose barbs for your pump that is.

I'd agree 100% go for the dual stage but I'm unsure if the Elite version is worth the extra money after owning both.
It's definitely more solid in construction but I'm unsure what the other differences really are aside from being able to add more outlets to one cylinder easily..
Drop Karol at CO2 art an email and ask when he's expecting more of the SE in.
 
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