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CO2 RegulatorProblems

I got tired of brewing my CO2, so made the plunge and bought a 10 Lb
cylinder and a Victor Medalist Light Duty Regulator.  Unfortunately, the
flow is very erratic because the flow is way below the minimum 4 cfh the
rig is designed for. - I am either making seltzer water or getting no
flow at all.  I had one excursion from a Ph of 7.6+ to 6.8 in two hours
in my 135 gallon tank before I quit.  Discontinued injection and the Ph
was back at 7.6+ the next morning.

 I got on the phone and ordered a needle valve (Swagelok (Nupro) Brass
4MG2 ,$41).  It will get here in a week.  Hope it works.   When I went
to the valve catalogue, I realized I had no idea what CO2 flowrate I
needed. 1 bubble per second = how many cu. feet/hr?  Do you need the
same amount of CO2 for a 135 gal as a 10 gal?. (I doubt it). FYI:  One
Lb of CO2 works out to about 8.6 cu. ft of CO2 gas.  One Lb of CO2 per
month = 0.012 Cu. Ft/hour.

In the interest of furthering the art, I would be interested in hearing
what other people with CO2 cylinders are doing:
I put together the questionnaire below - hope nobody minds.   Maybe some
rules of thumb can be worked out if enough data is obtained: (Metric
Units are OK).

Size Tank (Gallons):                Tank Dimensions:  Length x Height x
Width
CO2 Consumption Rate:   (estimated Lbs/Month)

Regulator Manufacturer/Type:                               :No.
Stages
Needle Valve (if any)                                         Solenoid
Valve (if any)
On a scale of 1 to 5, how accurately do you feel your  rig regulates CO2
addition? 1=poor, 3 = satisfactory, 5= lab grade

Water Temperature:             Tank Ph:                   Tank
Kh                   Reactor/Air Stone/Other?

Water surface agitated by outside filters, biowheels, air stones  or
other ?

On a scale of 1(no effect) to 5 (wow), how would you describe the effect
on CO2 injection on your plant growth:

Other Pertinent Facts:



Note:  The tank dimensions are to be used to calculate the water surface
area.  The interest in surface agitation follows a pet hunch of mine
that agitation displaces CO2 out of the water faster.