Any reason not to buy a co2 tank on ebay?

[Aaron]

In my experience the JBJ holds a bubble count more accurately for longer periods of time.

[Judi]

Go with the JBJ regulator over the Milwaukee if you get one of the aquarium specific models.

Ack! Now you tell me! I went back and forth between JBJ and Milwaukee, reread old threads here and on other forums, and finally went with the Milwaukee. (And I can't even remember why I finally chose that one. I think I was just tired of thinking about it. )

Oh well, at least I got a good deal (I think) on the Milwaukee: $84.99 shipped, including some co2 tubing, from water-testers.com (which is really the same as aquaticstore.com, which is the same as co2-canisters.com)

As far as the co2 canister, I just got one on ebay for $43.03 shipped. It remains to be seen whether this was a really great idea, or a really stupid idea.

[jcali10]

I think you'll be alright. Here's my .02, I can't speak to longevity, but I have a JBJ and a Milwaukee and both have performed well so far, for the short time I've owned them, less than a year on the JBJ and less than 2 months on the Milwaukee.

The needle valves on my units look very much alike, but I think the solenoids are different. The solenoid on my JBJ has a little light that glows red when it is on, and it gets pretty hot; the Milwaukee, on the other hand, has no indicator light and it does not get hot at all when on.

[Jeff120]

As the tank depletes and the pressure drops is when you will notice the difference. The Milwaukee has a much greater potential for end of tank dump. Very bad for an fauna in the tank.

[Judi]

To follow up, my co2 tank arrived last week. I swapped it out at Roberts Oxygen with no trouble. They said it looked fine, and that I got it at a great price

Hooked it up to my regulator the other day. Since I don't have a drop checker yet, I started out at about 1 bps, and have been cautiously increasing that, watching plants and fish. So far, so good.

[B Considine]

To follow up, my co2 tank arrived last week. I swapped it out at Roberts Oxygen with no trouble. They said it looked fine, and that I got it at a great price

Hooked it up to my regulator the other day. Since I don't have a drop checker yet, I started out at about 1 bps, and have been cautiously increasing that, watching plants and fish. So far, so good.

Let me know how it works out for you, Judi. CO2 is my next frontier.

Blaise

[jcali10]

Judi wrote:

Hooked it up to my regulator the other day. Since I don't have a drop checker yet, I started out at about 1 bps, and have been cautiously increasing that, watching plants and fish. So far, so good.

I have been running about 3 bps on my 20 gallon tank without a drop checker. Fish and plants are doing well.

[PaulS]

Judi,
What did Roberts charge you to fill the tank? Thanks.
Paul

[Judi]

Blaise,

I'll keep you posted. So far so good --I haven't blown anything up, or suffocated my fish yet!

Joe,

Good to know. This tank is also a 20 gallon, and I'm approaching 3 bps now (more or less --hard to count bubbles and seconds at the same time )

Paul,

I paid $16.78. Roberts Oxygen does the swap only (which is what I wanted. I don't care what the tank looks like, and I'd just as soon it be someone else's problem to make sure it's hydrotested when needed.)

[tomterp80]

Blaise,

... Roberts Oxygen does the swap only (which is what I wanted. I don't care what the tank looks like, and I'd just as soon it be someone else's problem to make sure it's hydrotested when needed.)

That's what I do, swap at Roberts. I see no point in "owning" the tank, when you can just swap it for another one. I don't really care about my propane tanks for the gas grill either.

I was originally given a tank, so never had the upfront cost, though they did charge me a test fee the first time I took it to be swapped, since it's previous date had expired.