# How long does your CO2 tank last??



## 30king

Hi all,

I read a post a few minutes ago where a member said his CO2 tank lasted about a year. I thought I'd throw out a question to everyone:

*How long does your CO2 tank last??* Include the size of tank, your method of diffusion, and BPS (bubbles per sec) or psi. Basic tank specs as well.

I have a 10 lb tank that lasts 4-5 months. I diffuse my CO2 from the output of my sump, either chopping bubbles or bubbling into my reactor (I've been fiddling with both methods). My bubble count has been about 6-8 peas size bubbles per sec.

I have a 90 gal running high light while I establish a good "jungle".

Thanks


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## proaudio55

1.25 years and counting . . . .
20lb tank, 72 gallon, cheap ceramic diffuser, very slow feed rate . . . ? a few bubbles per second or less.


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## Daximus

3.5 months, more or less

24oz paintball tank, Aquatek regulator, 90 gallon, Aquatek 3-in-1 ceramic diffuser feeding intake on Aquatop CF-500, 4-5 b/p/s, 8 hours a day. 

*I don't use a drop checker, therefore I do not know what ppm Co2 I'm running. See sig for further information.

**Edited after Kevmo got me thinking, lol. It should be stated that my first tank with that setup lasted about 3.5 months...maybe they overfilled it? I am pretty "cool" with my paintball folks. Either way, not enough data points to call that an average.


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## Wasserpest

10 lbs last about 10 months for a 250gal and 36gal planted tank. ~5 "bubbles" per second according to the 3 bubble counters.


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## kevmo911

On one of my tanks, 3-4bps with a 5lb cylinder w/ reactor, about 5 months. It sounds so far like the experiences of the OP, proaudio, Wasserpest, and myself are on par with each other, while Daximus' is outside the norm - he's getting a lot more out of his cylinder than I would expect given its size.

To clarify, though, when talking about length of time the cylinder lasts, the important stats are cylinder size, *bubble counter type* (the generic glass bc's have much smaller bubbles than a JBJ, while the cylindrical plastic ones tend to have larger bubbles), bps, hours per day, and possibly regulator pressure. I say "possibly" because, while it's clear that gas at a higher pressure takes up less space than gas at a lower pressure, it's not terribly clear how much pressure is acting on the gas in a bc past the needle valve, especially given varying back pressures due to methods of diffusion.

Anyway, I would guess that what you're looking for is cylinder size and JBJ-style bps, as well as hours per day. That should give you a basic framework to compare.


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## Daximus

kevmo911 said:


> On one of my tanks, 3-4bps with a 5lb cylinder w/ reactor, about 5 months. It sounds so far like the experiences of the OP, proaudio, Wasserpest, and myself are on par with each other, while Daximus' is outside the norm - he's getting a lot more out of his cylinder than I would expect given its size.
> 
> To clarify, though, when talking about length of time the cylinder lasts, the important stats are cylinder size, *bubble counter type* (the generic glass bc's have much smaller bubbles than a JBJ, while the cylindrical plastic ones tend to have larger bubbles), bps, hours per day, and possibly regulator pressure. I say "possibly" because, while it's clear that gas at a higher pressure takes up less space than gas at a lower pressure, it's not terribly clear how much pressure is acting on the gas in a bc past the needle valve, especially given varying back pressures due to methods of diffusion.
> 
> Anyway, I would guess that what you're looking for is cylinder size and JBJ-style bps, as well as hours per day. That should give you a basic framework to compare.


It should be stated that my first tank with that setup lasted about 3.5 months...maybe they overfilled it? I am pretty "cool" with my paintball folks. Either way, not enough data points to call that an average. Updated my original post with this caveat.


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## Centromochlus

5lb tank - 3 months on my 60P (17 gallons), 5-6 BPS, atomic CO2 diffuser.


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## Steve001

Do the above usages include running the co2 24/7 or just during or starting slightly before the photo period ?


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## Crispino L Ramos

I run my CO2 24/7 and a ten pound lasts from 2 to 4 months.


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## HD Blazingwolf

c02 9 hours on a 29 gallon. 5 lb tank
last about 3 months


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## stewardwildcat

20# tank. 1.75+ years 6-8 bps on a diffuser 10 hrs a day.


