CO2 removal on heavily planted tank.

If you remove the CO2 your plants will suffer. Just use an air pump on a timer at night to gas off the CO2.

cephalofoil said:

hey everyone, i've been planning on a heavily planted tank for when i upgrade my fish and had a question. some background info.

1) i don't have the budget for a pressurized CO2 system, so i will be using a DIY yeast setup
2) i'm afraid of accidentally gassing my fish at night
3) 50 breeder, 2x T5HO, ADA amazonia aquasoil, eleocharis acicularis, rotala indica, ludwigia peruensis, hygrophila corymbosa, heterantha zosterfolia. Gonna use estimative index for dosing

my question is
if i just ran the CO2 for however long it took for the plants to fill in the way i want, then remove it and add my fish would there be any problems? I'd still be doing everything else the same minus the CO2

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Well unfortunately for your plan Co2 and Lights are like fuel and air with a gas powered combustible engine. Too much light (fuel) then you need to counter that with air (co2) and if you don't expect mad algae growth and nutrients out of whack! What I'm saying starting a high tech w/ co2 and high light then just leaving it to low tech may have some long lasting ill effects!

From what I gathered you want to grow out some fast healthy plants via high lighting and co2 + fertz/sub but once you fill your desired space in you kind of want to pull the plug and slow everything down for the beauty, naturalness and growth wanted? But its not that easy!

First you need a stable planted tank which can benefit from old planted substrate, if not; a newly setup high tech planted will do some funky things!

My advice: if you don't mind turning on your co2 45min or so before the lights turn on (making sure bbs are consistent to provide constant co2 levels everyday) and the same before they turn off at a decently @ apprx the sametime everyday then you should avoid nuisance Algae! But high lighting needs good injected co2 which can be hard to achieve via yeast but has been done.

I found my 5lbs bottle, needle valve and 2 stage regulator on CL for 80$ and if you go to your brew supply center you can pick up new everything for 130$-150$ or so. Search classifieds for kegorator and you may need a couple fittings, needle valve and bubble counter (fluval makes a 6$ one)

You can try your idea but after your done with Co2 you need to cut the lighting way back! Lets say your fixture has 4 bulbs take at least 2 out!


*Co2 parts NOT to skimp on: needle valve, newish regulator, decent solenoid valve (to run on timer so you don't manually turn it on and off) check valve and REACTOR! LOOK UP REX GRIGG REACTOR AND EASILY DIY YOUR OWN FOR 15$!!!!! Some say 90-100% co2 absorbency into water!


What plants did you have in mind? Med/high light plants in some cases need high light and injected co2!



×Go S. Vettel #1 Infiniti Redbull! 4x WDC!!! Congrats on another flawless title and 9 wins back to back in 1 season (record!) See you next year in Australia boys!× <GET BETTER SCHUMI>
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Cheap way to decrease nitrates and keep your fish healthy: http://monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=504763

well, you could always raise the lights higher above the tank. and don't dose full on EI if you aren't doing co2, the idea behind EI is to max out plant growth assuming superb light and co2, without those two things, your plants will grow but you're algae collection will as well

also, DIY co2 on anything over a 20 gallon is too expensive in the long run and not sustainable. so don't do that.

that said however, the plants you listed should grow fine in medium light and no co2. not sure on the star grass though but I think it will be fine.
which company makes your t5 fixture? with two bulbs you might be at high, but if it has crappy reflectors you honestly might be fine just doing what you were gunna do. and again, if its ever too much light, just raise it or put window screen on it to lower the intensity.

cephalofoil said:

i don't have anything yet, i'm still in the planning stage.

from what i've read now, i'm not gonna do EI or co2. just the ADA aquasoil and some medium light. I wanted to have a full planted aquarium ASAP, but now i see it odesn't work like that, so i can wait it out until the plants fill in when i get to that point.

what kind of lights would you recommend? the tank is 18" tall.

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For low light one T5HO will suffice, on for 8-9 hours/day. Just add flourish excel for carbon supplementation plus it will help keep algae are bay. If the tank is well stocked and fed you don't really need fertz and co2 IF its low light but if not you may want to at least consider flourish comprehensive for plants food if you don't want to go the dry fertz route. Just make sure you have nitrates.

×Go S. Vettel #1 Infiniti Redbull! 4x WDC!!! Congrats on another flawless title× <GET BETTER SCHUMI>
__________________________________________________________________
Cheap way to decrease nitrates and keep your fish healthy: http://monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=504763

Sounds like an interesting project. I'll definitely be watching for updates. I'm afraid of hurting my fish too, that's why I'm doing low/medium light. As you can see in my posts its been a slooooow process of trial and many errors for my attempt. Mostly due to my 28 inch tall tank with fish making a mess of pretty much everything and not enough light in the past. Hopefully that will change soon, I'm still aiming for a lot of plants 6 months later..
What kind of fish will you have with the plants?
Good luck!!

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Sounds like its going to be great. And no geos to constantly redecorate! The planning part is always fun. The waiting, not so much! Enjoy & good luck.

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