Quick Question

[Hayabusa]

Having been researching plants for the last few hours it seems you have to use C02.

Am I correct in this assumption, or is it possible to have plants without a C02 system?

All im after really would be a few big plants at the back/sides, maybe a couple of mid sized plants and a carpet at the front of the mown grass lawn looking plants, which I assume is some kind of moss?

Sorry, I am a complete noob to this, and I have read the stickys (which is what started me on the C02 road).

Thanks for any help.

 

[oOMO3NOo]

all plants need co2 to grow.....but some low light plants can get enough co2 from the amount naturally in water without adding any. the more difficult plants you put in your tank the more likely you will need co2. the more light you put over the tank the more demand you will have for co2.

most true carpet plants are going to need high light and high CO2 you can kinda wing it by getting moss and letting the moss attach to a rock or driftwood and have that as a carpet. moss usually needs less light and co2 the carpet plants

 

[psycobabe007]

I have kept plants successfully without using CO2. The reasoning behind using a CO2 reactor is that it helps give your plants that extra boost in becoming very lustrous and beautiful.
If it helps, you can make your own CO2 reactors. I have had friends who have had great success using homemade CO2 reactors.

 

[Hayabusa]

Yeah I knew plants needed C02, just wasnt aware you would need a system to inject it into the tank.

So it is possible to have a planted tank without having an injection system?

Is there a list of plants that wont need it?

Thanks for the advice.

 

[newe70]

I have some of these hardy plants in my tank without using CO2 injection: Java Fern, Ozelot sword, Anubias lanceolot, Dwarf sag, Anubias barteri, Egeria, Amazon sword, and Anubias nana.

 

[Hayabusa]

Great thanks.

From doing a little more research found alot of talk of PH changes etc, does PH change purely from adding plants or is it the process of injecting CO2 into the tank that changes the PH?

Thanks again, I know probably very nub questions, sorry ><

 

[invisyblegypsey]

I have some of these hardy plants in my tank without using CO2 injection: Java Fern, Ozelot sword, Anubias lanceolot, Dwarf sag, Anubias barteri, Egeria, Amazon sword, and Anubias nana.

i have several of these in my wifes tank and no o2 and they do very well slow growning c02 would make them better but they will grow nice.

 

[oOMO3NOo]

injecting co2 is what changes the PH. how much the ph changes will depend on your KH.

HERE is a good place to look at plants. it does not have all plants out there but it has most of the common ones. it gives placement and light requirement so it has alot of good stuff. just do your research. they even have a low light section that would not need co2. also most places you can buy plants from have a beginner/low tech section that will be plants that dont need co2.

also you can do a home made CO2 system (search on google can find tons of info) i would highly highly recomend not using it for plants that NEED high co2 levels. home made co2 is not consistent at all and can change based on alot of things. if your plants require high CO2 levels a DIY system is not the way to go. but if your plants dont require high co2 i do recomend you add one because it will help with growth. low light plants can benifit alot from the addition of co2 even if its the small amount a DIY system offers.

if you were confused by any of that post just ask. i thought it was worded wierd and i wrote it...lol

 

[Hayabusa]

No, no, I followed it fine, thanks for the info.

And I have looked at the pop bottle DIY solutions, I'm just not sure about altering the PH as I will use the tank as a middle grow on tank, so fish will be moved around 3 tanks, this one being the middle sized one, so it having different PH to the other tanks isnt ideal.

Didnt realise how much was involved in having a planted tank heh, kept fish for 15 years and never looked into it before.

Thanks for the help.

 

[WyldFya]

I have kept plants successfully without using CO2. The reasoning behind using a CO2 reactor is that it helps give your plants that extra boost in becoming very lustrous and beautiful.
If it helps, you can make your own CO2 reactors. I have had friends who have had great success using homemade CO2 reactors.

CO2 reactors are useless without a source of co2. Also, there are many plants that will not survive in an aquarium without pressurized co2 injection.