Co2 Injection? How In The World Do I Do This?!?!

[NewTankGuy]

So I am still pretty new to the aquarium hobby, and again need some advice.  I have two tanks going right now, a 75 gal, and a 29 gal-tall, both heavily planted, but that is something I have built up too over the last several months.  In the 75 gal, I have 60 lbs of Eco-Complete substrate(about 50% of total substrate in tank), along with Seachem tabs, and I use the entire spectrum of the Seachem Planted Aquarium line (i.e. Excel, Flourish, Iron, Trace, Potassium), and follow the dosing guidelines, per tank size, by Seachem for each tank respectively.  In the 75 for lighting I have the Marineland Double Bright LED Light (36”-48” and 6000K one watt white and 60mW blue LED lighting system), and in the 29 gal I have a Power-Glo Fluorescent Aquarium Bulb (20-Watt, 24-Inch, T8 25mm, color temperature of 18000 Kelvin).  I was wanting to know about CO2 injection, for both my tanks. 
 
I have done a little basic research and I am just confused.  It looks like regardless… this is kind of a DYI way of going about things, instead of being able to just go out, and buy a complete system all set to go, per tank needs, but at the same time, tit is the best way to have a successful planted tank.  So I am asking for a little advice and guidance on how to go about your fist CO2 injection system (what to look for, what to avoid, what all do I really need, etc…).
 
Also any opinions on my lighting situation.  Everything appears to be growing wonderfully! Great color, growth, new root development, and all.  But I was looking for something more….automatic, or systematic (I do have my lights on a timer, set at 11.5/12 hours of light each day, no algae issues, but I do have snails, multiple BN pelco’s, as well as many Cats and Loaches), as the Seachem products, and dosing schedule, is a bit annoying, and costly.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks in advance!
Here is an example of the dosing schedule and product line for my 75 gal that I follow. 

 

[Byron]

I would not risk what seems to be working by even considering diffused CO2.  I'll try to explain, and not knowing your level of experience, may cover things you already know, so pardon me if I do.
 
The issue in a planted aquarium is balance, between light intensity/duration and nutrients.  You want the balance that works for the plant species you have (not all plants are the same when it comes to requirements for light intensity and nutrients) so they will use the light and nutrients, and algae will be disadvantaged.  As soon as the balance is lost, algae has the advantage.  And I can assure you, that when this occurs, true "trouble" algae will not be something handled by any fish or snails.
 
Generally speaking, the brighter the light, the more nutrients.  But this only works for plants that can make use of brighter light/higher nutrients.  Low light plants cannot benefit from this.
 
Nutrients required by aquatic plants are 17, of which one is carbon.  CO2 is the usual form of carbon plants prefer, though there are some species like Vallisneria that can effectively use bicarbonates as well, which is one reason they thrive in harder water.  Some plants, like mosses, cannot use bicarbonates at all.  CO2 occurs naturally in the aquarium, primarily from the breakdown of organics by bacteria in the substrate.  Respiration of fish, plants and bacteria also produce CO2, but not as much as what comes from the organics.
 
Turning to your light, this is low to moderate for both tanks.  I am familiar with both.  I would not waste money/effort on diffused CO2 unless you significantly increase the light, as you will not see any real benefits, but algae may well suddenly explode.  Adding CO2 may increase the need for the other nutrients, but if this is done without increasing the light, you are only feeding algae.
 
As for the Seachem products, these are designed for non-CO2 tanks.  What we would call low-tech or natural planted tanks, where nutrient supplementation rather than major dosing is all that is required.  Relying on natural CO2, the light can be moderate with fewer nutrients being added.  Flourish Comprehensive Supplement contains all nutrients (except oxygen, carbon and hydrogen) in the proportion required by plants (the "hard" minerals are minimal, as these usually occur in tap water, which is another issue).  Depending upon your tap water, fish load/feeding, plant species and lighting, this may be all you need.  I have experimented with these products over the last few years and I use the Comprehensive, plus Flourish Trace; these are dosed once each week, immediately after the 50% water change on each tank.  I also use Flourish iron in only two of my seven planted tanks because of the specific plant species.
 
Not knowing your plants, nor the frequency of dosing these products (and I gather you are using the nitrogen, potassium too?), I cannot suggest much; but if things are doing well, you may have a balance and again you risk upsetting it with changes that are significant.  One thing I would consider though is stopping the Flourish Excel.  I have written several times in other threads about this, you may have seen that, so I won't repeat unless asked; others may be getting tired of my rant.

 
Byron.

 

[Lunar Jetman]

I agree with Byron. I wouldn't change what appears to be working. By your own admission "Everything appears to be growing wonderfully" so why change anything? Adding CO2 risks upsetting the balance you have already created and could adversely affect your setup.

 

[NewTankGuy]

Great, thanks guys! Everything I read seems to say CO2 Injection, is not necessary, but preferred, so it just had me thinking, but you do bring up a excellent point.....why fix whats not broken.