Hey Aquarium People . . . do you add CO2?

[kenny]

I've been reading/hearing that to have really healthy plants (which I want) you have to add CO2 to the tank.
A brief investigation finds systems varying from $50 to $500.
The fancy systems have a sensor and automatically add CO2 from a big tank when needed.

Do you do this?
Does it work, or is it just another pricey gimmick?
Or, would you say it works a little for how much it costs?

Are there other ways to accomplish the same thing like balancing the amount of fish, plants and light?

Also I'm pretty dumb when it comes to Chemistry but apparently maintaining the PH is key in this, but I thought PH was all about acidity and alkalinity; what's THAT got to do with CO2?

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Have you asked about CO2 on a fish forum? You probably will get more "expert" advice. Regarding price. . .check craigslist. Wait for something to show up and then purchase as you can get great deals on aquarium equipment.

I ended up selling some of my stuff when I moved and ended up practically giving it away!

 

[Dancing Fire]

IMO...light would be the most important for healthy plants.

hey Kenny

you should grow some water lilies in your backyard.

 

[kenny]

Date: 6/27/2010 4:05:21 AM
Author: Dancing Fire
IMO...light would be the most important for healthy plants.


hey Kenny

you should grow some water lilies in your backyard.

That, and some koi, would be beautiful but I don't have time now
I'd definitely do all the installation and maintenance myself.
I hate dealing with contractors.

Maybe when I retire.

 

[Demon]

Depends on the plants, really. Anubias, bolbitis, java ferns, java moss and crypts grow fine in my tanks with just light. I imagine if you want the really heavily planted tanks that are so gorgeous, you may need to go the CO2 route. I tried a do it yourself setup with baking soda, yeast & vinegar, I think it was, but it didn't seem to make much difference. And I think the CO2 lowers the ph somewhat, but don't quote me on that.

 

[Guilty Pleasure]

Carbon dioxide dissolves in water to form carbonic acid, a weak acid. This lowers the pH. I don''t know about how the pH is regulated to optimize the environment for plants though. I would imagine that if you pump CO2 in, you also add a base to the water at the same time to keep the water from becoming too acidic for the fish and plants.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 6/27/2010 4:30:33 AM
Author: kenny

Date: 6/27/2010 4:05:21 AM
Author: Dancing Fire
IMO...light would be the most important for healthy plants.


hey Kenny

you should grow some water lilies in your backyard.

That, and some koi, would be beautiful but I don''t have time now
I''d definitely do all the installation and maintenance myself.
I hate dealing with contractors.

Maybe when I retire.

Kenny
koi and water plants don''t mix well together (like water and oil). koi will chew up the plants and dig up the soils

koi needs over 6'' deep water,but a water garden will only need to be about 20" deep. there''re some beautiful and very colorful water lilies.

 

[IdLikeToBuyAVal]

Hey Kenny!

To do a planted tank "right" you need to get to the right light levels, add CO2, and trace minerals to provide the plant with enough light and food to photosynthesize. We did a DIY two liter CO2 yeast reactor system and dosed fertilizers once a week (with our current time constraints we haven''t been following this regimen recently). Without the CO2 and fertilizers, your plants will grow more slowly and you need to watch for algae growth. Try googling "planted tank forum" and you''ll find some great resources.

A lot of people say algae tends to be a problem if you''re over 2 watts per gallon on the light with no supplements, we stay in the two watts per gallon range so we haven''t had a lot of issues with this. Just a word of caution - we did have an incident where our yorkie bumped into the yeast reactor and tipped it over and the yeast mix went into the fish tank. We lost a very expensive and well loved pleco this way and we''re not doing CO2 on a tank again until we can upgrade to pressurized CO2 in tanks.

We bought our reactor and check valve from plant guild and we use the fertilizer dosing calculator from a planted tank forum so we know how much of each nutrient to dose per x gallons in the aquarium.

Good luck!! Planted tanks are GORGEOUS!!!

 

[Gailey]

Hey Kenny

Think long and hard before adding C02 to your tanks. Learn all you can learn about planted tanks before embarking on such a big step. Become successful with non C02 planted tanks first before taking the next step.

Planted tanks are wondorous things, but you don''t need C02 unless you are planning to grow plants that require high light conditions (in excess of 2 watts per gallon). No point in investing in a C02 system unless you have metal halide lamps.

If you are anywhere close to SF Bay area, then the planted tank guru to beat all NA aquatic plant gurus is to be found there. His name is Tom Barre. He wrote the book on C02 as far as I am concerned and I would subscribe to his reports as well as reading and researching extensively on The Aquatic Plant Forum

Other worthwhile sites for you to look at:
Tropica Aquatic Plants
Dennerle
The books of Takashi Amano (His tanks are the "Octavias" of the aquatic gardening world)

Keep us posted.

 

[Gailey]

More links for you Kenny.

Dupla

Aquatic Gardeners Association. These folks host tank competitions every year. You can see the results of dedicated aquatic gardening here. They also publish a Journal which you might find interesting.

Aquatic Quotient Threads on equipment and DIY projects

The Planted Tank Forum

The Krib I''ve linked you to the C02 threads, but really, the information to be found on The Krib is invaluable even though a lot of it is old, somethings don''t change.

I should also mention that Tom Barr developed a C02 reactor/diffuser (which I have!), which is a way to get the C02 into the water column. I''ve had it for a number of years now and it has never been out of the box because I never did set up a C02 system despite wanting to. I started a terrestial gardening business instead and had less and less time for my tanks.

I think someone mentioned earlier in the thread that supplementing a tank with C02 will cause your pH to drop. Plants grow better in lower water with a lower pH. But I can''t stress enough how dangerous this is to your fish, especially when you are a newbie. The slightest shift in pH can cause fish fatalities. One of the most important things to learn about C02 is how to control the dosing. So if you do this, plan on getting yourself a pH meter.

When I move, and have more time on my hands, I may well re-visit the C02 option again. Perhaps I won''t give away my 100 gallon tank after all.

Oh, one other thing to consider, is the depth of your tank. Planted tanks are better with a longer width and shorter depth, to aid with light penetration. There are a few photos of some of my tanks in the pet gallery.