CO2 Disaster!

[R_sustaita]

Tragedy has happen to my tank.

I had my CO2 running. it was the 1st time using it, I didn't used the solenoid valve nor the needle adjuster. It was adjusted to output almost no bubble, and it had been working fine all day. 9:00 pm. we are watching TV next thing we know we heard an extremly loud noise coming from the 10g the little amount of CO2 bubbles coming out was going full throttle, with-in a minute that took me to get there and shut it off. and once it was shut off it still keep bubbleling. (Paintball bottle hook up to a red sea regulator, using paintball adapter) everything inside the tank was dead.

R.I.P
3 Adult Endlers
25 Juvi Endlers
6 RCS
1 Amano

Survivors
2 Assassin Snails
Val Grass
Micro swords
Xmas Moss
Anubias

My explanation of why they died so fast would be temperature drop to keep as CO2 release to fast can freeze anything. or the extra amount of it may had been to toxic for them.

[sunkenmetal]

They suffocated or Carbon poisoning or both...

I wasn't able to get out of the bed for a week or two... The wife was dosing excell and flourish... I told her how many ML.. She thought I meant something else... Needless to say all the fish in my 20 gallon died from to much carbon...

[R_sustaita]

thank you, that was one of my assumptions. I had never had fish die like that. i still dont know what happen to the bottle or regulator. i havent touch that tank since that moment.

[sunkenmetal]

sounds like the regulator failed...

[ssrprelude]

R_sorryforyourloss,getaneedlevalvebro

[sunkenmetal]

LOL you know EK is going to have a field day with this...

[R_sustaita]

sounds like the regulator failed...

when i get home i will try it again and see what happens. i have nothing to kill anymore.

R_sorryforyourloss,getaneedlevalvebro

i do have it, but i didnt set it up. it was my 1st test drive. and the reason i didnt set up the solenoid was cuz i didnt had an available outlet.

[LooksLater]

Sorry to hear, R. We all learn from our mistakes, better luck next time...

[R_sustaita]

LOL you know EK is going to have a field day with this...

I know, i am here to learn other wise i may make the same mistakes.

[sunkenmetal]

If you are not making mistakes you are not learning... That is my excuse...

[R_sustaita]

If you are not making mistakes you are not learning... That is my excuse...

i know me too. but this was one costly mistake.

Sasha: thank you, and yes, everyone learns from mistakes.

[eklikewhoa]

I would have never thought to run CO2 without a needle valve.

R_taughtEKsomethingnewtoday.

[eklikewhoa]

Also I think a decent size bottle of CO2 in small confined room, dumping, could put out a average size human... more less a 20g tank.

[R_sustaita]

well it was a 9oz paintball bottle. it was my 1st trial and i learn quiet alot on it. today will set it up everything. needle valve, solenoid, and again the 9oz tank. i have another 20oz tank and a regular 15lbs tank.

[Totenkampf]

man i am sorry to hear all that Rick. You apparently have missed my numerous high horse rants about the importance of a needle valve! Well as painful as that is, you live and learn. Dont give up on pressurized CO2, just know that you cant take it lightly. A DIY set up can be deadly too. In case anyone else comes across this:

The needle valve controls flow. This is the ONLY thing that you should be adjusting to set your bubble count. The regulator is for setting the pressure, you set this to ~ 25 PSI and then open the NV to adjust flow. While pressure and flow are inter-dependant, low flows like BPS should not need to worry about constantly adjusting the regulator unless / until you run out of liquid CO2 in the cylinder and then its best to just get a new fill. The solenoid valve would not have prevented this disaster unless you had it hooked up to a pH meter and even then I believe it would have been too late. The SOV does typically have a smaller orifice size so it will slow down a dump like this to some extent, but I think you would need a really large volume aquarium to ever consider not using the NV and then you are still playing with fire.

Carbon is absorbed into the bloodstream more readily than oxygen so it will replace oxygen in the bloodsteam of the animals. They aspyxiated due to this. The temp change probably would not have been too much of an issue in a quick demise like this one. Gases have very little ability to carry heat or cold with them. Most of the freezing will happen at the regulator due to the pressure drop across the regulator orifice. For more info on this, look up Boyle's Law of Thermodynamics. Too much excel doesnt kill animals due to the carbon since it is a different type of carbon which must be converted first. Excel is an aldehyde which are typically very potent biocides used for sterilization purposes. That is what can kill fish, and incidently people as well, if overdosed.