Basic AQUATEK CO2 Regulator with Cool Touch Solenoid

At this price point I think you would be hard pressed to find anything that would compare to this regulator. I have had this for about a week and I'm completely satisfied. The needle valve is a little touchy but not so much that you can't dial in the amount of co2 you need. Once I set it, I never had to make any changes... So far ever time the solenoid shuts of and comes back on the bubble count returns to where I set it originally. Keep in mind I have a 120 gallon with a sump so I'm pushing a ton of co2. More bubble a second than I can realistically count. I highly recommend purchasing from Aquatek of California. My orginal packaging did not include the bubble counter as advertised. I left seller feedback noting that issue. Aquatek contacted me within minutes of leaving the feedback and sent me the bubble counter at no cost. That in my opinion is first class customer service. Thank you Aquatek.Update: it's been over 4 years and this regulator is still running strong. No issues!Update: I bought in 2014. As of April 2019 I've not had a single issue with this regulator.

This regulator seems to be good value, but Im having trouble keeping an stable flow of co2. When I adjust the needle valve to maintain let’s say 1 bpm it will do so for some hours but then slows down waaay under 1 bpm, more like 0,5 bubles per second. How do you successfully keep this stable?

So far so good - I have this running on a 5 lbs tank and its been keeping a steady bubble count for a while now.Just to update:I've had this unit for a couple of years now. I've gone through a few CO2 tanks now. I'm happy to say that this unit has been very consistent. I never have to adjust my bubble count. I've also never had any issues with end of tank dump. Excellent product - it's a steal at this price.

I was torn between a four star review and a three star. I'll cover product quality first, then setup second.The needle valve adjustment is annoyingly finicky. Barely touch it one way and the thing is practically off. Barely nudge it the other way and you have a bubble volcano in your bubble counter. Due to the nature of building gas/water pressure, there is a bit of a delay from adjusting the knob to a full response from the bubble counter. It reacts a bit immediately, but won't fully show the adjustment for a bit so juggling back and forth to get it right is seriously annoying. This might not be much of an issue if you are supplying a bigger aquarium with more CO2, but the lower range of the adjustment is blah. FYI I'm supplying a 28 gal. planted aquarium. That's my only complaint about this product. Keep in mind I'm using this with an adapter and a paintball CO2 tank, but I'm told that the version of this product made for that type of tank yields the same results, and this would do the same on a standard tank as well, at least at that low adjustment range.A bit about setup planning with this product:Please note that this item is designed for a standard CO2 tank with standard threading. Tanks that are used for paintball are slightly different threading and you will need an adapter or AQUATEK's smaller thread version of this. Attaching this to a standard tank that is standing upright will have the gauges facing straight OUT. Attaching this to a paintball tank standing up will have the gauges facing UP. This is also unstable and you'll either need to lay the tank down on a stand (the solenoid sticks out so it won't lie flat) or you'll need to strap the tank to something like a fire extinguisher. The other model designed for the paintball tank will face out if the tank is upright, but makes the tank top heavy so you'd still need to either lay it down or secure it.I already had the adapter for a paintball tank, so I got this and plan on building a nice wood stand to lay the tank on. In the meantime, it's propped up.

So far this regulator is working great with the timer and 5lb tank I have it on. Keep an eye on the CO2 level in your aquarium with an indicator, because the needle valve may need small adjustments if it moves a tick.

I really wanted to like this regulator because the price was so good for a dual stage regulator, but... the regulator leaks from the threads between the regulator and the solenoid. All the threads look to have a hard glue in them, making them impossible to turn, which would be great if it wasn't leaking. The threads that were leaking could be turned, which is probably why it was leaking. Tightening the threads on the leaking side would turn the solenoid until it hit the gauges and I still need to tighten more because the leak hadn't stopped. So I would need to break the glue from the threads on the not leaking gauge to remove the right gauge and have enough clearance to further tighten. I couldn't get the glue to break free and tightening one side of the solenoid loosened the other as long as the gauge was in my way, so it seemed unfixable and I just had to return.

Just wanted to add my 2 cents. I set up my Aquatek CO2 regulator last week when it arrived. As always I checked the reviews here and on YouTube. So far it has preformed wonderfully. I added to my 30g long tank. I decided to keep a more peaceful tank with small schooling fish, inverts and plants I can't keep in my larger tank because my larger fish eat them. I am very pleased so far. The regulator is working just as it should. I had one small problem. The first day I set it up the bubble count remained constant but when the timer turned it back on the next day the bubble count would slow over time. it would start where I set it then gradually get slower until it was nearly off. I was told this would happen and to be patient with it. I am happy to say that it has now balanced out and works just fine. This regulator is well made and I believe that it will do the job. For the price I believe to be one of the best values on Amazon. Highly recommended. I only gave it 4 stars because of the tricky needle valve.