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You really ought to have a 3rd empty (or little bit of water) catch bottle before the tank just incase bottle A or B overflows. Any of bottle A or B entering the tank will kill all in the tank.

You cant use a solenoid with this type of setup as when the solenoid is off the pressure will continuously build up and either burst or leak the system. What you do is use the solenoid to vent the bottles ie solenoid on a night letting pressure out the system. You just have to cope with yeasty...

Yes this has been done before with a solenoid valve. You must never put a solenoid on the output of yeast CO2 container as in best case pressure will build up and pop off tubes and worst case decorate your room with yeast and sugar mixture. The only issue reported was the smell in the room from...

Even though I wrote the article and would love to experiment finding c (calculated CO2 concentration) and p (calculated CO2 per second) for my tank, I think in my case, spending time fiddling with spray bars, bubble counters and drop checkers is time far more productive. After 12 years of CO2...

I posted this, years ago, about CO2 concentration in our tanks. CO2 concentration...the maths.

My CO2 leaks have always been at the bubble counter. First one in 2013 was a cheap Chinese bubble counter where the plastic bottle was attacked by the CO2 and cracked. I then moved onto JBL bubble counters. I had one crack at the pipe attachment but more recently the rubber O ring leak. I did...

Wooow you must have massive CO2 leak/loss somewhere. I get through 2Kg in about 100-150 days (4-5 months) in my 180l tank with a green heading to yellow drop checker. Below is a graph of number of days per 2Kg cylinder, 34 cylinders worth, I get through. Spot the cylinders where I had CO2 leaks...

Couple of things I would do: Put a short length of pipe, internally, from CO2 inlet to near the outflow of the inlet pipe so CO2 is going into the water flow. Maybe even use a ceramic CO2 diffuser, to get finer diffusion. Put another short length of pipe from top of reactor, where CO2 is...

All of the CO2 cylinder incidents I have seen, all involve incorrect use generally of beer gas CO2, usually large cylinders of 40-50Kg size. One, a cylinder was over 10 years old and had rusted inside burst whilst refilling, which considering they have their aged stamped on should never have...

I wrote this about the maths behind CO2 levels. CO2 concentration versus time. The maths...

Some people have put these reactors in a bucket of water with a heater to maintain a constant temperature and they manage to get much more reliable CO2 rate. You turn the heater off at night to reduce the CO2 rate if required. Heating tape wrapped around the container is probably a safer, but...

All home user affordable pH probes use the same method to measure pH, a glass sensing sphere membrane electrode full of a reference solution. Putting the electrode in a liquid solution produces a voltage across the membrane proportional to the pH of the solution it is dipped into. Fantastic...

Looks fine. In majority of non USA world the CO2 connection is standard DIN 477 / BS 341, so UK bought regulators should fit. However due to the presence of the cylinder collar, you might have physical space issues in connecting. Solutions are, sometimes the collar can be unscrewed, some...

Generally with nano CO2 systems you can't use a solenoid, as they are not really regulators, technically they are flow valves. The "regulator" isn't a regulator but either a hole in a metal plate or a metal sponge that restricts the flow of gas, and in fact doesn't do any pressure regulation at...

Could be an electrical field issue as pH probes are very sensitive to small electric "leaks" from electrical in tank equipment. Unplug all your tank electrics from the mains socket and try pH readings again and see if there is any difference in reading.

How to use a PLC to control your fish tank. Best timer decision I ever made after repeated failure of digital timers and failure of remote controlled timers. This has been 100% reliable. Been running same code for 6 years now. Do need to fix a spelling mistake and the fact the hours run...

With my "took me ages to get it right CO2 setup" I use about 0.015 grams per litre per hour CO2 (about 20gr a day). As a beginner you will be using 2-3 times this amount or more, or more likely much less and converting the plants to algae !! Thus for your 300 litre tank @ 8 hours CO2, you will...

Go to local library, Sainsbury's, Post Office, place of work etc make a note of the phone numbers on the fire extinguishers of the company that maintains them (or nick them....:eek:) and give them a call. A couple of the suppliers started fobbing me off they only supply on contract, it's so...

Before I built my PLC to control CO2, lights & ferts I went away numerous times leaving high tech tank alone. Did 2 weeks no issue. I turned down lights and CO2 time from 6 hours light & 7 hours CO2 to 4 hours light and 5 hours CO2. I also had a fish feeder feeding once every 14 hours...

