inareverie85

Can any of you vouch for this product?

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...35&pcatid=9935

I've shopped with these guys before with good results, and I want a CO2 system that is cheap and reliable. I could get a Milwauke set on ebay for a little cheaper (90ish dollars including shipping), but I'd still have to find a diffuser. So this price is decently competitive, and it has all that I need in one package. My only concern is quality. If any of you have used this system or can somehow vouch for it, please do. If you'd prefer to warn me away from it, I'll listen to that as well. If this product isn't up to par, please link me to something with a similar price tag that is.

Also, how does the Milwauke system compare to other systems? If it will do what I need it to do for 30 dollars less, then it's still a possibility.

Thank you!

 

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Brendan Redler

Do you have a tank?

I just bought my setup from here:
http://www.co2-canisters.com/

$168 shipped to northern VA for a milwaukee reg, tubing, 5lb tank...or about $35 more than you would pay for that setup. A timer at a hardware store is about $10, and you can buy a diffuser on ebay for about $8 shipped. So for about $180 you get the setup that you have...but with a tank and name brand components.

That's my case anyway.

hoppycalif

I'm sure you can find a lot of opinions about the Milwaukee regulator by searching here, but my experience with it is this:
It is a very usable regulator. But, it is cheap, which means you may have problems with it that need to be fixed. Mine had a leaking bubble counter, that forced me to remove the bubble counter entirely. Mine also had the solenoid fail after a few months, so I had to replace it with one from Rex Grigg. It requires that I re adjust it several times over a couple of days each time I refill the CO2 tank, in order to maintain a constant bubble rate. But, once I get it stable it requires very little attention until the CO2 tank again starts to run out of CO2. Then, I have to adjust it often to avoid the bubble rate going much too high. It has two main advantages - it is cheap, and it has a pressure adjustment knob, which some cheap regulators don't have.

andrewg

I bought this system. Of course the initial tank purchase is going to be expensive, but this system is worth it. I did have to return the glass diffuser twice (first arrived shattered, second a chip from the built in checkvalve), and the only other things i didn't like were the suction cups for the glass diffuser and bubble counter--diffuser suction cups break easily and often, the bubble counter rarely stays attached to my tank.

Squawkbert

When it comes to CO2 regulators, you tend to get what you pay for. Reliable regulators that won't dump a bunch of extra CO2 into the tank (potentially killing your fish) when the level gets too low to sustain any liquid CO2 tend to be the two stage type (ideally) and they are not cheap.

Needle valves that can maintain a pretty steady flow despite changes in head pressure are also not cheap. If you regard your fish as more than "disposable decor" for your planted tank, spend the money on quality CO2 stuff, add a nice drop checker and sleep better at night knowing you'll rarely, if ever, have to worry about it if you follow the basic rules (1 - change your CO2 tank when the pressure changes as you've run out of liquid CO2 and 2 - don't slam your regulator and needle valve by quickly opening the main valve on a new tank - it's actually better to close the regulator's valve, then attach it and open the bottle, then re-open the regulator valve).

inareverie85

I certainly do value the live of my fish. Is it really THAT common for Milwauke setups to leak toxic amounts of CO2 into the water? Buyiung a Rex set would be nice, but saving nearly double what I currently wanted to spend will take more time that I believe my plants have. They've been without CO2 for almost 2 weeks. Saving that much will require another 2 weeks at least. I have bills and such to pay too, so for a young college student, saving money is a longer process than for established adults

Bunbuku

Have looked looked at this http://www.greenleafaquariums.com/co...regulator.html and these diffusers http://www.greenleafaquariums.com/co2-diffusers.html

The CO2 tubing in DFS is silicone tubing which is permeable to CO2. You can get a similar timer for $5 at Wal Mart

St3v3

If you're goning to be adding a pressurised system to a tank larger than 65 gallons you might want to look at using a CO2 reactor and not a diffuser.

 

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