[Phil n abbie]

I have recently purchased this regulator
[Ebay Link Removed]

I will be hooking it up to a refillable calor co2 bottle.

The last time i purchased A co2 setup it was a cheap pressurise one and dumped the whole bottle in their killing my fish so i disposed of it.

does the regulator i posted have a pressure release valve on there and does it look like i would run into any problems using this provding i get drop checker to monitor the co2 content and start with low bubbles per sec.

As it comes with a solenoid i will be putting it on a timer to go off at night


Here is the regulator on another website
http://www.fish-street.com/hsl_co2_regulator

Thanks for your feedback so far

 

[Geniusdudekiran]

Dude you can't link to eBay... Sad, I know... Try doing print screen, saving the picture and posting that...

 

[Bettatail]

The output pressure rise of the low quality single stage regulator is high, but you can set the regulator output pressure higher, so the total increase output pressure rise is a fairly small number compare to the high output pressure setting, and lower the volume of excess output co2 when input pressure dropping.

 

[btimmer92]

The output pressure rise of the low quality single stage regulator is high, but you can set the regulator output pressure higher, so the total increase output pressure rise is a fairly small number compare to the high output pressure setting, and lower the volume of excess output co2 when input pressure dropping.

I don't think that is correct. If you have the pressure at 10 and it jumps up to 20, if it would have started at 20, it could have jumped up to 40. I think the best way to avoid gassing your fish is to use a two stage regulator. If not, you will have to monitor your working pressure twice a day, and if it ever starts rising, then constantly tweaking it to keep it from getting too high.

 

[Chlorophile]

I don't see why we don't just run our regulators at their max pressure, our solenoids can handle it, so can our needle valves.
If our regulators max out at, for example, 50 psi, nothing should be able to make it go over 50 psi, correct? So there could be no end of tank dump, needle valve would already be dialed in for the max pressure.

 

[idontwan2know]

I don't think that is correct. If you have the pressure at 10 and it jumps up to 20, if it would have started at 20, it could have jumped up to 40. I think the best way to avoid gassing your fish is to use a two stage regulator. If not, you will have to monitor your working pressure twice a day, and if it ever starts rising, then constantly tweaking it to keep it from getting too high.

e
Twice a day seems likely to be unnecessary unless you are already running your co2 extremely close to the limit.

I understand your enthusiasm for dual stage solutions, but a number of your posts seem to really blow the risks associated with single stage solutions way out of proportion.

With a moderate safety margin (which can be easily tested by establishing what kind of pressure rise your individual regulator experiences as the tank empties) there's no reason that a single stage solution can't be perfectly safe with a simple glance at the regulator once a day.

 

[jemmanuel]

Hi all. I'm going to be starting co2 this weekend. I'm using the foster and smith fully atomatic system with the azoo regulator and a 10lb cylinder. My question is, if you have a ph controller, does that eliminate the dumping problem as long is the solenoid is working?

 

[btimmer92]

Hi all. I'm going to be starting co2 this weekend. I'm using the foster and smith fully atomatic system with the azoo regulator and a 10lb cylinder. My question is, if you have a ph controller, does that eliminate the dumping problem as long is the solenoid is working?

It should. However, others should note that a dual stage regulator would cost less than the fully automatic system from drsfostersmith.

Also, idontwan2know, my posts do not blow things out of proportion, they simply warn people of the risks. Some people forget to check their pressure each day, or ignore it because they never saw it change in the first 6 months of use. Sometimes people go out of town, and it could happen then. There is also something called peace of mind. It is very nice to just know that your fish will never get gassed, end of story.

And Chlorophile, that would not work. It would still go above 50 psi. That is simply a rating for how high you can adjust it at a normal high pressure around 900 or so.

 

[jemmanuel]

Yes the foster and smith system is really expensive, luckily I got a brand new one on ebay for a fraction of the cost

 

[btimmer92]

To answer your question phil n abbie, that regulator will have the same dumping problem as your last regulator. You just have to be on guard, and lower the pressure whenever it raises so it doesn't gas your fish.

 

[idontwan2know]

Agree to disagree.

The difference to me between single stage and double stage is convenience and peace of mind, not "safety" as you imply. Further, suggesting that someone HAS to check their working pressure twice a day to avoid gassing their fish is definitely "blowing things out of proportions" in most circumstances as the rise in pressure is not that dramatic and most people don't run their co2 so high that a slight rise through the course of a day is going to cause massive fish slaughter.

I have to remember to put my seatbelt on every time I get in my car, otherwise I might be killed in an accident. Does that mean the cars with the automatic shoulder belts are the only safe cars on the market?

 

[btimmer92]

If you have a problem with remembering to put on your seat belt, then maybe so. But most people don't forget. Some people just choose not to.

However there are a lot of people who for some reason or another fail to control their output on their single stage regulator, because people gas their fish all the time. When I said check it twice a day, that was just stressing to the OP that is important to remember to check it. Better safe than sorry. If he/she follows my advice and checks it twice a day, then he/she should never gas his/her fish. The OP can take discretion and check it less often if he/she wants to, I'm not making anyone do anything.

Also, "peace of mind" is exactly what I said, the same thing as you just said.