I also had issues once, with a cracked bubble counter, that allowed gas to escape in bursts when pressurised. Had issues setting and maintaining bubble count, dunked bubble counter in jug of water, no leak initially, bubble rate built up, could see mist of CO2 appearing in tank, then suddenly...

How much piping have you got between the various items ? Having a long length of tubing between needle valve and diffuser is known to cause issues do to the tubing pressurising slowly, diffuser "burp injecting", depressurising the tubing, injection stopping until tube pressurises again and...

Oh, also make sure you have a way of disposing empty fire extinguishers. You can't put an empty FE in your house rubbish, it has to be disposed of correctly. A lot of council tips will not take empty fire extinguishers, though some will.

Before you buy any of the the above, just make sure you can get CO2 refills easily. Most fish shops charge £20-£40 for a refill and take 5 days odd. Most people here use CO2 fire extinguishers. I pay £10 for a 1Kg one, lasts me about 100 days.

See here for how people have done it. Not easy as the regulator isn't really a "regulator" and lets the full tank pressure build up on the solenoid. https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/tropic-co2-nano-system.58617/reply?quote=572655 Thus you will need a decent solenoid, solid piping regulator...

This chart is only for pure carbonate hardness and CO2 and not really applicable to a fish tank with all the other salts & water contamination, despite many people attempting to use is, as you clearly have. Best methods are ignore any test kits, the rubbish bin is an excellent place to store...

Put you test kit in the bin, as you have seen can only be relied on to transfer money from your wallet to the shops, which they achieve 100%. What about Test Kits ? An in tank drop checker is the best, albeit slow (1/2 hour ?), way to determine tank CO2 levels. If you insist on knowing your...

The problem with the one in your picture is they are meant for air and are not CO2 proof. I have had the rubber valve inside just crack and fall apart, as well as in some the rubber just melt and melt closed, as well as the plastic case leak due to high pressure of CO2. Been using the metal ones...

You don't have to store your CO2 bottle/fire extinguisher near your tank of course. Some people have stored the cylinders in their garage and run 4mm CO2 tubing under the floor/along the skirting board to their tanks, with no issues. Just have to think very carefully when doing it, as if you...

CO2 Measurement Using A Drop Checker

Yes that is the way to do it. See my picture above. Just make sure you get a decent higher quality, possibly dual stage regulator, that will support greater CO2 flow compare to single tank requirements.

This issue with pH controllers is they measure absolute pH value not pH change from no CO2 injection ph to a +1pH change when CO2 level reached. This is why people end up ruining their tanks with pH controllers as the base line none CO2 injected pH level can vary from day to day due carbonate...

This is how you get two CO2 injection points from a single regulator. Like in the picture from aquascape1987 above.

Looks like it might be a regulator then. Many people report issues when trying to use a solenoid with these small systems though.

You can't connect a solenoid to a Tropica Co2 nano system as the regulator on the cylinder is not in fact a regulator. It is technically a flow rate control valve, either a tiny hole or a metal sponge that just limits the gas flow from the cylinder. If you connect a solenoid to the output, as...

I ran with my CO2 fire extinguisher on its side, in a magazine rack for months, no problem. Theoretically we should really run fire extinguishers upside down, or take them apart and remove the "dip tube" so that we are only taking output from the gas rather than the liquid. In the end we are...

I get through a 2KG FE in about 100 days for my 180l tank with a green approaching yellow drop checker. So that's 20gr per day, 0.11gr per litre per day. So for 500l you are looking at 55gr CO2 per day (I have mine on 8 hours). So weigh your CO2 bottle before CO2 on and when it is off and see...

You do a dual CO2 injection system like this. You have to have two needle valves so you can balance the CO2 flow between the two diffusers. Many people have implemented this type setup with no issues.

I get about 100 days from 2Kg fire extinguisher in 180litres. You have 6 times my tank volume that, so that's 100/6 -> 16 days. Welding cylinders are 600gr odd, so a third my 2Kg, so down to 16/3 -> 5 days. My CO2 injection has taken ages to get to that level (:cool:) of injection & flow...

Shouldn't use rubber with CO2 as CO2 "dissolves" in rubber. Depending on type of rubber either melts/softens/runs or hardens up and cracks. Should use PTFE/nylon for o-rings/washers around CO2.

