CO2 regulator

[kvnbyl]

I'm thinking of adding a co2 regulator to a planted tank I'm putting together. up to this point I've used both artificial and some real plants. I keep catfish and cichlids and so far the live plants have been largely the salad course. this tank will not have any fish that like plants( I hope). the problem I am finding Is that there seem to be a lot of issues with affordable co2 regulators. (around 100 dollars.) They don't seem to be too reliable with some saying the tank can become flooded with co2 and others just failing. Even the warranties are 6 mos pro-rated for the most part. Does anyone have any recommendations at to brands? I see Ista, Azoo, and one called M3. There is a site that carries Tunze, with solenoid it would be 150 dollars. Am I better off spending the additional dollars. I've always thought Tunze was a good brand but more popular in Europe than here in the States. anyone?

[TwoTankAmin]

I ran a high tech co2 added planted tank for about a decade. i finally took it down as part of a tank work load reduction plan. I bought my dual gauge regulator from a beer supply company. it worked fine the whole time I had it and when I repurposed the tank I sold it all used along with a 5 lb alum bottle. Of course that means i purchased the unit in about 2002 perhaps early 03. I got it from a company in New York called Kegworks. I cannot tell you how their quality is today, but you can have a look here https://www.kegworks.com/draft-beer/air ... regulators and decide for yourself.

I never had any issues with the regulator. However, it is important to use teflon tape to seal all screw in connections. I learned this the hard way by using up my first year's worth of co2 in about 2 weeks.

Also, I used a threaded needle valve that screwed into the regulator output. This required a small piece of hardware available any place they sell plumbing supplies. I brought the regulator and the needle valve and said I needed to connect them. As I recall, the part was under $2.