Debunked: CO2-Myth --- See tanks without carbon dioxide fertilization

[N.O.A.H.]

It is a gross misconception that Amano style tanks are short lived...many tanks by amano himself have been running for 20+ years and can be amseen at the ADA gallery. Where it is true that SOME contest tanks are scapd, matured and torn down....this is not out of necessity or unsustainability , it is by design. Grow for a year or more to mature the design and take the perfectly times shot. Tear down and start again for next year. Some do remain up for years. But competitive scapers all have long term tanks as well.

Another massive misconception is that co2 injected tanks require constant trimming whereas low tech don't. I have to trim my low tech tanks once a week whereas my co2 injected tanks i only trim every two or three weeks.

In your attempt to debunk the co2 "myth" you just revealed more myths about the differences between high and low tech....each style has their extremes but at their core they are only separated by the use of co2.

 

[Atavism]

I am a bit late to this discussion (by over a decade) but I read our illustrious member's post of 2009 about the CO2 myth and he is 100% correct.

The CO2 myth is not that there is a low concentration of CO2 in water and we somehow disagree with this point - it is true and we get it. That's not the error. It is the wide held belief that this is a serious limit to plant growth. It slows them down but it does not restrict their survival and I believe any species can be grown underwater without CO2 injection. It is all to do with Liebig's law and our misunderstandings of this law. Liebig's law is so far reaching and profound that it is being used in other fields of science now.

HarleyK is a masterclass - he has worked it out - well done. CO2 is not the limiting factor that we think it is.

My proof you ask? Here it is - I have been observing native species in the wild and in my aquarium and they grow exactly the same - slowly. When you see it with your own eyes you begin to understand. Well done Mr HarleyK.

My particular experience is that the light we use in our aquariums is more critical than anything else - we use far too little of it! Plants need light or they die.

 

[Atavism]

I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING. You are thinking that slow growth proves that CO2 is limited. Wrong. Simply proves that you don't understand Liebig's law.

 

[Atavism]

You are wasting your time showing us tanks with CO2 injection. We know it works. It works according to Liebig, just as ours do. I have had several years experience with plants and CO2 injection. We need to start showing you tanks without CO2 injection - and then you will believe.

 

[Atavism]

Here are two tanks that have never been emersed (plants always fully submerged underwater), no liquid carbon, no dry start, or yeast - no tricks. No CO2 injection whatsoever. Not a good photo but needed to show that the plants extend as a carpet everywhere. We are told that we can't grow lawns - but we can. We are told that a certain species must have CO2 injection, but they don't.

Now these are small tanks that may not win awards at shows but you have to admit that alot of people would desire such a tank (beats dead plants), and if you upscale these tanks you can imagine the possibilities.

I am a huge fan of Amano by the way. He will always be one of my heroes. I love his spirit of discovery and pushing the envelope.

Both tanks are about 1.5 years old but have looked this way at least a year. On the scale of the plant 1.5 years is nothing. Plants play the long-game. They are thinking millions of years.

 

[HarleyK]

Thanks for commenting, and welcome to MFK.

 

[Atavism]

No worries - I get it, its what you are trying to explain. That the world of the plant is on the scale of millions of years. Our 'instant gratification' society doesn't get it. We don't understand the world of the plant - its not like ours. Millions of years of evolution is their world. Every plant I have observed in nature has been there a very long time. They have had a long time. They didn't appear yesterday. Once we get that we begin to understand.

 

[HarleyK]

So much in our hobby has to do with patience. From cycling a tank, to breeding, to aquascaping.

 

[Atavism]

Glossostigma elatinoides. Another myth busted. No CO2 injection. Shall I continue? In the earlier post I have lilaeopsis, another plant we are told requires CO2 above levels normally found in water.

 

[Atavism]

Diandrum and lilaeopsis. If you are wondering why the lilaeopsis looks so different in this tank compared to the last tank its because this what it looks like in the wild - twice as long as you usually see in aqauria. I kept this plant for about a year and it didn't get this large until I put it in this tank. Seems that plants like fish don't like captivity and it sometimes stunts their growth.