Will my plants grow?

Punjabiking1500

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Nov 9, 2020
462
194
51
24
I had a 2.5 gal pot with a beta which sadly died and I’m heartbroken
I changed the substrate from soil and sand to only sand and planted waterweed and Amazon sword
Pls provide tips for fast growth
And I’m providing them led light and I also have air pump for co2 for them
 

Rayfishowner

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
May 2, 2017
675
580
115
Hey, an air pump adds oxygen not co2. However, for the plants you have you def do not need co2. I’m not a plant expert but I am successfully growing plants under a shop light (I have a 75 gallon not a bowl so an led light should be sufficient on a bowl). I recommend keeping the light on a consistent schedule (using a timer) for at a minimum of 6-8 hours a day. Additionally, since you are using only sand, get some root tabs as the amazon sword would really benefit since it’s a huge root feeder. From my experience, consistency is key so make sure lighting is on the same amount of time each day and fertilizer/rootabs are being supplied every few months to week depending on what you use. Finally, depending on how big your bowl is, you may want to change the amazon sword to something smaller since it will def “outgrow” your tank. Good luck!
 

Punjabiking1500

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Nov 9, 2020
462
194
51
24
Hey, an air pump adds oxygen not co2. However, for the plants you have you def do not need co2. I’m not a plant expert but I am successfully growing plants under a shop light (I have a 75 gallon not a bowl so an led light should be sufficient on a bowl). I recommend keeping the light on a consistent schedule (using a timer) for at a minimum of 6-8 hours a day. Additionally, since you are using only sand, get some root tabs as the amazon sword would really benefit since it’s a huge root feeder. From my experience, consistency is key so make sure lighting is on the same amount of time each day and fertilizer/rootabs are being supplied every few months to week depending on what you use. Finally, depending on how big your bowl is, you may want to change the amazon sword to something smaller since it will def “outgrow” your tank. Good luck!
Thanks brother ?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rayfishowner

TwoTankAmin

Aimara
MFK Member
Oct 2, 2008
365
699
130
New York
I had an Amazon sword outgrow a 75 gal. tank.

Co2 and oxygen come into or exit the water from.into the air. That is enough for many plants and other living things. However, there is a phenomenon known as surface tension. If the surface of the water is dead calm, the surface tension hinders gas exchange, both in and out and for both co2 and oxygen. Normally, our filter returns roil the surface and there is no issue. An airstone does not add oxygen or co2 to the water. The bubbles rise too fast for that, What they do is create current in the water as they rise and, when they hit the surface, they break the tension and let in wanted gasses and allow unwanted ones to exit.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Punjabiking1500

Fishman Dave

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Nov 14, 2015
1,988
4,015
164
53
West Yorkshire
. An airstone does not add oxygen or co2 to the water.
This statement is incorrect.
A huge study was done on the effect of bubblers and air stones and the transfer of oxygen by DeMoyera et al in 2003 and whilst the comment still stands for simple bubblers, most airstones with small bubbles do add oxygen to the water. when connected to a decent air pump an air stone with tiny bubbles can add more oxygen through the water column than the transfer at the surface.
 

Punjabiking1500

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Nov 9, 2020
462
194
51
24
This statement is incorrect.
A huge study was done on the effect of bubblers and air stones and the transfer of oxygen by DeMoyera et al in 2003 and whilst the comment still stands for simple bubblers, most airstones with small bubbles do add oxygen to the water. when connected to a decent air pump an air stone with tiny bubbles can add more oxygen through the water column than the transfer at the surface.
Yep
I thought it transfers mixed gasses
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rayfishowner

Rayfishowner

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
May 2, 2017
675
580
115
This statement is incorrect.
A huge study was done on the effect of bubblers and air stones and the transfer of oxygen by DeMoyera et al in 2003 and whilst the comment still stands for simple bubblers, most airstones with small bubbles do add oxygen to the water. when connected to a decent air pump an air stone with tiny bubbles can add more oxygen through the water column than the transfer at the surface.
Oh really? Wow that’s interesting. Sorry for the misinformation then! I guess I’ll start using airstones in my planted tanks too ?. Thanks for the correction ?
 

Fishman Dave

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Nov 14, 2015
1,988
4,015
164
53
West Yorkshire
Think your original statement was correct.
Although many don’t really want oxygen transfer into a planted tank in daylight hours, since the plants will be producing oxygen, and you want them taking in co2 . Hence why some add co2. But at night plants take in oxygen and give off co2 so an airstone over night is a good idea on heavily planted tanks with little water flow and some fish.
 

