CO2 tank ran out

[rickb]

Do you think I'm in danger of a ph/alk problem or anything if it takes me a few days to get a new one?

 

[ming]

Test your alk and find out how fast its going down. You can make your own judgment depending on how fast it goes down.
If you have no corals, then it probably won't go down much at all
If you're overflowing with corals, then it should go down fast

 

[Josh]

Depends on the requirements of your tank, but yes it can go down in a day or two.

 

[rickb]

I hardly have any hard corals, but coraline algae was just starting to take off.

 

[smoq]

You shouldn't do that, especially if your regulator is not a two-stage one, because there's a tank dump effect when using single stage regulators. It's when the pressure in the cylinder gets very low and the regulator simply dumps the rest of the co2 into the reactor at one time. To avoid this, check the pressure gauge often> When it drops down to 800-700 psi you have about a week left of co2. Hope that helps

 

[ming]

You shouldn't do that, especially if your regulator is not a two-stage one, because there's a tank dump effect when using single stage regulators. It's when the pressure in the cylinder gets very low and the regulator simply dumps the rest of the co2 into the reactor at one time. To avoid this, check the pressure gauge often> When it drops down to 800-700 psi you have about a week left of co2. Hope that helps

You use 800-700 psi in a week?!
:Yikes:
They only fill my canisters up to 1000 psi

 

[mray]

The high pressure gauge is a poor indicator of the amount of CO2 you have. That pressure only correlates to your room temperature. The higher your room temperature the more CO2 will go from liquid to gas. You can really only calculate how much CO2 is left by knowing the empty weight of your tank and weighing your tank, which is why CO2 bottles are labeled and filled by lbs and not psi.

 

[smoq]

No, I meant when the pressure starting to drop from the 1000ish psi to 700-800 (at room temp) you have not much co2 left and it's time to refill the cylinder.