# [Wet Thumb Forum]-CO2 tank size



## qbal18 (Jul 19, 2004)

i am looking at a 10lb tank but i am kinda thinking i may wat to hook the tank up to 2 10g and or a 29g tank as well if i do this how long would a 10lb tank last or should i go for a 20. the 20 is acually cheaper but i am not shure how big that is, i think it may be one of those 4' tall ones if so it woudl be hard to hid it. also how long wold it last


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## qbal18 (Jul 19, 2004)

i am looking at a 10lb tank but i am kinda thinking i may wat to hook the tank up to 2 10g and or a 29g tank as well if i do this how long would a 10lb tank last or should i go for a 20. the 20 is acually cheaper but i am not shure how big that is, i think it may be one of those 4' tall ones if so it woudl be hard to hid it. also how long wold it last


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## Rex Grigg (Jan 22, 2004)

Normally a 20 lb tank is just a little taller than a 10 and bigger around. My 20 is 26" tall.

Semper Fi


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## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

A 20lb tank will last about 2 years if its hooked up to 50 gallons!!!

I never really heard of anyone getting that big of tank, until now!


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## PPulcher (Feb 4, 2004)

The Only problems that I have with CO2 tanks is that it is hard to hide the larger ones.

I've got a 5lb tank that fits inside my cabinet, but I had to pay a premium to get it.

Cheers,

Andrew


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## Rex Grigg (Jan 22, 2004)

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by ekim:
> A 20lb tank will last about 2 years if its hooked up to 50 gallons!!!
> ...


 Hmm... I have a 20 lb tank hooked to a 55 and a 29 and I get about 9 months off of it. Depends on a lot of things on how long it will last.

Semper Fi


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## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by Rex Grigg:
> 
> ...


Ya your right, it depends on a lot of things!
I was just tring to give an example!

My 5lb tank last about 5 months on a 66gallon,
so a 20lb might last me 1.5 years.

Qbal was asking about less than 50 gallon so I think i'm pretty close!


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## sjogren1 (Feb 23, 2004)

Other than the obvious size difference, what benefits are there in owning a 20 gal. over a 10 gal.?


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## gsmollin (Feb 3, 2003)

The benefit is in the cost of refills. CO2 becomes much less expensive in the larger sizes. A 20 lb costs only twice as much as a 5 lb to refill, at my dealer. I cannot use it, since it is too tall to fit under my stand, with the regulator attached.

As far as how long it lasts: It all depends on your flow rate. The last time I did a study, my 5 lb tank lasted 11 months at 1, 3mm bubble/sec. That was into a 42 gallon bowfront. I am currently running 0.59 bubbles/sec in that aquarium. I had to reduce the flowrate after pruning out a lot of overgrowth.


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## Doomer (Feb 2, 2003)

0.59 bubbles/sec ?? How do you get your measurment ? Just wondering.









Also, any leaks will dramatically shorten the life of any size tank.


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## gsmollin (Feb 3, 2003)

10 bubbles / 16.89 sec. = 0.59 bubbles/sec.


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## JamesHoftiezer (Feb 2, 2003)

I get all my CO2 stuff from a fire extinguisher supply/service. 

They charge about the same for all tanks ($45-55) and refill tanks instead of exchanging them. The refills are per pound of CO2 so they are all the same expense.

A 20lb bottle is about 1/3 larger in size than a 10lb, but under a tank the size and weight can make a difference if you have to squeeze around things. I think (need to check) that my 10lb is 22" tall. I do have to move it some to get to cords and such. A larger tank would be harder.

On a high light 100g tank my 10lb lasted 3 months, but I was fiddling and wasting a LOT of CO2. Now that I have a contoller and have fine tuned things I expect this tank to last 6-12 months.

James Hoftiezer


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