Cause of CO2 leak?

Andrewtfw

Andrewtfw

Global Moderators
I came home yesterday to find my co2 tank emptied ten months of co2 into my 40b and killed all of my fish.
It's a 5lb bottle with a milwaukee regulator that has only been in use for five weeks. Never had a problem until this.

Anyone understand what causes this to happen?
Does this mean the regulator is shot?

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Spine

Spine

Members
If the bottle dumped it was probably the regulator. Milwaukee low pressure regulators can blow out if you leave it open while you open the high pressure side after a refill.

I would take it to were you get refills they might test it without charging you.I've found the people at Roberts Oxygen in Rockville to be pretty helpful. The guy at MD fire equipment(Rockville) knew a lot about regulators also.

I use a low pressure regulator that vents the gas away from your tank in the event that the bottle dumps
 
Andrewtfw

Andrewtfw

Global Moderators
Spine said:
If the bottle dumped it was probably the regulator. Milwaukee low pressure regulators can blow out if you leave it open while you open the high pressure side after a refill.

I would take it to were you get refills they might test it without charging you.I've found the people at Roberts Oxygen in Rockville to be pretty helpful. The guy at MD fire equipment(Rockville) knew a lot about regulators also.

I use a low pressure regulator that vents the gas away from your tank in the event that the bottle dumps
Click to expand...

It was not a refill. The regulator was new. It had been running on a timer with my lights for a few weeks without issue. The bottle is from Roberts oxygen. Thinking I need to invest in a more reliable regulator. I'm guessing it is a quality issue. I have not had this problem with a milwaukee regulator before.

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Prince

Prince

The ONE who is The ONE
If you are looking for a better reg I have read that the dual stage regs prevent this.
 
Frank Cowherd

Frank Cowherd

Global Moderators
Staff member
Maybe my CO2 lost will alert you to a potential way to get a release that does not result from equipment failure but from operator error. My CO2 system has a 5 pound bottle of CO2 and regulator with bubbler. It is also set up to turn on and off with the lights.
One day I decided to increase the amount of CO2 fed to the tank. As I was doing this the timer turned off the system. I have two light periods, 7 to 10 in the morning and 6 to 11 in the evening. When the lights went off at 10 AM it was a sunny day so I did not pay attention and continued to try to increase the CO2 flow. When I realized the system was off, and thinking I had not made much of a change, I though I would fix it when the lights came back on that evening. About 9 PM that evening most of the fish were dead, the corys and gouramis, and ancistrus which can breath air were alive and survived. Even the clown loaches survived, but can they breath air?? Lost all the cichlids and tetras and live bearers. This was like 8 years ago now and I do not care to use the CO2 system any more since i could not see much advantage in plant growth. The regulator is a JBJ Regulator with Solenoid and Bubble Counter and actually works quite well.
 
scientist0724

scientist0724

Members
I'm so sorry for you loss.

Besides buying a dual stage regulator, I learned that another member of GWAPA uses an electronic pH meter with her single stage regulator. It is rigged to shut off the solenoid when there is a drastic drop in pH. Just another option to keep in mind.

Arlene
 
Andrewtfw

Andrewtfw

Global Moderators
@Frank- I wish what happened to you was what happened to me. I have not touched the regulator since more than four weeks ago.

@Arlene- Guess I will be looking into dual stage regulators sooner than I had planned.



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Andrewtfw

Andrewtfw

Global Moderators
12 serpae tetras
5 lemon tetras
4 hy511 tetras
2 rasbora hets
3 perugia cats
2 sailfin tetras
2 hrp 'rio claro

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