co2

[kkober]

Does anyone have any positive experiences with injected co2?

I am in to planted tanks and I am curious if it is worth the investment - the tabs and carbon in a bottle isn't worth it.

Thanks in advance...

 

[Big Business]

CO2 can help your plants grow fast with very full leaves and vibrant colors. You just need to use effective methods. It's been years since I've done it, but here are some tips that I remember:
Get a good diffuser. I ran my CO2 line to a powerhead that was at the about mid-level in the aquarium.
You want to try to minimize the circulation of the surface water to try to keep the CO2 from escaping. Remove all air stones.
If you have heavy CO2 injection, monitor your pH. Dissolved CO2 creates carbonic acid, which drops your pH.
Couple of other tips: get some fertilizer, but do some research to make sure it doesn't promote the growth of algae.
For most tanks, you should do at least 1.5-2 watts of fluorescent lighting per gallon. For taller tanks you should do even more.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[Becca]

I use Flourish Excel when I remember. We could probably use to do injected in the 150, but I don't feel like diffusion is worth it in smaller tanks. I could be wrong.

 

[Jeff721]

I used to have a very successful 40 breeder that I was injecting pressurized CO2 into. I was also dosing fertilizers according to the Estimative Index.

My overall experience wasn't fantastic. Yes, it made the plants grow, and pretty well at that. But once or twice I experienced an end-of-tank dump. This happens when the CO2 tank gets to the lower levels of capacity and sneaks gas past the regulator (single-stage regulator). It can and will kill your fish if you don't catch it.

Using CO2 to me was sort of like walking on the edge of a knife. If something isn't quite right, you'll pay for it. I never experienced BBA until I started using CO2.

To be honest I was always much happier with "naturally planted tanks" or the "Walstad method" which is just having soil under your substrate. The plants grew just as well, and it was much more foolproof. Didn't have to dose fertilizers, didn't need CO2.

 

[kkober]

I ended up going with the Sicce CO2 life (not direct injected and not a liquid form of carbon) and I also have soil under a sand/fluorite mix substrate. I also dose in phosphorous nitrogen iron and potassium as needed. Just planted earlier this week - now the wait begins. I will try this for a month to see what kind of growth I receive. From there I will update on my procedure.

 

[rsretep]

I used to have a very successful 40 breeder that I was injecting pressurized CO2 into. I was also dosing fertilizers according to the Estimative Index.

My overall experience wasn't fantastic. Yes, it made the plants grow, and pretty well at that. But once or twice I experienced an end-of-tank dump. This happens when the CO2 tank gets to the lower levels of capacity and sneaks gas past the regulator (single-stage regulator). It can and will kill your fish if you don't catch it.

Using CO2 to me was sort of like walking on the edge of a knife. If something isn't quite right, you'll pay for it. I never experienced BBA until I started using CO2.

To be honest I was always much happier with "naturally planted tanks" or the "Walstad method" which is just having soil under your substrate. The plants grew just as well, and it was much more foolproof. Didn't have to dose fertilizers, didn't need CO2.

I gotta agree, I lost two entire tanks to co2 "dump" ,
liked the growth it gave but the down side was catastrophic. And BBA was never more prevalent than when I was injecting those tanks. Jmo

 

[scientist0724]

It really helps to have a dual gauge, dual stage regulator to prevent the CO2 dump. Yes, the regulator is more expensive, but worth not going through the pain and heartache of losing fish.

Arlene