I have a large aquarium with turtles and Cory catfish. I use a wet/dry trickle filter. My problem is that the plants grow very slowly. I would like to try adding CO2 but wonder if it would just get off-gassed because of the trickle filter...or would this work?
adding CO2 to a trickle filter
- Thread starter muddybob
- Start date
It will get out-gassed too quickly for you to see any real benefit, just like you thought. The break of surface tension when the water flows over the bioballs allows for more oxygenation of the water which is contra-indicated for a planted CO2 fed tank.
Youre probably better off adding Flourish Excel as a source of carbon. This wont get gassed off like pressurized co2. the other option would be to change your filtration...
Never heard of Flourish Excel, will research that.
I would love to switch to a canister so I wouldn't lose any more fry down the overflow and could get plants to grow, but I have five turtles (heavy waste load) and almost 20 small catfish in a turtle habitat (8'l x 3'w x 17"h). Actual water depth is 12" so I have about 180 gallons of water plus another 20 or 30 gallons in the sump. I love the way the trickle wet/dry eats ammonia and nitrites, always zero. Fish do super, never lose any, well, except for the fry. I change the 100 micro filter pad daily and maintain crystal clear water. I fear a canister could not match the trickle filter in terms of biological filtration with such a heavy waste load. Also it seems that all that waste buildup in a canister would consume plenty of oxygen putting stress on my catfish.
I would love to switch to a canister so I wouldn't lose any more fry down the overflow and could get plants to grow, but I have five turtles (heavy waste load) and almost 20 small catfish in a turtle habitat (8'l x 3'w x 17"h). Actual water depth is 12" so I have about 180 gallons of water plus another 20 or 30 gallons in the sump. I love the way the trickle wet/dry eats ammonia and nitrites, always zero. Fish do super, never lose any, well, except for the fry. I change the 100 micro filter pad daily and maintain crystal clear water. I fear a canister could not match the trickle filter in terms of biological filtration with such a heavy waste load. Also it seems that all that waste buildup in a canister would consume plenty of oxygen putting stress on my catfish.