[bibio]

So I have a hydra adapter (https://www.amazon.com/Hydra-Aquatic-CO2-Paintball-Adapter/dp/B008ZAAP2K) and a 24 oz paintball tank attached to a fluval 88g regulator, which is admittedly over 5 years old.
The regulator/adapter is fully screwed onto the paintball canister but no gas is being released, no matter how I turn the dial. Also, they are so tightly connected that I can’t unscrew them. Is this normal? Do I need a wrench or vise grip to disconnect them and try reconnecting?

 

[Scully]

First off, I don't think that regulator is meant to handle a full on tank. This could be potentially dangerous mainly because there's no valve to turn on/off the tank pressure like there would be on a normal regulator. Making it sketchy to connect/disconnect the tank. Can you describe how you attached it/what happened? Also how is the rest of this set up? (IE - regular fluval set up or diffuser/bubble counter)

I believe the 88g cartridges are meant to be punctured(Similar to 16g cartridges), while paintball tanks have a sort of ball that the correct regulator would push down to release CO2 into it. After that a regulator should have a gauge that shows PSI(For a fish tank is would usually read 0-40psi) leading to the system that's controlled by another valve(What would be the knob on top of this regulator). The fluval regulators are meant to work only with their strange diffusers since you just release CO2 into it until it fills, then turn off pressure. Where as if you were using a ceramic diffuser it would need constant low pressure CO2(~15-20psi) regulated by a buble counter/needle valve.

The fact that it's reading PSI would lead me to believe that it is working though. Is there any hissing coming from anywhere? Was it working before?

I could be wrong, but from what I found researching when I was looking into pressurized CO2 it didn't look like it was going to work. I ended up using a mini keg regulator that uses 16g cartridges. I then made it lead into a needle valve/bubble counter instead of the keg attachment.

 

[bibio]

It’s definitely not an ideal setup, but I’d seen enough positive reviews of this combination that I thought it’d work alright.
I opened the regulator fully before screwing the adapter/regulator to the tank. It released some gas when it was mostly screwed in, but through the release hole in the adapter, not through the regulator. I should’ve unscrewed at that point, probably, but instead I tightened it. Some gas came through the regulator when it was first screwed in but it was surprisingly slow. Turning the dial didn’t change the rate at all. When I closed the dial, the flow stopped completely and wouldn’t start again.

 

[Scully]

If other people have had success with it then maybe it should be kinda safe-ish.

I'd get some wrenches and disconnect the tank/adapter from the regulator. It looks like you left that packaging on the adapter(intentional?). That could be blocking flow or could have broken up into pieces into the regulator and blocked a port or valve.

Be careful doing this, if it blows CO2 out while disconnecting it can give you some serious freezer burn.

 

[bibio]

The packaging I left on was only a hard plastic tag around the neck that I didn’t find a way to get off, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t have a function.