What Would Happen If...

[Miss Wiggle]

just thinking through some options for my little 8g tank, here's a pic of it a couple of weeks back so you can see the level of planting, i want things to bush out a bit but other than that i don't want it more heavily planted than this.

i've now got some crypt cryspatula (no idea on spelling!) growing on and when it gets tall it's going behind the wood so the long leaves come over the top of it. the crypts have been re-arranged a little so the bigger ones are further back, and the stem plant (creeping jenny?) is growing like mad, the pygmy chain sword is also starting to take off since i put some root tabs under it.

i'm current dosing with flourish and flourish excel. my bottle of excel is gonna last about a month or so and I'm contemplating what to do when it does.

i'm thinking about getting one of the little 20quid Co2 kits and setting that up on there and just robbing Ian's trace from his high tech tank and fertilising with that.

i have 2wpg with 1 decent bulb and 1 that came with the tank, I will upgrade the other tube when i get a spare tenner i.e. after xmas. other than that i can't see any way to get more light into the tank as the lightings built into the hood.

Ian say's the 'magic number' for lighting with Co2 is 2.5 wpg.

so if i add Co2 and start dosing trace elements, but keep the lighting at 2wpg..... what's gonna happen, would that work or would it be a mssive algae nightmare??

i'm really pleased with the tank and starting to get into plants, I'd like things to do a little better than they are now, but i don't wanna go fully high tech with EI and stuff.

 

[Themuleous]

CO2 will benefit almost all tanks, granted you it wont help low light tanks like it does high light tanks, but the plants certainly appreciate it. A nutrafin kit sounds a good idea (i've got a spear one if you dont mind second hand?).

The whole WPG 'rule' doesn't work for very small tanks like this one, checkout the amano lighting guide in m sig for a very good article on it and you'll see what I mean. My 4g nano has 38w over it!

Ians trace is from AE if I remember rightly, so adding it to your tank say weekly would be fine.

Sam

 

[Miss Wiggle]

CO2 will benefit almost all tanks, granted you it wont help low light tanks like it does high light tanks, but the plants certainly appreciate it. A nutrafin kit sounds a good idea (i've got a spear one if you dont mind second hand?).

The whole WPG 'rule' doesn't work for very small tanks like this one, checkout the amano lighting guide in m sig for a very good article on it and you'll see what I mean. My 4g nano has 38w over it!

Ians trace is from AE if I remember rightly, so adding it to your tank say weekly would be fine.

Sam

so adding Co2 won't induce a massive algae bloom then? I'm quite accepting it won't produce the same effects as a full high tech set up, I'd just like a bit better growth particularly in my chain sword.

chjrist, so instead of being reasonable light, my nano is really low light then? booo!

yes it's from AE.

Thanks Sam

 

[InaneCathode]

I could be totally wrong (correct me if i am people) but i think algae lives on oxygen, not carbon dioxide?

 

[Themuleous]

As far as I am aware, CO2 shouldn't in itself induce algae, light is generally the limiting factor, if that aint very high then adding CO2 shouldn't be a problem. I have CO2 on my 20G which is running at around 1.3WPG and I've got very little algae in there.

I wouldn't call your lighting low light just maybe not high light. Think its fine for what you sound like you want to achieve.

I could be totally wrong (correct me if i am people) but i think algae lives on oxygen, not carbon dioxide?

Not totally wrong, but not 100@% right either, algae is the simplest form of plant, but works in very much the same way, so uses CO2 during the day and O2 during the night. Well that's as I understand it.

Sam

 

[Miss Wiggle]

As far as I am aware, CO2 shouldn't in itself induce algae, light is generally the limiting factor, if that aint very high then adding CO2 shouldn't be a problem. I have CO2 on my 20G which is running at around 1.3WPG and I've got very little algae in there.

I wouldn't call your lighting low light just maybe not high light. Think its fine for what you sound like you want to achieve.

I could be totally wrong (correct me if i am people) but i think algae lives on oxygen, not carbon dioxide?

Not totally wrong, but not 100@% right either, algae is the simplest form of plant, but works in very much the same way, so uses CO2 during the day and O2 during the night. Well that's as I understand it.

Sam

cool thanks, i have a little algae on the glass but nothing serious, it's manageable but i wouldn't want to make it any worse.

and I may well have that nutrafin kit off you 2nd hand, i'll pm you in a few weeks when i've made my mind up what i want to do (and got some money after xmas)

 

[Themuleous]

Okyee dokyee skippy

 

[lljdma06]

This is an 8g tank. I really think 16W over 8g is low-light. I have 24W over 8g and that is only medium-low to moderate. I don't inject CO2 into that tank and have pretty good growth, not weedlike, but good enough to give me cuttings for other tanks once in a while. You can try CO2 with this tank, but I wouldn't try to achieve much with respect to ppm. It is possible to outgas a smaller system and that is the experience I had with my 8g. I put too much CO2 in and my plants weren't using it because I didn't have enough light to encourage quicker growth. My water got pretty cloudy. When I stopped adding it, the water cleared right up. It was a rather odd experience, and possibly limited to only my experience as I have seen others inject mass amounts of CO2 into tanks with less light then mine and achieve great success. Try, you never know. The benefits of CO2 are excellent and you can get away with having more finicky species in lower light if you pump in CO2. My Alternantera in my 20g is testament to that.

You tank looks lovely, by the way, Miss Wiggle. I like the nymphaea a lot.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

thankyou, and thanks for the advice llj.

i think i'm gonna give it a go with a relativley low dose of Co2 going into the tank.... if it all goes wrong then i know it's working alright with just flourish excel so i can always go back to it.

also cos it's just my betta' in there he's Co2 proof being an anabantoid so i can't cock it up too badly.

after Ian's Co2 regulator got knocked and nearly killed all the fish I've been scared of it

Ian's also said he may be able to get another lighting tube into the hood..... gonna have a proper look at it soon and see if it's possible, but even another t5 tube would make a fair bit of difference