[fishymatty]

Is there anything I should know or do when splitting the line. I have one 5lb co2 tank in one room and a 45g next to it and a 20g in another room. I want to inject co2 into both. Is there anything special to do or just put on a splitter ?

 

[mrbelvedere]

Splitter and another needle valve if necessary (you probably will).

 

[distrbd]

Is there anything I should know or do when splitting the line. I have one 5lb co2 tank in one room and a 45g next to it and a 20g in another room. I want to inject co2 into both. Is there anything special to do or just put on a splitter ?

You would need :a manifold , 2 needle valves ,2 check valves, 2 bubble counters.
I would recommend a low pressure regulator to fine tune the flow.

 

[eklikewhoa]

Bubble counters aren't neccesary.

 

[SCMurphy]

Bubble counters aren't neccesary.

Yes and no, If you have a counter on one line you have to put one on the other line. I have two systems running, one with the counters and one without. I need a higher pressure on the counter set up than I do on the 'no counters' set up. Both set ups run multiple tanks. You need the splitters, the needlevalves, checkvalves are nice, and some way to see bubbles, either in a counter or where the bubbles are being released to the 'reactor', which in my case are the pumps in the sumps of my tanks or the bubble ladders in the smaller tanks.

 

[fishymatty]

I have bubble counters on both. I split it at the tank but the one in the other room wasn't getting any pressure so I rigged the line that was getting all the pressure with a rubber band and that seems to be working well.

 

[ianmoede]

Didnt your tank crash teach you anything? No ghetto rigging, your fish will die

 

[fishymatty]

I know. but now that the diffusers work the pressure is so low that nothing bad could happen. Even if all the flow went into one tank it still wouldn't be enough to do any damage. I will get a splitter with two needle valves but for now this will be fine. Thanks for the concern.

 

[Rex Grigg]

Pressurized gas will always take the path of least resistance if there is no control.

To prevent this you need to have some form of manifold and a control (needle valve) for each aquarium.

 

[epicfish]

I know. but now that the diffusers work the pressure is so low that nothing bad could happen. Even if all the flow went into one tank it still wouldn't be enough to do any damage. I will get a splitter with two needle valves but for now this will be fine. Thanks for the concern.

Did you figure out what happened? Was it an end-of-the-tank dump?

 

[epicfish]

Like in the picture distrbd had, you're going to need a manifold and separate needle valves for each tank. Get a low-pressure regulator too, to prevent that problem you had with your fish.

 

[DiabloCanine]

With or without bubble counters, works just fine......DC

 

[aman74]

With or without bubble counters, works just fine......DC

So basically just a gang valve right?

You have no need for individual manifolds and needle valves?

 

[epicfish]

^^ ??? Each of those bubble counters has a needle valve attached to the bottom of it. And the entire unit is the manifold.

 

[SCMurphy]

DC, please tell them what the pressure is into the PVC manifold so they don't accidentally hurt themselves.

 

[epicfish]

*BOOM!* For the DIY-challenged, I'd go with a commercial manifold. I'm not saying about DC's DIY skill or techniques, etc... (In fact, I love all his DIY projects and make the HOB UV sterilizer too!), but I wouldn't trust a CO2 tank at 900psi feeding into a manifold I built with my own two hands.

 

[DiabloCanine]

DC, please tell them what the pressure is into the PVC manifold so they don't accidentally hurt themselves.

*BOOM!* For the DIY-challenged, I'd go with a commercial manifold. I'm not saying about DC's DIY skill or techniques, etc... (In fact, I love all his DIY projects and make the HOB UV sterilizer too!), but I wouldn't trust a CO2 tank at 900psi feeding into a manifold I built with my own two hands.

The PR of the pvc I used is 450psi but that manifold is charged to less than 20psi. Charging any CO2 system over 30-40 psi is just plain stupid and inviting trouble IMO. 30 psi is more than sufficient to run a 5 port pvc manifold spanning 6 foot and I plan on connecting another 7 port manifold to this one for the other rack.

The old adages still holds true, if you don't know what it is, don't #$%^ with it. I have not made any of my DIY projects idiot proof and are posted for entertainment purposes only, try it at your own risk as they say and by all means protect yourself from your own stupidity. I tried commercial manifolds, they didnt work worth a #$%^ and helped me gas several hundred shrimp and fish. Different size tanks at different levels are very difficult to consistently inject CO2 unless you run it 24/7.....DC

During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked the Director how do you determine whether or not a patient should be institutionalized.

"Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub."

"Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or the teacup."

"No." said the Director, "A normal person would pull the plug. Do you want a bed near the window?"

 

[aman74]

The PR of the pvc I used is 450psi but that manifold is charged to less than 20psi. Charging any CO2 system over 30-40 psi is just plain stupid and inviting trouble IMO.

Yes, I figured that you had knocked down the pressure before the manifold. Not because I'm so smart, but because that's how I read it is usually done.

The old adages still holds true, if you don't know what it is, don't #$%^ with it.

I have to completely disagree with that. If I don't understand something I want to learn about it so I can do it right. After all this isn't rocket science here. When I didn't know how to change my oil in my car should I have not learned how to?

In addition, as you say below, buying a commercial unit may not be a good idea either. So, instead of not having any option at all, I would rather learn about and find one. Even if gathering the info allows me to purchase a satisfactory commercial item in place of DIY.

I have not made any of my DIY projects idiot proof and are posted for entertainment purposes only, try it at your own risk as they say and by all means protect yourself from your own stupidity.

I hope your tongue is in your cheek...

I tried commercial manifolds, they didnt work worth a #$%^ and helped me gas several hundred shrimp and fish. Different size tanks at different levels are very difficult to consistently inject CO2 unless you run it 24/7.....DC

How does running 24/7 make it easier to have different amounts of CO2 going into different tanks? It's probably a simple answer, but I haven't yet run a system of my own so it isn't obvious to me.

During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked the Director how do you determine whether or not a patient should be institutionalized.

"Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub."

"Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or the teacup."

"No." said the Director, "A normal person would pull the plug. Do you want a bed near the window?"

I found this humorous, but I've found it beneficial in life to realize that in a public setting such as this some people may be offended. The joke is at the expense of a certain percentage of society that people seem all to eager to marginalize...not saying you are, but I find it funny that people will readily tell this type of joke and wouldn't dare tell other types of jokes so casually.

 

[SCMurphy]

Thank you DC, for the answer. As you can see from the next post after mine it wasn't obvious to everyone what would be a safe pressure. If I can help protect someone from their "own stupidity" with just a little more information I am willing to get the extra info disseminated. Especially when it involves a useful idea or equipment design.

 

[epicfish]

I've adjusted the working pressure on my regulators to 30psi enough to keep the bubble rate constant with my poor needle valves, so I know it's 30psi feeding into the manifold. My point was to say that people who haven't the slightest clue might want to re-evalute the practicality of DIY, especially when it involves risk of injury to you or your lifestock.