C02 injection???

[Kashif314]

It depends mostly on what kind of plants you have and the most important thing what kind of light you have. If you have a carpet like hc cuba you definitely need co2 injection and a very very bright light. If you have something like monte carlo then you don't need co2 injection and it will grow and stay good. You can use product like Seachem flourish excel as a substitute but it is no match for pressurised co2 injection. My plants pearls a lot with co2 injection and grows very fast and stay very dark green.

You don't need to buy a branded co2 system. I had my lfs set up for me at home. The cylinder is same as used for fire extinguishers. All the things like defusers and valves were set to it. It is way more less pricey than buying a branded co2 system.

In the end, if you want a high tech system (very bright lights) co2 is worth every penny. Its just the initial cost but then all you need is to refill the tank which is very very cheaper than buying flourish excel and dose it daily. One time investment and then very cheap running cost.

 

[Fat Homer]

Also does substrate matter? As mine is purely just play sand

Substrate again like Co2 will depend on the type of plants you wish to grow...

If you have high demanding plants or literally a tank covered in plants with no open space, then a good substrate can be useful in the sense you may not need to dose as many ferts (especially in the beginning stages) but can also cause a lot of problems when those extra nutrients leech out and dont get absorbed by plants causing excess algae growth...

With that said, play sand isnt bad (just inert) so can still work even for heavy root feeders, because all you would essentially need is to add some root tabs directly beneath the roots of said plants, which should give them all they need without throwing everything out of sync like a nutrient rich substrate might...

Hope that makes sense...

 

[Far2lively]

How many litres is the tank?

Some heavy rooting plants will appreciate some root tab fertilisers, think amazon swords and crypts. Otherwise in low tech it's just a patience game. The only plants that grow crazy for me in low tech are vallisneria and java moss

Tank is 130 litres, I have some vallisneria in it at the moment and it’s doing well, I would like to add some tall bushier type plants if you could recommend any hardy ones that do well.

 

[Far2lively]

Ok thanks for all the replies!

The plan is too find some taller bushy types, sorry I’m not the best with names currently, and I forgot to mention that this tank will go down to temps of around 13degrees in the winter due to the fish I have in the tank.

The light unit is a Fluval aquasky upgrade from the tube lighting I originally had.

Also I was looking into the diy co2 setups as these can be made for around £60 using a fire extinguisher, but how would I know how much co2 to dose??

If you could advise me on what species to buy this would be great!

 

[Kashif314]

Ok thanks for all the replies!

The plan is too find some taller bushy types, sorry I’m not the best with names currently, and I forgot to mention that this tank will go down to temps of around 13degrees in the winter due to the fish I have in the tank.

The light unit is a Fluval aquasky upgrade from the tube lighting I originally had.

Also I was looking into the diy co2 setups as these can be made for around £60 using a fire extinguisher, but how would I know how much co2 to dose??

If you could advise me on what species to buy this would be great!

I have my co2 setup done by lfs. You can buy a fire extinguisher tank and then attach the valves and diffuser to them with pipe line. It sounds complicated but its very easy. I didn't go for the automatic system. I have a manual system and I open the co2 and close it myself. You need to contact your lfs and ask them you need a manual operating co2 system and you ll provide them the fire extinguisher and ask them the cost. You ll be needing a diffuser, a thing (i don't know the exact name) that protects water from returning back to fire extinguisher and a vavle that will attach to fire extinguisher's outlet. You open that fully and then you control the co2 bubbles from defuser. Its like 3 bubbles per second what is suggested.

About the tall bushy plants, "pearl grass" (Hemianthus micranthemoides) is amazing grower. Can grow very high and you can make a green wall. This below pic is of a tank I had with pearl grass wall at back. Its also low maintenance plant. Pic is not showing for some reason. Please click the link to see the pic.

View attachment DSC_4799.jpg

Below is what you attach at fire extinguisher's outlet:



The black valve you rotate fully and then this metal valve you rotate to control your co2 supply which is usually three bubbles per second.

Your best help is LFS near you. They ll guide you with everything. With automatic system there is auto timer for co2 to start and stop but this what I havr is manual and cheap than the branded co2 systems.

View attachment DSC_4799.JPG

View attachment DSC_4799.JPG

 

[Fat Homer]

Ok thanks for all the replies!

The plan is too find some taller bushy types, sorry I’m not the best with names currently, and I forgot to mention that this tank will go down to temps of around 13degrees in the winter due to the fish I have in the tank.

The light unit is a Fluval aquasky upgrade from the tube lighting I originally had.

Also I was looking into the diy co2 setups as these can be made for around £60 using a fire extinguisher, but how would I know how much co2 to dose??

If you could advise me on what species to buy this would be great!

You’ll need something called a “Co2 Drop Checker” which looks like the images below along with a solution to put inside it which will change color as the levels of Co2 go up or down... normally the solution turns Blue if there isn’t enough Co2 is being used, green if levels are optimal and Yellow if there is too much Co2 being dosed...





You will also probably want a bubble counter hooked up to the Co2 tubing so once you have an idea of how much Co2 you need, you can eventually stop using the drop checker all together...

 

[Far2lively]

Thanks for all the information guys! Much appreciated when I have all the bits etc I’ll be sure to post a thread!

Thanks again