Will I Need A Co2 Machine With Few Plants?

[Joinerlavin]

Im trying to read up on plants and its saying that the plants need Co2, my tank is only small and i will only need 4 or 5 small plants in the tank, will the fish waste etc.. provide enough Co2 for the plants or will my plants just die?

I will be using eco-complete sand, what else will i need to keep my plants healthy? Liquid fertilizer???

 

[aaronnorth]

Tank size?
lighting?
Plant species?

 

[Colin_T]

plants will be fine in a tank without additional CO2. There is plenty in the air, gravel and filter. Having a lot of surface turbulence will help keep high levels up without resorting to adding it from a bottle. However, if you have lots of fertiliser and light, and lots of plants, then adding a CO2 unit will help them grow a bit quicker.

 

[SuperColey1]

Having a lot of surface turbulence will help keep high levels up without resorting to adding it from a bottle.

Wrong way round. Having high surface turbulence will drive CO2 off but bring more O in. This is why when we inject CO2 we have to up the injection rate if we have high surface turbulence!!!

AC

 

[Joinerlavin]

Tank size?
lighting?
Plant species?

My tank is a 48 litre interpet tank, I dont know the what watt the light is I will find out tomorow, and I dont know what plants I want yet, im not that clued up on them, got a book from the fish shop today about plants, going to read up on that and see if i can use it.

maybe a few straight vails in the tank and a few fountain plants???

 

[aaronnorth]

if you havent got the plants yet then dont worry, but the wattage of the light is important, because we can then work out the level of lighting you have, as this drives the plants. More light = more demand for CO2 and nutrients. So therefore if you have low light CO2 injection is not necassary,

 

[Colin_T]

Having a lot of surface turbulence will help keep high levels up without resorting to adding it from a bottle.

Wrong way round. Having high surface turbulence will drive CO2 off but bring more O in. This is why when we inject CO2 we have to up the injection rate if we have high surface turbulence!!!

If CO2 isn't being added by people via a bottle, then a tank with lots of plants in will use up what is in the water and then you need some surface turbulence to help get more into it. Otherwise the plants will run out of CO2 and there won't be enough transferring through the meniscus. Ergo having surface turbulence will help keep the levels up if CO2 isn't being pumped into the tank artificially.
However, if CO2 is being added to the tank via a bottle, then you want minimal surface turbulence when the lights are on so the excess CO2 doesn’t go out of the water as quickly.

 

[SuperColey1]

If this were true then how does someone like Diana Walstad with no CO2 and no equipment other than a heater on her tanks have such success???

There is nothing to create any water movement. the tank is fed by fish alone. She gets some algae but not too much. Her water surface will be like a plate of glass!!!

I would suggest it is exactly the opposite in that you don't want what little there is to be driven off in a non CO2 tank whereas in an injected tank you can choose to or not to. I myself have huge surface turbulence and up the injection rate to compensate.

AC

 

[Joinerlavin]

if you havent got the plants yet then dont worry, but the wattage of the light is important, because we can then work out the level of lighting you have, as this drives the plants. More light = more demand for CO2 and nutrients. So therefore if you have low light CO2 injection is not necassary,

just checked the watts on the tank, there are 2 different bulbs in my tank, 1. flourecent light 15watts, and 1. flourecent moonlight blue light 15watts.

 

[aaronnorth]

It is all to do with Equilibrium,
If you are adding CO2 artificially, you are raising the levels high above the natural equilibrium with the air. In this case, the more aeration you have, the more CO2 you lose from the water. So an airstone can be a problem if you are artificially adding CO2.

If you are not artificially adding CO2, then the levels are never going to be measurably above the equilibrium point with the air. But they can get below it, because the plants are using it. So if you use an airstone in this situation, it will help the tank to stay in equilibrium with the air, and this will actually add CO2 to the water in this situation (although it will still be around the average of 8ppm - basically it keeps the levels steady)

 

[SuperColey1]

Therefore I must hold my hands up and say sorry Colin I was wrong and you are indeed right!!! Must research more


AC

 

[OldMan47]

You asked about Walstad SuperColey. She specifically does not use filters with media in them but does recommend using power heads or filters with the media removed. In her approach, the plants take the place of the filtration process but circulation is a recognized need.

 

[RadaR]

Having a lot of surface turbulence will help keep high levels up without resorting to adding it from a bottle.

Wrong way round. Having high surface turbulence will drive CO2 off but bring more O in. This is why when we inject CO2 we have to up the injection rate if we have high surface turbulence!!!

If CO2 isn't being added by people via a bottle, then a tank with lots of plants in will use up what is in the water and then you need some surface turbulence to help get more into it. Otherwise the plants will run out of CO2 and there won't be enough transferring through the meniscus. Ergo having surface turbulence will help keep the levels up if CO2 isn't being pumped into the tank artificially.
However, if CO2 is being added to the tank via a bottle, then you want minimal surface turbulence when the lights are on so the excess CO2 doesn’t go out of the water as quickly.

Have to say that I've heard this before. It would also explain why my 52litre does well (no algae) with 24W and I don't inject CO2.