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Mystery Gas Cylinder Contents

HypeBuce

Member
Joined
14 Jan 2019
Messages
74
Location
Nottinghamshire
So at my workplace there are a couple large "Co2 canisters" hanging around that are literally being used as doorstops. I asked if I could take one to use in my aquarium and it was agreed to! The cylinders are labelled as Co2 and are for beer dispensing however the owner recons it's probably a mixed gas. My questions is this.
1) Are you allowed to fill Co2 labelled cylinders with mixed gas?
2) If the cylinder contains Co2 and Nitrogen, will injecting nitrogen do any harm to my tank or promote algae etc?

Otherwise I'll just have to empty the tank and have it all refilled potentially wasting what could be a decent amount of Co2!


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Nitrogen should not be an issue. Aquarium plants convert nitrate into Nitrogen gas which evaporates into the atmosphere and completes the nitrogen cycle. I can't say for sure that large amounts of nitrogen would be harmless, but nitrogen in general is not a particularly toxic element... Especially compared to Co2.
 
Can't see the purpose of having it mixed with anything, and as such can't see why anyone would go to the trouble of doing it.

Saying that, if in doubt - leave it out.
 
CO2 and CO2 mixed gas are different type of cylinders running at different pressures. CO2 cylinders are about 50bar pressure and mixed gas over 200 bar. Mixed gas has absolutely no use with aquarium and may/will actually be dangerous if used with a CO2 regulator. I suspect the valve and screw thread will be different on mixed gas to prevent you using a low pressure CO2 regulator dangerously on a high pressure cylinder.

As you clearly are not proficient in gas cylinder identification and usage, just get some fire extinguishers (I pay £10 each, for "old" ones) and safely use them with a safe CO2 regulator. :cool:
 
Working in the catering industry for years the mixed canisters have to be labelled as mixed gas and by amount so 30% co2 70% N2 some are 60% co2 And 40% N2 if it's not labelled I'd be very cautious the just co2 Are used for the soft drink dispenser the mixed are for lager and ales +I for Ian
 
The cylinders are simply labelled as Co2. I have done a little research online and mixed glasses for beer dispensing are normally Co2 and nitrogen. Nitrogen is extremely abundant in the air so I don't see much harm in adding nitrogen into the tank. Please correct me if I'm woeng though. Really appreciate all the advice so far!



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CO2 and CO2 mixed gas are different type of cylinders running at different pressures. CO2 cylinders are about 50bar pressure and mixed gas over 200 bar. Mixed gas has absolutely no use with aquarium and may/will actually be dangerous if used with a CO2 regulator. I suspect the valve and screw thread will be different on mixed gas to prevent you using a low pressure CO2 regulator dangerously on a high pressure cylinder.

As you clearly are not proficient in gas cylinder identification and usage, just get some fire extinguishers (I pay £10 each, for "old" ones) and safely use them with a safe CO2 regulator. :cool:

I don't think it can get any clearer than that, if you ask for help then you need to be able to accept it and not just listen to what you want to hear ;)
 
I don't think it can get any clearer than that, if you ask for help then you need to be able to accept it and not just listen to what you want to hear ;)

Okay once I get a regulator I'll check to see if it'll fit onto the canister. Otherwise a paintball bottle might be my best choice!


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I'll try get some pictures of the cylinder. As you said, the pressure of mixed gasses is much higher, hopefully I can find the max pressure on the cylinder labelled somewhere and try determine if it's safe for a regulator. :)


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just get some fire extinguishers (I pay £10 each, for "old" ones) and safely use them with a safe CO2 regulator. :cool:

Where do you source these? Seems extremely cheap! Ok me with the link if you could I'd really appreciate it. Cheers everybody!


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Would here be any issues if I completely emptied the cylinder and then refilled it back with Co2 at an appropriate pressure?


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Would here be any issues if I completely emptied the cylinder and then refilled it back with Co2 at an appropriate pressure?
Yes. Nobody would fill them for you. If they are designed for mixed gas then no one commercially would fill them with CO2. Filling them with wrong type of gas is a serious big no no. Fittings would likely be different. A CO2 regulator connected to a mixed gas cylinder would certainly not be rated to 200bar and would be extremely dangerous.

Unfortunately you don't appear to be taking in the advice. Walk away now !! You clearly don't know pressurised gas, there is one item (I will not mention) that any user of pressurised gas would have instantly told them what type they are and what they are filled with.

These cylinders are unknown quantity, unknown type, unknown test date, unknown history, probably the only use would as door stops....oh they are.

Get proper FE and do it right.

I just phoned round all the FE suppliers I could, taking the phone numbers off FE's at work, shops, library etc and found one who would let me have 2nd hand FE's for £10 a go. Most have only a year or two left before test date, not suitable for use as commercial FE's but fine for fish tank.
 
Yes. Nobody would fill them for you. If they are designed for mixed gas then no one commercially would fill them with CO2. Filling them with wrong type of gas is a serious big no no. Fittings would likely be different. A CO2 regulator connected to a mixed gas cylinder would certainly not be rated to 200bar and would be extremely dangerous.
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Thing is that they aren't designed for mixed gasses as the cylinder itself is labelled as Co2. If you're saying no company would fill it with anything but the gas labelled my guess is that it must be Co2? I'll try find some other options anyway. Thanks everyone for help solving this case!



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Oh my please just read and listen they may well be filled with co2 but you don't know they or are not so for the sake of £10 why are you even considering the risk
 
I just phoned round all the FE suppliers I could, taking the phone numbers off FE's at work, shops, library etc and found one who would let me have 2nd hand FE's for £10 a go. Most have only a year or two left before test date, not suitable for use as commercial FE's but fine for fish tank.

Similarly I spoke to the company who came to my work place when they did their annual inspection and for a while I got FE that they couldn’t use for free. More recently I found someone local who advertised through eBay and last paid £10 per 2kg FE.
 
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