A US only "scare" site, and it talking about other types of extinguisher leaking, not just CO2. Generally you can't use rubber seals of any type with CO2 as CO2 dissolves into the seal either hardening it or melting it, so seals are typically metal to metal. Teflon is allowed, which is what the...

The reason they expire is nothing to do with seals, in fact generally there are no rubber seals at all exposed to CO2 in fire extinguishers it is either metal to metal valve or sometimes Teflon to metal. It is to do with pressure testing. Most pressure tanks will have a repeat pressure test date...

Dual gauge regulators have two pressure gauges, one is cylinder pressure and other output pressure. The cylinder pressure, for CO2, will always typically read 800psi/55bar as long as there is liquid CO2 in the cylinder. The output pressure gauge typically will read to 5 bar (70psi), typically...

No pub gas is DIN477 the UK/European standard. Anything imported from US of A will be CGA320. The UK FE is really the world standard, only US and Japan are different. This site was really informative on CO2. No longer exists but is available on Wayback machine...

Nope. o_O The UK, European & Australisia standard FE/CO2 connection is DIN477 (which is actually British Standard 341 Part 1) . CGA320 is North America only. JIS B 8246 is Japan only. They are not compatible.

Couple of points to think about. Never overfill a CO2 cylinder. A CO2 cylinder must have space above the liquid CO2 to allow "expansion room" if the cylinder is over heated. This is why CO2 is put into a cylinder by weight than by volume. The above video does not show venting the excess gas to...

I auto dose Excel daily, see below. I put Excel into the old EasyCarbo bottle and controller just doses it. In my opinion does appear to keep algae, especially BBA, at bay and leave more lee way in not attending my tank as much as I should do.

Flow needs to be something like this in order to get sufficient CO2 flow around the tank.

On a 200 litre tank, on for 8 hours a day I use about 20gr CO2 per day. Thus your 95gr will last less than 5 days assuming you remember to manually turn it on and off !!

Don't know about the pressure holding your setup but CO2 does "dissolve" in silicone, especially if CO2 is under presser, which is why your shouldn't use air-line as CO2 tubing and use proper CO2 rated tubing (polyurethane). Generally people use CO2 rated tubing and heat the end to soften it...

And I thought my setup was a mess of wires and pipes :eek:. Nice. This would never get past my wife the WAF (wife acceptance factor) is far far too low.:D

Any pictures/designs we could see please ?

Sorry not making PLC's. Other people have managed to use PLC's, see Zeus's tank and the 2000litre featured journals. They knew nothing about PLC's but both cracked the programming, no problems and have wonderful tanks.:grumpy: (compared to mine). You could always start with Logo module, with 4...

Yes I had timer failures, the "stuck to on" was especially fatal to both plants and liquid carbon. So I built this. https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/how-to-use-a-plc-to-control-your-fish-tank.42993/ And 27,585 hours (3.2 years) later has worked 100%, no issues, no dead fish, no dead...

Yawn, this comes up regularly that we are all going to die due to using a CO2 extinguisher for a fish tank.... We have 14 2Kg fire extinguishers at work and no one has died, despite one of them having a leak. I have used 13 2Kg extinguishers on my tank, including when I had a leak and it...

Nice, but.... Not sure you will get anything near +-0.005pH in a tank with ANY electrical equipment connected as 0.005pH is a change of 0.3mV which is equivalent to "a fish fart at 10cm" in electrical terms. :rolleyes:. Better to take a water sample in a cup and measure that away from the tank...

Good. :) Whoops. :eek:

If you still want to make your own pH measurement system here is one of the definitive articles on how to interface to a pH electrode. http://www.ti.com/lit/an/snoa529a/snoa529a.pdf The critical thing is about 60mV/pH @ 25C and 75mV/pH @ 100C. A gnat attempting to squeeze a fart @ 100 meters...

I do have some knowledge in this area and to measure pH properly in a live system is hard and expensive. This is why there are not many "hobby grade" pH meters in use in fish tanks. To do it properly, as industry does, you need a "big boy" pH probe eg https://www.omega.co.uk/pptst/PHE-4580.html...

