Your preferred CO2 bottle size?

[Reefahholic]

What size you you perfer?

Or...if you bought something you do not like now (bigger or smaller) please vote on what size you would buy now.

 

[Gareth elliott]

I use 5lb. Tanks. This really has to do with ease of filling. I take my tank to the liquor store and swap out for another one.
This size is fine for my calc rx not so much for my planted tank. I go through about 5lbs every 20 days now. Gets tedious and costs me little under $200 a year in co2.

 

[bblumberg]

I have 2 x 5g and and 1 10g. The 5 g size lasts me 3-4 months on my calcium reactor.These are aluminum tanks that I have refilled at a local beer distributor for $25 each. I bought the 2 x 5g because the 10 was out of hydro and I didn't know how to handle that. I eventually found that I could get the 10g re-certified and refilled. Size is the main issue - get the biggest one you can fit in the space you have and don't mind lugging around. The aluminum tanks are fairly light compared with steel tanks.

 

[Reefahholic]

I use 5lb. Tanks. This really has to do with ease of filling. I take my tank to the liquor store and swap out for another one.
This size is fine for my calc rx not so much for my planted tank. I go through about 5lbs every 20 days now. Gets tedious and costs me little under $200 a year in co2.

Thx for your feedback @Gareth elliott!

 

[Reefahholic]

I have 2 x 5g and and 1 10g. The 5 g size lasts me 3-4 months on my calcium reactor.These are aluminum tanks that I have refilled at a local beer distributor for $25 each. I bought the 2 x 5g because the 10 was out of hydro and I didn't know how to handle that. I eventually found that I could get the 10g re-certified and refilled. Size is the main issue - get the biggest one you can fit in the space you have and don't mind lugging around. The aluminum tanks are fairly light compared with steel tanks.

@bblumberg thx for your info! Appreciate it!

 

[danoo]

20lb because I've got room and they are easy to exchange at Praxair. Cost me $51 to exchange my empty 20lb tank for a full one of food grade CO2.

Last time I returned my tank the one I turned in was past its inspection date and I was expecting to pay some fee for that. They didn't look, didn't care and exchanged my dingy looking old tank with a shiny new one. The benefits of dealing in the most common size for them.

 

[ca1ore]

Bigger = lasts longer = less refill trips. Absent the ability to keep a 20 lb under the stand (you CANNOT lay them on their side) seems like a no brainer. Heck, I’d do a 50 if I could. I keep two 20s and a 5. Once the two 20s are empty the 5 keeps things running while I get them refilled. 20 lasts me about 4 months.

 

[PigFarmer]

20lb because I've got room and they are easy to exchange at Praxair. Cost me $51 to exchange my empty 20lb tank for a full one of food grade CO2.

Last time I returned my tank the one I turned in was past its inspection date and I was expecting to pay some fee for that. They didn't look, didn't care and exchanged my dingy looking old tank with a shiny new one. The benefits of dealing in the most common size for them.

holy smokes! $51? cost me $12 in oregon

 

[flyline]

$51 might be because it’s food grade

 

[PigFarmer]

$51 might be because it’s food grade

I'm buying beverage grade. 99.95% purity. same gas as food grade. commercial grade is 99.90% pure. it's all politics and labeling tho it's all the same gas

 

[danoo]

$51 might be because it’s food grade

I think the grade below was like $45. San Francisco prices!

 

[therman]

holy smokes! $51? cost me $12 in oregon

Yeah I swap 20lb at a welding shop for maybe $15?

 

[Reefahholic]

Quick note about keeping your bottles up to date:


IMPORTANT NOTE: Your tank MUST be tested and up to date! CO2 tanks must have a hydrostatic test completed every 5 years to ensure they can safely hold pressure. The date of this test is stamped into the top of the cylinder. This means the stamp on your tank must be up-to-date. WE CANNOT AND WILL NOT FILL OUT OF DATE TANKS. This only results in a hefty fine for us and a dangerous situation for you if you have a faulty tank. Also, we do perform the hydrostatic testing.
When the out of date tank has that new stamped date, will be happy to fill it for you.

Here is an example of the location of the date on a tank:





In this example, the tank can be filled until August 2022, at which point it needs to be hydrostatically tested again. When the test is complete the tank will be stamped with a new date.

 

[Reefahholic]

What’s the average time that a 5lb bottle will last on a moderately stocked Acropora dominated 100/G tank?

 

[ca1ore]

I use airgas; they swap cylinders at each refill so no need for me to worry about testing tanks.

 

[jda]

I go to the welding shop too. Anything up to 20lb is about $16 exchange - no need to worry about dates and stuff since they take care of that.

I just got a 60 at a garage sale that I will probably use in my fish room on my new tank. $24 to fill that one up.