CO2 bubble counter

Description

A bubble counter is a small water-filled chamber on the CO2 line. The gas passes through the water as a string of bubbles, and counting them is how a keeper sees the dose. Fluval sells the most-rated counter in our search, and its listing states the purpose in one line: designed to accurately monitor CO2 dosing. This row used to be called a glass bubble counter. The counters with the most ratings in our search are not glass, so the name now says what the sources say. How one is built and filled comes from the sellers. A single-head counter describes both ends as made of aluminum alloy to avoid softening or breaking, with the middle transparent cylinder made of PC, and says it needs to be filled three quarters with water before use and is compatible with 4/6 mm CO2 tubing. The same listing names a second part: a built-in check valve to prevent back-siphoning. LINLAN's counter explains that valve in plainer words, saying a built-in check valve blocks water from flowing back into the air line when pressure differences occur. The chore these sellers write about is the water level, and LINLAN's design is built around it. Water is added directly through a small fill hole, with no need to take the bubble counter apart for routine top-ups, and the seller says there is no need to turn off the CO2 when refilling: align the injector with the fill hole and push water in. What a counter does not do is set the dose. It shows a rate, and the needle valve upstream decides it; the single-head listing says only that it is compatible with many CO2 needle valves. None of these sellers publishes a bubbles-per-second figure for any tank, and this page does not either.

Sources

• amazon.com — https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004GCPM6K
• amazon.com — https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08YN78W8C
• amazon.com — https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D5YXXQGY

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