You can easily check the seal between your regulator and CO2 bottle, I generally do it every time I change my bottle. Make sure CO2 solenoid is off, open CO2 bottle (handle/valve) and ensure bottle pressure is 800psi/55bar 'ish. Make a note of this value. Close off bottle handle/valve. Leave...

This is my graph of grams CO2 per day used. Typically 15-20gr per day on my 180l tank, so a 2KG extinguishers lasts 100-130 days. See where I had the leak !!!!

You need to use a pH pen as hobby grade test kits are really not up to anything much (except emptying your wallet) when testing water containing numerous ionic substances.

For 800l and a "CO2 dissipating" sump you will need an absolute monster injection rate, possibly even more than one injection point, in order to even get the slightest change in a drop checker. See Zeus's tank on how to achieve correct levels of CO2 injection in a 500l tank...

You would be surprised how the flow just dissipates around the tank. Fish don't seem to bother too much, there are plenty of slow flow areas they can hang out in. The 3200l/hr power head is only on for first couple of hours when CO2 is on, so only 5000l/hr during CO2 time. Without the power head...

I give my empty FE's back to the place that supplied them. If in date they may refill, but if out of date they destroy as it is too expensive to retest. They just give me refilled ones. Some council tips will take empty gas cylinders, most don't, so you need to check if you are going to...

The reason algae is moving in, is because your plants are dying, releasing organics into the water feeding the algae. Just adding CO2 will not necessarily fix this, unless all "parts" of a hi-tech tank are correct. Algae can be due to: - Insufficient CO2 levels. - Poor CO2 distribution and flow...

Most people that use pH controllers to set their CO2 levels end up using them, to kill their plants and grow algae. :D Either they under dose CO2 and plants suffer and algae moves in or over dose CO2 and fish die. Your tank waters pH with no CO2, is related to your water hardness, which will...

On my 180l tank I get through about 0.01grams/litre/hour of CO2. So for me at 8hours and 180litre tank that is 180 * 8 * 0.01 -> 14grams per day. This gives a green/yellow drop checker "everywhere" in my tank. I also have over 5000litres/hour flow rate, 2100l/hr from two filters and 3200l/hr...

£10 for 2kg FE for me. Lasts about 3months on 180l tank. I expect you will get 2 months per 2kg on 240l ONCE you have mastered the extremely difficult task of correct CO2 injection.

You can always place the cylinder somewhere "more handy" and run a long length of CO2 tubing. Must have cylinder, solenoid, long length of CO2 tubing then needle valves near the tanks. Even better is use 4mm plastic water pipe for your CO2 as it can have more robust fixings than simple push over...

FE CO2 is quite high grade, no issues with using it in fish tank. Obvious is has to be quite "clean" as you don't want people dying from CO2 impurities if they ever fight a fire. What it can't be used for is bread making and CO2 supplies in hospitals, for obvious reasons. I have used 26 off...

What type of regulator and solenoid are you using ? Some cheaper CO2 kit bits, really aren't regulators but "flow control valves" and allow the CO2 pressure in the piping to build up to quite high levels, especially as the diffuser gets blocked and dirty, and then blow the piping off.

How big is your tank, I get through 2Kg in about 100days on 180l tank, with yellow'ish drop checker, so I would assume your tank is at least (180l x 100days / 21days) 800litre to be consuming that rate of CO2 or your have extremely poor CO2 injection and distribution. That is a very long CO2...

Really simple really, just make sure any fittings you put in "loop" do not reduce the cross sectional area of the 25mm pipe. No point spending £££ on monster FX6 filter then clobbering its monsterous flow rate squeezing through 16mm pipe. 25mm pipe cross sectional area is (25/2)^2 * π = 490mm2...

https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/co2-refills.4258/

You also have to remember that the pH scale is logarithmic (bet you wish you had paid attention in school maths lessons now...:cool:). So a 0.9pH drop is only in the order of 20ppm CO2 and a 1pH drop is 30ppm, thus your 0.5pH drop is only around 15ppm CO2. See this table to get a rough idea of...

Seems not a big enough drop. 1 unit pH drop is produced by 30ppm CO2, so you will be looking at a pH of 6.8 at lights on. You clearly have some CO2 injection and distribution issues. I assume you are using a pH pen rather than test kit t measure pH ?

