# Newbie question - can regular airline tubing be used in a pressurized co2 system?



## 20 20 (Feb 7, 2008)

Newbie question - can regular airline tubing be used in a pressurized co2 system? What type of tubing is best to use?


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## Blue Ridge Reef (Feb 10, 2008)

Don't use airline tubing, use the stuff made for CO2. Airline tubing can actually leak CO2 through the walls of the tubing. And only use any tubing on the low-pressure side of your system (after the regulator).


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## 20 20 (Feb 7, 2008)

Yep, the tubing will only be on the output side of the regulator, so I've got that covered. The length of tubing will only be 2 or 3 feet, with that short length will regular airline tubing actually leak enough co2 to be concerned about?


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

bahhh... I have always used a good quality air line with no problems. I replace my lines after a year or so anyways. 
It is BEST to do it right and get the CO2 rated tubing but it is not a catastrophic mistake to use air tubing if you didnt.

Some day I may take the time to go "high- tech"... :redface:


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## crimsontsavo (Feb 29, 2004)

Im using regular airline tubing as well lol.
'we aint dead yet'. :O


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

I use it when I have to. You'll lose a noticeable amount of CO2 when you have a leak somewhere in the equipment.


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## 20 20 (Feb 7, 2008)

jaidexl said:


> You'll lose a noticeable amount of CO2 when you have a leak somewhere in the equipment.


How is that different based on the type of tubing used? A leak is a leak, right?


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## milesm (Apr 4, 2006)

there is a chart listing various materials and how much co2 they lose. do a search. as i recall, vinyl had a pretty good coefficient. 

apparently vinyl tends to harden when used with co2. replacing yearly should not be a big problem.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Yeah, a leak is a leak. Assuming the tubing in question is fitting properly, I was referring to the possibilities of leaks in connections everywhere else. The permeability of any given material is negligible compared to what happens when a bubble counter leaks or the regulator nut doesn't get sealed properly. It can be all gone in a matter of days, right under your nose, what do you do when that happens... fix the leak and spend $11 or so on a refill. If it's a question of durability, well tubing is cheap enough to replace. 

As Buck was saying, there's no reason you can't use regular airline, just some specifics that might bother you, doesn't bother me much, personally. The blue stuff is supposedly no good and I use that too.  Also have some from Rex.


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## mgamer20o0 (Mar 8, 2007)

not going to kill you but i had a big co2 jump from going from reg tube to better co2 proof tubing.


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## Blue Ridge Reef (Feb 10, 2008)

It's not like the CO2 tubing is prohibitively expensive, I don't see why anyone _wouldn't_ use it. It doesn't leak, leech or harden.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

milesm said:


> there is a chart listing various materials and how much co2 they lose. do a search. as i recall, vinyl had a pretty good coefficient.
> 
> apparently vinyl tends to harden when used with co2. replacing yearly should not be a big problem.


And that can be found here:

http://www.coleparmer.com/techinfo/...E,C&htmlfile=SelectingTubing.htm&Title=Search


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

mgamer20o0 said:


> not going to kill you but i had a big co2 jump from going from reg tube to better co2 proof tubing.


My 5lb bottle last's me close to a year, when I fill the bottle, I change the tubing. How much of an increase would I see with CO2 tubing?


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## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

Co2 rated tubing works great more ways than one. Besides being resistant, it will also adhere better to barbs and fittings. Thicker walled tubing gets a better grip on those small fittings. Less likely to pop off.


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## mgamer20o0 (Mar 8, 2007)

i cant remember off hand but i saw a 5-10ppm increase from switching tubes.


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## eyebeatbadgers (Aug 6, 2007)

mgamer20o0 said:


> i cant remember off hand but i saw a 5-10ppm increase from switching tubes.


That would be completely dependent upon how much tubing you are running. I have a 20 foot lead from CO2 tank to fish tank, and use Clippard tubing. I also have a 2 foot lead from the CO2 tank to my other fish tank, and just use regular airline. You would not lose a measurable amount of gas through the walls of a two foot length of tubing.

The CO2 specific tubing does stay on barbs better. Some barbs will not hold regular airline tubing at all.


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