co2 tanks
 

Where is the best place to buy/rent a CO2 in the lower mainland.
I am getting tired of the yeast mixture for my FW tank plants.

What works well for you guys? rent/buy, and where

thanks

4pts

If you'll settle for a steel tank you can get a 5lbs tank from Mainland welding in Surrey for about $100. I wouldn't bother renting unless you're only going to be in the hobby for a short while, it's way more expensive. I've seen 10lbs aluminum cylinders around for $140 but that was a while ago. I got my CO2 regulator from KMS tools but shop around some welding shops will carry refab ones for a deal.

Doug

There ya go, Willow found a nice unit for you. Can't beat that price anywhere, one word of caution though is put some wax or something on the steel cylinder, mine got pitted really quickly and they threatened to trash it if it got any worse. Keep it clean and it's a great deal.

Doug

Hmmm, wax? Any idea what kind you could use, where to get it, etc.?

I used carnuba from Canadian tire, Walmart etc.. just a paste wax to cover the tank and keep the moisture off it.

Doug

Now I gotta go see if that'll fit in my cabinet.
How much extra height is there in the regulators and all that, 6"?

So my 50cent experiment (the yeast mixture) is going to cost me $234 (tank and reg).

I got to stop trying things....


4pts...

Don't forget the fill... :biggrin: You'll find the CO2 cylinder so much easier to work with, so much more reliable and so much safer. There are so many things that can go wrong with the yeast mixture set up it's spooky. You can find a needle valve at Peerless Eng. in Burnaby for about $23 PN KLN230B. I had adjusted my CO2 flow to about 16 bubbles per min if I remember right. That lasted a good long time on a 90 gallon tank dripping 1/2GPH from a CA reactor.

Doug

you can get a 5lbs bottle from them for the same price i think if the 10 is to tall.

Okay, a step backwards here. Exactly what would I need for my FW planted tank?

Tank and CO2
Regulator, Needle valve, Bubble counter which I think OA has $134.

If a needle valve is $23 somewhere else, would I be able to piece the other parts together cheaper?
I don't think I'll really need a bubble counter, as my current setup has the CO2 exhaust under the media of my wet/dry.

I know that this is not as beneficial as having a reactor, but I figure that the entire media area should be saturated with CO2 and would give me good CO2 dissolution(?) into the water.

That's a smoking deal from OA. The bubble counter is so you can control precisely how much CO2 is going into your tank. If this is for a planted tank the wet dry removes all the CO2 you add to your system so you're having to add more CO2 than you should. The CO2 should be injected into the intake of the return pump though so it doesn't just bubble out of solution before it's used the impellor of your return pump will break the CO2 bubbles into micro bubbles which will travel all through your aquarium. You're filter media functions best in a wet dry as it's designed, adding CO2 under the media would completely change the bacteria that grows in the media. I'm not sure that the media would be saturated with CO2 either, I'd tend to think it would just bubble up and out with out doing much. Do a google search on Steve Pushak's planted tank. He really goes into CO2 and everything else plus he's local he used to host most of the Vancouver plant club meetings.
As for cost, I don't think you can build your own for $134, that's a good deal.

Doug

I just pickup a brand new 10# aluminum CO2 tank from a company called Simgo in Surrey for $98.00. They sell beer and beverage dispensing equipment.

www.simgo.com