TwoTankAmin

Aimara
MFK Member
Oct 2, 2008
365
699
130
New York
Before you read the below you may want to read this article from Tropical Fish Magazine
https://www.tfhmagazine.com/articles/aquarium-basics/aeration-and-oxygenation
The Skeptical Fishkeeper: Aeration and Oxygenation
Author: Laura Muha from December 2007


My statement is not incorrect. Unfortunately, all I can see of the DeMoyera et. al. study is the Abstract unless I pay. However, the study is cited by a lot of other researchers. What is agreed upon regarding oxygenation via bubbling are several things. First, bubblers aerate in two ways- contact of bubbles with the water and then surface agitation as the bubbles reach the surface. Second, the size of the bubbles matters. The bigger the bubble the less gasses are transfered to the water. Third, depth is the most critical factor in determining the transfer for any bubble size and how many bubbles are being released. Fourth, the size of the device making the bubbles also determines the amount of gasses being transfered. Basically this means the bigger the airstone, the more bubbles it releases and that means more exchange and also more surface agitation. Another consideration is the power of the device blowing the air or even pure oxygen into the water. A more powerful air pump making more buvblles means more oxtgen can come into the water by diffusion and agitation

One study indicated:
Al-Ahmady, K.K. Analysis of Oxygen Transfer Performance on Sub-surface Aeration Systems. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2006, 3, 301-308. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph2006030037
Figure 5 indicated that, if the airflow rate is kept constant, oxygen transfer capacity (OC) is directly proportional to submergence. At 0.5 m submerges, the oxygenation capacity is ranging within a narrow limit between 18-34 grO2/m3water.hr depending on the (f/B) ratios. With increasing the depth, the oxygenation capacity is increased to about 160 grO2/m3water.hr at the 4.6 m submerges.
from https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/3/3/301/pdf

It doesn't take a genius to understand the above. The shallow placement, .5 meters produced 18-34 grO2/m3water.hr. When the depth was 4.6 meters or 9+ times deeper, the same device and bubbles (size and rate) produced 160 grO2/m3water.hr or 4.7 times the oxygen.

How many folks here have a tank that is 1.6 ft. between an airstone and the water surface? If one allows for a couple of inches of subtrate and 3/4 of an inch below the top of the tank - this is about 3-4 inches and that would be about a 2 ft tall tank. How how many of you have a tank which is 15+ ft. deep?

Basically if you do not have a seriously deep tank, an airstone which makes extremely fine bubbles and is very large, it is creating more oxygen from surface agitation than diffusion from the bubbles to the water on their way to the surface. the operant term is "contact time." it matters a great deal how long a bubble is in contact with the water before it bursts at the surface.

Even the Abstract from the DeMoyera paper shows this (color added by me):
Abstract
The primary location of oxygen transfer in a diffused aeration system is examined by separately determining the surface air–water and bubble–water mass transfer coefficients. The mass transfer model developed to determine the mass transfer coefficients advances the McWhirter and Hutter (A.I.Ch.E. J. 35(9) (1989) 1527) model by tracking oxygen and nitrogen transfer into and out of the bubbles as they rise to the water surface. The resulting vertical profiles of the liquid-phase equilibrium concentration inside the bubble and the gas-phase oxygen composition give insight into how the bubble–water concentration gradient changes over depth. The surface mass transfer coefficient, kLsas, is 59–85% of the bubble mass transfer coefficient, kLab, and the driving concentration difference is smaller for surface transfer. Surface transfer and bubble transfer both contribute significantly to oxygen transfer; however, bubble transfer is the primary mode of oxygen transfer for this system at the air flow rates used. Further experiments demonstrate that most of the surface transfer occurs above the bubble plume.
The problem with the above when it states that the bubble transfer is the primary mode of transfer is that this is for a specific system which is described in the full paper. If somebody has access to the full study, please post the relevant info or links. Next, looking at the pictures in the article (not the study) it diagrams a small column of bubbles. The area for bubble creation affects the amount of surface agitation. Put another way, at the same depth, producing the same bubble size over the entire area of the device, the bigger the airstone, the more surface agitation that will result. Also, the more bubbles it will produce.

So for most of us in the hobby and the tanks we keep, surface agitation is the Prime method of gas exchange. The exception for this is in heavily planted tanks with some fast growers. Plants make oxygen in very fine bubbles, when you get to see pearling. But a lot of the oxygen we cannot see is coming from the plants. When I ran my pressurized co2 added, high light planted tank, I kept the surface agitation to a minimum so as not to outgas co2. This was the most healthy tank I had. I lost almost no fish over a decade and had farlowellas spawn in it. This could not happen if DO levels were much lower than normal saturation levels.
 
Last edited:
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store