CO2

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MoonPye
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CO2

Post by MoonPye » Thu Sep 27, 2007 6:12 am

I see alot of people say they have injected CO2. What is this for, what is it good for, the reasons one would want it? How does it work and is it expensive, and is it necessary?
~Monica in NEPA ~ We got Dojo Mojo!
Mom to 3 humans, one dog, one cat, and many fish

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Erik
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re co2

Post by Erik » Thu Sep 27, 2007 8:24 am

Co2 is injected in tanks where there is higher light conditions ie 2.5 watts per gallon or more.
In that situation the plants become your biofilter and directly consume ammonia before most of it gets converted to nitrate. Plants need a lot of co2
when they grow fast.
Carefull monitoring is necessary as oxygen levels will drop at night.
Regards
Erik
16G bent corner planted ,pressurized Co2, turbotwist 9w, jebo 828 , 36 led

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MoonPye
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Post by MoonPye » Thu Sep 27, 2007 8:41 am

Ahhhh thank you. Ok that is something I need not worry about now. I appreciate your response!! :-)
~Monica in NEPA ~ We got Dojo Mojo!
Mom to 3 humans, one dog, one cat, and many fish

wasserscheu
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Post by wasserscheu » Fri Sep 28, 2007 3:48 pm

Just a few bullets below…

-- CO2 used as plant fertiliser. The carbon is implemented into cell-structure during growth. Some tanks (like mine) show a calcium coating on plants, because the plants lower the calcium lavel to get to the CO2 (*). Therefore I need additional CO2.

-- Too much CO2 causes fish not being able to breath their CO2 out (therefore CO2 is not a good way to mainly change ph values)

-- I personally like to keep it at 20mg/Liters

-- There is a direct proportion Calcium-CO2-ph (*) (see chart in posting linked below)

-- airstone, or extensive surface-movement cause loss of CO2

-- there are liquid solutions containing carbon for plants.

-- “Electrical” ways to split carbon from a plate in the aquarium.

-- Bring CO2 gas into water


There are some disussions and even charts here:

http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php ... 2&start=15
Wolfram

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Rubix
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Post by Rubix » Fri Sep 28, 2007 5:59 pm

MoonPye wrote:Ahhhh thank you. Ok that is something I need not worry about now. I appreciate your response!! :-)
if you have never upgraded your lights (aside from maybe changing bulbs) then you most likely don't need co2. if you don't have plants you definitely don't need it... as said above, its really only needed if you take your plants very seriously. its usually necessary in high light applications and can be used in low light applications but i wouldn't recommend it til youve read up on it a lot, its just one more thing to maintain and it can be lethal, though when done right the results are beautiful 8)

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MoonPye
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Post by MoonPye » Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:01 pm

Rubix wrote: if you have never upgraded your lights (aside from maybe changing bulbs) then you most likely don't need co2. if you don't have plants you definitely don't need it... as said above, its really only needed if you take your plants very seriously. its usually necessary in high light applications and can be used in low light applications but i wouldn't recommend it til youve read up on it a lot, its just one more thing to maintain and it can be lethal, though when done right the results are beautiful 8)
Thank you. Yes, the only thing I've ever done with my lights is replace burnt out bulbs. I do have some live plants but only a few, and they are still very very small at that. I thought I'd learn all I could about keeping fish first before I got into the whole plant thing.. I know people can get *very* involved in their aquarium plants! LOL I only have a few here and there for those fish that like them to nibble on or for hiding spots.

I actually do look forward to getting into the planting aspects of aquariums, though.. but I'm saving that for at least a year into the future.
~Monica in NEPA ~ We got Dojo Mojo!
Mom to 3 humans, one dog, one cat, and many fish

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loachmom
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Post by loachmom » Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:45 pm

Monica,

I, personally, do not have the time to devote to planted tanks, although I admire all the beautiful ones that I see posted here.

I've compromised, though, by using low-tech plants like java ferns, anubias, and cryptocornes. They do fine in my plain, old lighting. I buy most of mine from Aquadise store on eBay, and they are all thriving in my tanks. No fertilizers or anything are needed. :)

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Rocco
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Post by Rocco » Fri Sep 28, 2007 9:04 pm

In a river tank or high flow tanks that our loachies love, you won't need CO2 injection or any other system since the water will be moving so much that the co2 will just be expelled. There are some plants that are good for a river system though. I just don't have the list on the top of my head at the moment so you'll have to wait for me to post again with the list :)

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chefkeith
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Post by chefkeith » Sat Sep 29, 2007 3:23 am

The CO2 is also good for keeping beer from getting flat.

I moved my CO2 unit from my tank to the Kegerator. :)

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Erik
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Post by Erik » Sat Sep 29, 2007 9:02 am

In a river tank situation the extra Co2 will be expelled BUT it will stop at a certain point and be maintained at the static level that out atmosphere contains.
I grown many plants very nicely in my river tank that surprised me.
They grown very slow this way with some interesting adaptations to the current. ie ( 1 cabomba stock that was feet long and very dense.)
Here is what worked , rotala macracanda, cabomba, water sprite, hygrophlia augustafolia, java ferns, java moss and philodendron 1/2 emersed.
The only problem is that created a "0" algae situatiion not good for hillstreams.

Rocco wrote:In a river tank or high flow tanks that our loachies love, you won't need CO2 injection or any other system since the water will be moving so much that the co2 will just be expelled. There are some plants that are good for a river system though. I just don't have the list on the top of my head at the moment so you'll have to wait for me to post again with the list :)
16G bent corner planted ,pressurized Co2, turbotwist 9w, jebo 828 , 36 led

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MoonPye
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Post by MoonPye » Sat Sep 29, 2007 9:39 am

chefkeith wrote:The CO2 is also good for keeping beer from getting flat.

I moved my CO2 unit from my tank to the Kegerator. :)
That alone is reason enough for me to get one. ROFL

Of course, I cannot drink beer for another 8 weeks or so..
~Monica in NEPA ~ We got Dojo Mojo!
Mom to 3 humans, one dog, one cat, and many fish

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Rocco
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Post by Rocco » Sat Sep 29, 2007 10:41 am

MoonPye wrote:
chefkeith wrote:The CO2 is also good for keeping beer from getting flat.

I moved my CO2 unit from my tank to the Kegerator. :)
That alone is reason enough for me to get one. ROFL

Of course, I cannot drink beer for another 8 weeks or so..
Now I have a good reason to make a reactor...

MTS
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Post by MTS » Sat Sep 29, 2007 12:11 pm

Perhaps a dumb question about CO2:

Since CO2 is in the air, why would an airstone or increased flow cause it to be expelled from the tank? Plants and trees don't seem to be short of getting CO2 from air why would aquarium plants be different?

wasserscheu
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Post by wasserscheu » Sat Sep 29, 2007 1:46 pm

Can´t give you the physical/chemical explaination, however, its for the same reason why shaking a bottle of coke gets CO2 expelled ...

My plants simply use it up and there is not sufficient diffusion from the air into the water, so I need to add it, otherweise I´have that hard calcium layer on the plants (it´s pretty "smart" of the plants to break out the calcium in order to release uasable CO2...)
Wolfram

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