CO2
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CO2
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
Mom to 3 humans, one dog, one cat, and many fish
re co2
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
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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- Posts: 995
- Joined: Tue Aug 29, 2006 9:29 am
- Location: Munich
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
-- 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
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 beautifulMoonPye wrote:Ahhhh thank you. Ok that is something I need not worry about now. I appreciate your response!!
-Jamie
--Various images
--Various images
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.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
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
Mom to 3 humans, one dog, one cat, and many fish
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.
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.
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
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.
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
That alone is reason enough for me to get one. ROFLchefkeith wrote:The CO2 is also good for keeping beer from getting flat.
I moved my CO2 unit from my tank to the Kegerator.
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
Mom to 3 humans, one dog, one cat, and many fish
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- Posts: 995
- Joined: Tue Aug 29, 2006 9:29 am
- Location: Munich
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...)
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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