CO2 system suggestions

[FoughtWand]

I have a 55 gallon and I am thinking of setting up a CO2 system and was wondering what are good setups for a newbie who knows very little about solenoids and all that.

 

[Candi]

I use Co2art is a good brand.

[Dandy Pearl]

I'm just getting into CO2 as well. I'm recording my 'experiences' in the thread "37g Tech Tank". I don't know how to reference another post so I hope the link below works:

Learn from what I do, share what you do, and we can learn together!

 

[Jessica.]

I've run co2 for a few years, currently run it on 3 tanks and keep non-co2 tanks as well.

I'm a fan of Green Leaf Aquariums's regulators, diffusers, and tubing. Lifetime warranty, built in USA, very well made, and excellent customer service. I've needed to clean my regulator out a few times and they've walked me through it in email. I also hear good things about co2 art, but have never tried their products.

A good first step would be for you to figure out how you're going to be refilling your tanks, so what size tank you want. I use paintball co2 tanks and get them filled at dicks sporting goods. Many other people go to a welding shop and get larger tanks (5lb-20lb) filled there. The nearest welding shop to me that would refill was 45 mins away and they were rather grumpy, while dicks sporting goods is 10 minutes and I grocery shop in the same plaza. So, that's convenient for me. Obviously the downside to a smaller paintball size tank is you have to get it refilled more often. Whichever would be better for you will help you decide what set up you buy. 

You can buy cheap no name brand regulators on amazon, but they are usually lesser quality. A regulator is a bad piece of equipment to cheap out on, as a malfunction can gas your tank, killing all your fish. I ran the cheapo amazon regulators for 2 years before upgrading to the GLA products. One evening I was sitting in the living room and heard a loud hissing coming from my regulator - something internally had failed, and co2 was pouring out from the needle valve connection point so quickly the tank was frosting up. That was the day I threw out the cheap regulator and spent more for the quality. 

Here's a video from Cory about setting up co2- 

 

[Dornblaser]

I am also a fan of CO2 Art regulators, I have them on 4 of 6 tanks and it will be 5 of 6 when DHL next delivers.  I use Amazon Bluetooth timers.  You may want to consider how you want your CO2 to enter the tank, I have gone to inline diffusers and I replace rather than clean the ceramic diffusers during scheduled maintenance.  YMMV.