The Planted Tank Forum banner

A couple of pressurized CO2 questions

2K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  Scorpion 
#1 ·
I'm in the process of piecing together a CO2 system and have a couple of questions.

There is a welding supply store here in town that will sell me a 10lbs bottle for $55 and fill it for $10. He mentioned though that it was an O2 bottle that he would convert to CO2.

What does this mean? Is this common/safe/compatible, etc?

The other question is with regulators. Are all regulators pretty much standard as far as hookups, fitting sizes, male/female, etc? Or is it highly possible that I may buy a regulator and will need adapters to go into my needle valve?

Any help is appreciated! :D
 
#2 ·
O2 takes a much higher pressure than co2, so it's definitly safe. I think there might be some difference in the threads. You should check the compatability. If you try to take this tank in the future to another place for a refill, they may refuse it if they think it doesn't look enough like a co2 tank.
 
#3 ·
If they are going to "convert" the bottle you will be fine. There is a difference in threads but once they make the switch it will be fine.

What needle valve do you have? Most needle valves have 10/32 threads and you will need adapters to fit them to the regulator. At a minimum you will need a 10/32 - 1/8" adapter and you might need a 1/8" to 1/4" adapter as well.
 
#5 ·
Ok, you will need to get the regulator first. Not sure how much you plan on spending on a regulator but I brand new regulators can be had for $50 or less. Once you have your regulator you will need to find out what size fitting it has. Most common are 1/8" and 1/4". The only place you can get the 10-32 to 1/8" adapter is from Clippard. Or you can buy your needle valve from AquaBotanic and it comes with the adapter. If your outlet is 1/4" then you will need a 1/8" to 1/4" adapter that you can normally find at Home Depot.

If you don't have a Clippard dealer close to you then your best bet is to get the needle valve from AB because Clippard charges an arm and a leg for shipping and handling.
 
#7 ·
Rex Grigg said:
Ok, you will need to get the regulator first. Not sure how much you plan on spending on a regulator but I brand new regulators can be had for $50 or less. Once you have your regulator you will need to find out what size fitting it has. Most common are 1/8" and 1/4". The only place you can get the 10-32 to 1/8" adapter is from Clippard. Or you can buy your needle valve from AquaBotanic and it comes with the adapter. If your outlet is 1/4" then you will need a 1/8" to 1/4" adapter that you can normally find at Home Depot.


:oops: I hate to seem like a pest on this, but I just want to make sure I understand everything. I just got my bottle today so now I'm getting ready to order a regulator.

All of the regulators that I have seen have barbs on them. So, are you saying that I have to come out of the regulator with a piece of hose and go into a needle valve? Or does the barb typically come off, and then there is actually an adapter that screws into it's place and then you attach the needle valve directly to that?
 
#10 ·
B,

if you get it from Marc, it is a good deal since he has the cheaper prices on the net. As others might suggest, get the bottle locally b/c S/H will cost you more for the bottle. In Colo Spgs, I can get a 20# cyl. w/ handle for $125. I know it would be a bit cheaper if I went to Denver I got it myself.

By the way, welcome to the forum :D
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top