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Has anyone tried using any of the waterplant c02 systems? Also the one available at my local petco is the 45g model, i have a 54g , would this be insufficient as there is a 10g difference or is that not that big of a deal?
waterplnt c02
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Hi,
I don't own this but will highly discourage you from getting this product.
First of all, the 45g (45grams) is actually referring to the weight of the disposable C02 cartridge and not the aquarium size that it will work with. The next thing is that there is no solonoid to turn it on or off. Your C02 will be running 24/7 and you'll waste a lot of CO2 it when your lights are off. Last is the cost of each 45g cartridge. You'll need 10 of these cartridges to equal 1 lb. of CO2 or a 16oz paint ball tank. Even at $10 a cartridge that's $100 and you can get a brand new 20oz paintball tank for $30 filled. Also, some of the reviewers on amazon experienced leaks between the tank and the regulator due to the lack of O rings.
I think in the long run you'll get a better value from buying a larger CO2 tank and a regulator with solonoid.
Good luck!
I don't own this but will highly discourage you from getting this product.
First of all, the 45g (45grams) is actually referring to the weight of the disposable C02 cartridge and not the aquarium size that it will work with. The next thing is that there is no solonoid to turn it on or off. Your C02 will be running 24/7 and you'll waste a lot of CO2 it when your lights are off. Last is the cost of each 45g cartridge. You'll need 10 of these cartridges to equal 1 lb. of CO2 or a 16oz paint ball tank. Even at $10 a cartridge that's $100 and you can get a brand new 20oz paintball tank for $30 filled. Also, some of the reviewers on amazon experienced leaks between the tank and the regulator due to the lack of O rings.
I think in the long run you'll get a better value from buying a larger CO2 tank and a regulator with solonoid.
Good luck!
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+1 to this. I have the FLuval 88g set for my 5gal and I pay $10 for each cylinder. Ive already spent $60+ in the last 6months to fill it when I could get a paint ball adapter and tank, which would still be going for cheaper. The 45g system would last half as long and in a 54g system you would run out in like 2 days... At that size id get a paintball or 5lb cylinder. My 45 gal has a full size (5lb) setup, filled for $20 and running for the last 6months w/o refill.
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As stated, the cartridges are just too small for your tank. These should really only be used on nano tanks and even then, they are not particularly cost effective.
I can't remember if ISTA uses peripheral threads or not, I recall that it does. That creates an issue as well as you can only buy their replacements. That has two issues, the first is it's expensive. The second is product lines like this get dropped all the time so you are stuck buying online. At worst, the product line gets discontinued and you can't get them any more. ISTA seems to be getting more popular rather than less but that doesn't mean it will be around in 5-10 years, much less forever.
Anyway, I wanted to buy something similar awhile ago for my nano but found with the exception of a few setups, they are unreliable and really not that great for a nano tank. Those that work OK still often make it so you have to use their refills. The most cost effective way to do this is to build your own but once you get into that, you quickly find it's even cheaper to go paintball or a conventional setup, outside of the refills which are what really add up. Go bigger than 5 gallons and these things really don't make a lot of sense.
I can't remember if ISTA uses peripheral threads or not, I recall that it does. That creates an issue as well as you can only buy their replacements. That has two issues, the first is it's expensive. The second is product lines like this get dropped all the time so you are stuck buying online. At worst, the product line gets discontinued and you can't get them any more. ISTA seems to be getting more popular rather than less but that doesn't mean it will be around in 5-10 years, much less forever.
Anyway, I wanted to buy something similar awhile ago for my nano but found with the exception of a few setups, they are unreliable and really not that great for a nano tank. Those that work OK still often make it so you have to use their refills. The most cost effective way to do this is to build your own but once you get into that, you quickly find it's even cheaper to go paintball or a conventional setup, outside of the refills which are what really add up. Go bigger than 5 gallons and these things really don't make a lot of sense.
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You have all done a great job of talking me out of this lol. Guess I'll start looking into a paintball set up
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I have one on my 40 gallon, and it worked fine when I had it on a low bubble count, but I increased it to where it should be, and I ran out of it in 3 days... Needless to say I convinced my BF we seriously need to get a real setup lol. At 40 bucks for the kit and 10 dollars for each new cartridge, the 90 dollar cheap-o milwaukee setup and a used CO2 tank would be paid for in a month at this current rate.
On a small tank would it work? Yeah, but in order to keep CO2 rates up high enough, you are going to be buying a new cartridge every 3-4 days.
Only good thing to come out of it.... The diffuser/combined bubble counter, is awesome. It creates some of the finest bubbles I've ever seen, and the built in suction cup that goes underneath that keeps the hose from kinking is great too.
On a small tank would it work? Yeah, but in order to keep CO2 rates up high enough, you are going to be buying a new cartridge every 3-4 days.
Only good thing to come out of it.... The diffuser/combined bubble counter, is awesome. It creates some of the finest bubbles I've ever seen, and the built in suction cup that goes underneath that keeps the hose from kinking is great too.
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Just read some reviews of the Milwaukee unit on Amazon and I'm completely turned off to c02 in general now after reading horror stories about people gassing their entire tank to death!
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I do dose daily with api's liquid c02 but is this really doing anything for my plants or am I just wasting my money?
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Some have luck with the Milwaukee, some don't, I wouldn't recommend it myself. As for gassing fish in general, with a good regulator, this should never happen, assuming you don't get "greedy" and try to inject too much CO2. I have gassed fish myself, I won't lie and it was because I was unwilling to wait to bump up the CO2 to where I could really watch my fish. IMO, any adjustments should be made when you have more than a few hours to keep tabs on things.
Excel is very helpful to plants but once you get into really high light levels, it's just too hard to keep things consistent. IMO, I actually think it works better than CO2 with lower light levels as it can actually kill algae.
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