How Aquatic Plants Get Co2 In Wild?

[Vin Swords]

In reading about planted aquariums and whatnot, and the issue of needing to artificially introduce CO2 into an aquarium, I came to wonder where exactly plants in the wild get their CO2.

I understand why we need to introduce fertilizers into the tank. The soil that plants thrive in contains nutrients that have only come to exist in said soil from centuries of organic decay (we have a poster in the plant science lab that shows a time line showing the major events that occurred in the amount of time it took 1 inch of soil to be "created" - it spans something like 600+ years).

But why do we need to add CO2? Our need to add CO2 means there must be some source in the natural environment that we cannot provide in an artificial environment. It can't be the fish in the plants' natural environment because, well, we keep fish in the tanks. One must assume that the stock of fish in the natural environment is at a level at or below what most of us keep in our tank. So where are the plants getting all this extra CO2?

Just curious.


and do u have planted tanks without co2 or carbon dose?

 

[Blubble37]

yes, i keep my tanks without c02 and they do just fine

 

[StandbySetting]

You have to understand that 99% of the species we keep are semi-aquatic and can live in and out of water, they take their CO[sub]2[/sub] from the atmosphere, the plants in our tank if subject to intense light require high concentrations of CO[sub]2[/sub] to meet their demands. Any fully aquatic species are generally found in the lower light areas where CO2 levels are sufficient in so that they're non-limiting.

Some plants have adapted to take Carbon from other compounds, I think I remember reading a few years ago that Valliseneria spp. can take it's Carbon from carbonate and bicarbonate via some form of fixation.

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Also another point is that our tanks, are much more heavily planted than in the wild, and as SBS points out, most plants grow above the surface of the water

 

[mark2109111]

I also have a nice planted tank without using co2 you just have to keep your water god and it also helps to leave some decaying leaves in the tank for natural co2.

 

[bae1994]

I also have my plants with no co2 or additional nutrients

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Yeh we can keep lovely planted tanks without CO2 I think the OP was just wondering why we do dose with CO2

 

[bae1994]

Yeh we can keep lovely planted tanks without CO2 I think the OP was just wondering why we do dose with CO2

The last line of his post said differently

Joking but I was replying to that

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Yeh we can keep lovely planted tanks without CO2 I think the OP was just wondering why we do dose with CO2

The last line of his post said differently

Joking but I was replying to that

Oh yeh, I missed that lol

 

[Bignose]

You have to understand that 99% of the species we keep are semi-aquatic and can live in and out of water, they take their CO[sub]2[/sub] from the atmosphere, the plants in our tank if subject to intense light require high concentrations of CO[sub]2[/sub] to meet their demands. Any fully aquatic species are generally found in the lower light areas where CO2 levels are sufficient in so that they're non-limiting.

Some plants have adapted to take Carbon from other compounds, I think I remember reading a few years ago that Valliseneria spp. can take it's Carbon from carbonate and bicarbonate via some form of fixation.

+1 to this, SBS nails it out of the park.

 

[Vin Swords]

Thanks guys.. very interesting

 

[raptorrex]

is there not a fair bit of CO2 produced by the degeneration of organics, in the wild, well in established areas?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

The reason some tanks need supplemental co2 is really quite simple when you think about it. A tank is a finite space- almost nothing goes in or out that the fishkeeper doesn't add or remove. Why does one have to add ferts of some sort to a planted tank, after all nutrients in nature are not added by a giant fishkeeper, they are produced naturally. The answer is simple, we add them because in the finite world of a fish tank the plants will use up all the ferts. Well its the same for co2. In the wild the co2 supply is constant due to the size of the body of water and the fact that flow and surface agitation are naturally and constantly supplying co2 as fast or faster than the plants cane use it up. In a heavily planted well lighted tank the plants will use up all the available co2 faster that it can be naturally replaced. So we add co2 to insure there is always an adequate supply no matter how rapidly the plants uptake it.

 

[raptorrex]

The reason some tanks need supplemental co2 is really quite simple when you think about it. A tank is a finite space- almost nothing goes in or out that the fishkeeper doesn't add or remove. Why does one have to add ferts of some sort to a planted tank, after all nutrients in nature are not added by a giant fishkeeper, they are produced naturally. The answer is simple, we add them because in the finite world of a fish tank the plants will use up all the ferts. Well its the same for co2. In the wild the co2 supply is constant due to the size of the body of water and the fact that flow and surface agitation are naturally and constantly supplying co2 as fast or faster than the plants cane use it up. In a heavily planted well lighted tank the plants will use up all the available co2 faster that it can be naturally replaced. So we add co2 to insure there is always an adequate supply no matter how rapidly the plants uptake it.

makes sense that. but, surly, surface area and agitation will not gain CO2, but loose it?
O2 drives CO2 out, not the other way around. to maintain C02, would it not need a consistent supply?
certainly, only pressure keeps the CO2, our water company's use, at the levels they need.

 

[amy1994]

I also have my plants with no co2 or additional nutrients

For people using no CO2, what are the best plants to use?
As i would like to put some plants in my discus tank, but don't want to use CO2
And for Vin Swords, i am finally getting some wild discus 1 tefe green + 1 japura green
May be here on saturday