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## AUvet14

20oz. paintball tank. ~2bps. 30 gallon, high light, Hagen diffusion ladder (looking at getting something different). Lasts 6-7 weeks.


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## BigD

I use these and they last about a month.


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## josolanes

Only filled my tank once so far, but it lasted about a month

24oz, first co2 setup and I ended up blowing the lines off with too much pressure initially, didn't pay attention to psi after immediately after this though so not sure how much was left in the tank after this little episode. There was 1100psi before hand though

20g High, high light, fairly well planted but nothing crazy imo
plastic bubble counter (~1/4" bubbles), around 1 bps with only a needle valve (I know, working on getting a regulator now). So the 1bps is when I check on it each day and re-dial it in every couple of days. It varies unfortunately 
glass diffuser directly under my XP1's intake tube to be further mixed by the canister and dispersed by the spraybar into the tank
My drop checker is reading green, no yellow or blue. The solution may be ready to be replaced shortly, though. The drop checker fluid is at about 3 weeks now. Fish are not struggling or gasping for air in any way


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## Aquaticfan

If your looking for a rough number. 

5lb tanks average about 3 months.
10lb tanks average about 6 months.
20lb tanks average about s year.

My 5 lb tank running both my 20 high and my 46 bowfront lasts about 3 months maybe just a hair less.I'm using the glass Ada bubble counters. So smaller bubble. I use a cerges reactor on my 46 Abs a ceramic glass diffuser into a hob on the 20 gallon. Bubble rate on the 46 is some where around 15 to 20bps and on the 20 is around 8 to 10bps. Heavily planted each. Run my regulator pressure at 20 to 25 psi.


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## proaudio55

Ok, my 20-pounder finally ran out!! I just filled it up 20 minutes ago at Minneapolis Oxygen Company in Minneapolis, MN. I let them exchange the cylinder and got an 'equally sexy' mint-condition tank in return. I could have had them refill mine, but they charge an extra 5 bucks to do it while you wait.

My receipt:
$14.72 - for CO2 gas (and a replacement CGA-320 gasket for free)
$3.50 - "Hazmat charge"
$1.41 - Sales tax
$19.63 - Total bill

I hunted down my original transaction with the credit card and found that I ran this tank from December 15, 2010 until May 2, 2012... that's about 72 weeks or 1.38 years.


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## JasonG75

5lb about 3bps - 1 month

75g


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## Dave-H

10# tank keeping a 54g tank at a pretty high level of CO2 has lasted 6 months so far!


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## JeoSo

Crazy how the prices for refills varies. I called two places around here and it's about $55 to fill a 20lb tank and no doubt there is tax on it to boot!


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## hbosman

5 lb cylinder, cylindrical inline bubble counter (big bubbles), steady stream of bubbles uncountable. 57 gallon aquarium.

3.5 months @ $18.00 for 5 lb refill.


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## funkjosh

JasonG75 said:


> 5lb about 3bps - 1 month
> 
> 75g


is that right? do you have a leak?


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## afuzzy420

Seems like this would vary greatly depending on different methods of dissolving it in the water.I use a rex style reactor with a 10lb co2 on a 75gal tank.it's been running for a about 4-5 months 24/7 and the pressure needle on the reg. hasn't moved much so far.


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## Quesenek

20lb 6-7 months going through cerges reactor, 55g & 75g, no idea the BPS I only watched for the drop checker on both the 55g and 75g and adjusted to make it lime green, Co2 cycle was 12 hours on the 55g and 10 hours on the 75g.


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## flight50

Interesting thread to see where everyone is. I run a 5lb 24/7 and get about 3 months with a sub par reactor. I plan to run a 20lb along with lighting schedule on a cerges for a 180g later this year so its good to some number here.


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## willygog

AUvet14 said:


> 20oz. paintball tank. ~2bps. 30 gallon, high light, Hagen diffusion ladder (looking at getting something different). Lasts 6-7 weeks.



Thats what i get on a 20# and a 30g tank, at 3 bps.. i thought it would last a longer time... ? That is just a guess, i filled it and the tank seems to be running great, but i might have gotten less than that.. its the first tank i have put on ....