All pressurised gas cylinders have a date of manufacture on them and most are valid for 10 years. After that date they must be inspected and pressure tested before being refilled with gas and reused. Main issues are internal rust and external damage weakening the cylinder. For FE's it is...

CO2 "dissolves" in silicone tubing making it hard and crack. You need to use proper CO2 resistant tubing as linked above.

My regulator is a 2012 CO2SuperMarkter single stage dual gauge regulator. Generally the tank gauge reads 800psi, which it will do until all the liquid CO2 evaporates. Then the tank pressure starts dropping over a couple of days. At around 500psi the bubble rate starts to drop until 100-200psi...

At 55bar CO2 is a liquid at room temperature at 36bar will be just pressurised gas, which is why you get so much more in same volume at 55bar.

https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/co2-concentration-versus-time-the-maths.51423/

No you want 30ppm when the lights come on and the plants start requiring carbon as driven by the light. Generally plants will suffer, holes, mechanical damage and algae if sufficient CO2 is not present when lights are on. 3 injections of CO2 is preferable to one large injection in a large tank...

If you have your injection rate set correctly, kind of matching the losses then that is the idea. Straight off I will say you will definitely NOT have 30ppm at lights on after only one hour. Look at the monstrous plumbing and injection rate and controller Zeus uses to get 30ppm in his tank in...

Co2Supermarket have Sodastream have washers for £1.99 for two. Check they are the same as those from CO2Art.

Sorry to the video is with the water lowered. Normally this amount of flow will be just under the surface.

Spray bar needs to spray like this across the whole width of the tank.

Way too small for 500l is your issue. See Zeus's 500l tank, in featured journals on how to do reactors correctly on a large tank. https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/olympus-is-calling-red-mist-feeddha.43046/

Aquatic use yes, as commercial fire extinguishers no. Only issue is old ones might have leaked and contain less than 2Kg CO2. Easy to check, the filled weight is stamped on the neck, normally around 5.8Kg. I have used numerous "expired" fire extinguishers, all were still full weight CO2 and...

Did you look at a 1.5Kg pub gas cylinder ? https://www.adamsgas.co.uk/product/carbon-dioxode-co2-gas-1-5kg-new-cylinder-for-home-bar/

You can always use a welding cylinder or soda stream bottle. https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/cheap-pressurised-co2-system-diy-guide.7696/ Much smaller than an FE.

Yes would connect fine but this is a flow regulator, see my above post about all their major major major drawbacks.

Using an FE. http://www.fishforums.net/threads/pressurized-co2-equipment-flow-and-fertilization.416755/

Yes this is suitable, albeit a tad expensive. Cheaper available on Ebay. Again find someone local who you can collect (or will deliver) and will be much cheaper. Just phone the company phone numbers on other peoples extinguishers, that's what I did. Also try and find local pub gas supplier...

You are better to seek out a Fire Extinguisher, I pay £10 for 2Kg, probably the 3L size in your above prices. With 240litres and this being your first time at CO2, you will be looking at possibly 2Kg of CO2 lasting maybe 2 months (or less) if you are lucky, thus source of cheap refills is a...

I have had a single stage dual gauge regulator from CO2Supermarket since 2012 and has been fine. Being single stage the output pressure starts dropping when tank pressure drops below 800psi (ie no liquid CO2 left), this causes reduced bubble rate, which is a major indication cylinder needs...

Generally the CO2 is produced by reacting sodium or potassoum bicarbonate and citric acid (or similar), both normally solids, they dissolve in water and react. CO2 and sodium/potassium citrate is the result. Not sure either of these accumulating on your tank is a good idea, especially sodium...

There is data, I have seen correctly done scientific reports where radioactive labelled glutaraldehyde (or equivalent) was used and it was quickly taken up and incorporated aquatic plants. May not be available on-line of course, on-line scientific & other reports is still less than 1% of that...

Er no. It has been proved many many times glutaraldehyde does promote plant growth in a similar way to adding CO2 promotes plant growth. Glutaraldehyde is not as effective as CO2, in the doses we use, but certainly is used by plants as a carbon source. Things like Excel and other proprietary...

If worried just leave CO2 setting as is and turn lights off until new CO2 supply arrives.

I have a single stage CO2 regulator from CO2SuperMarket I bought in 2012. Works fine, dead easy to get CO2 rate I desire and have worked faultlessly since then. I think this is the modern equivalent...