[gatorsean21]

Hello there I know this is something that has been posted here before but I am looking for advice on safe/dependable CO2 setup for a 16 gallon tank.

I like the pricing of the Co2Art PRO-SE. Also I have been looking at used stuff on ebay but I don't really know what I'm looking for. Are there any tips for a safe buy. Also in general when you buy used co2 equipment should I expect to replace the fittings or o rings? What kind of preuse maintenance or testing should I do before trying to use it.

Thanks in advance.

 

[minorhero]

Co2art will work fine if you want something off the shelf that is plug and play. Better option for less is buying a used regulator for industrial or medical use and buying parts to make it fit aquarium stuff. An easy website to sell those parts is https://www.diyco2regulator.com/

But, this requires a certain amount of willingness to put things together and research your options which are legion. There are a few threads around about building a diy regulator and this is what that refers to. If that is too much then buy the co2art regulator. It works fine.

 

[PlantedRich]

I find first step is often involving the terms we use and knowing that we often do confuse a regulator as a fully functioning item without thinking of it as a set of parts!

You can often find good values in regs at lots of different online sites, but those are just the reg, not a set of items that you can use! A reg setup has to include the small parts to actually get what we want and those include the reg, solenoid, needle valve and often some way to see the changes we make in the flow, often a bubble counter.
This one set that is complete for the major items and is likely to work, but with some definite downside as it is a starter setup and does have some obvious questions about how much fun it will be.
https://www.amazon.com/Aquarium-Reg...t=&hvlocphy=9028263&hvtargid=pla-903840204214

A cheap "foot in the door" type to get something going but then it is likely you will want to change things as you get into the game more and begin to hate the way the small parts may function. The reg body itself is rarely the breakdown as it is actually a very simple item. What does often get to us is the solenoid, which is the standard "black box" type which can get sticky and fail to work, just due to the design of small metal parts expected to move in a less than precise movement while being repeatedly overheated. One of the first items we might note is the short, stubby little needle valve is not going to be a great deal of precision and fun to adjust. Just kind of like sticking our thumb in a hole rather than using a long, finely machined and tapered needle to move in and out of the hole?

But they do work and they can have the small parts changed out as we get tired of fighting the small points.