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## willygog

I filled it two days ago, its down 200lbs pressure already, and yes i have checked for leaks twice to 3 time now.. i have a bubble counter and a diffuser both from aquatek ,, set at bc to 3bps,, cant count them at the diffuser to fast..


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## mistergreen

willygog said:


> I filled it two days ago, its down 200lbs pressure already, and yes i have checked for leaks twice to 3 time now.. i have a bubble counter and a diffuser both from aquatek ,, set at bc to 3bps,, cant count them at the diffuser to fast..


Something is wrong. My 20# running on a 75G lasts 6-8 months.


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## willygog

mistergreen said:


> Something is wrong. My 20# running on a 75G lasts 6-8 months.



I keep thinking so but i can't find a problem,, were would i post for help on this?


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## latchdan

5 Pound running 8hrs a day, yellow drop checker on 37 gallon about 5-6 months


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## MrSlumpy

20oz paintball tank and a max mix reactor, 36 gallon tank, bubbles too fast to count. Drop checker shows yellow, kh/ph chart says about 30 ppm.

Tank lasts about 7 weeks on average.


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## seandelevan

5lb on a 125 running for 8 hours through a cerges reactor at maybe 5-6 bbs I can go 4-5 months sometimes longer. Any higher I have plants coming out of my ears.


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## herns

5lbs , 1bps using atomizer, 1 yr & counting. 8 hrs.

Sent from HTC One device using Tapatalk2


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## Rudolph

Okay, I was searching to see how long my 5 lbs should last. I only get a month. I have mine on a controller that runs based on ph level. I believe mine is working on overtime to bring the ph down. I have not found a discussion on that factor? I guess I need to bring down my ph with a buffer to keep my co2 from running so much? I was low on my K so I added some alk buffer, but that raises ph. I guess I need to add acid buffer to lower the ph to keep my co2 from working overtime?? Does that make sense? Following that logic, I need to find my magic water ph before co2 that gives me the magic co2 concentration without burning through co2. 

I have a drop checker that stays green so the co2 level is in the right range. Thoughts?


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## TexasCichlid

5lbs, 17 gallon, 9 hours - ~ 6 months.


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## Silenced

20oz paintball 10 hours, 3-4 bps probably 1.5 months refill 3$ cheap and convenient


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## Wasserpest

Welcome to the Planted Tank!



Rudolph said:


> Okay, I was searching to see how long my 5 lbs should last. I only get a month.


Seems too short, but not enough info - do you have a large aquarium? Sump? How is the CO2 diffused?



Rudolph said:


> I have mine on a controller that runs based on ph level. I believe mine is working on overtime to bring the ph down. I have not found a discussion on that factor? I guess I need to bring down my ph with a buffer to keep my co2 from running so much?


You are not trying to bring down your pH, instead, you are using the difference in pH to estimate the CO2 that is being dissolved in the water column. In other words, whether your original pH is 8.3 or 6.9 should not make a huge difference in the amount of CO2 that is being injected to reach a certain CO2 level.



Rudolph said:


> I was low on my K so I added some alk buffer, but that raises ph. I guess I need to add acid buffer to lower the ph to keep my co2 from working overtime?? Does that make sense?


No, makes no sense. If you are low on K (Potassium) you could add some K2SO4. Or are you talking about water hardness/alkalinity? I would stay away from buffers since they just lead to fluctuations which are worse than keeping things stable at a given point. Adding acid buffer will not change the dissolved amount of CO2 needed to reach a certain level of CO2 in the water, but it will mess with your pH controller.



Rudolph said:


> Following that logic, I need to find my magic water ph before co2 that gives me the magic co2 concentration without burning through co2.


No... don't try to target a specific pH. Go with what you have in your tap water, and set up the controller that way to reach a certain level. You can also dump the controller and just inject CO2 during the photo period, and adjust the amount via needle valve. If you lose a lot of CO2 due to surface agitation (for example) this would save some and extend the life of your CO2 tank since none would be injected during the dark hours.


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## happi

5lb last 6-8 months with less bps, 20lb last for 1 year but i use more bps on it, more than 5-8bps sometime.


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## AW0L

24 oz. In a 9gal tank. 1-2 bps checker shows lime green on lights on and green lights off. About 6 hour photo periods tank last 4-5months


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## ddanimator

95 grams took 2 months


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