# When to use co2



## Fish are friends (31 Mar 2021)

My 240l fairly heavily planted tank is going wild. Everything is growing well and in need of trimming. It’s a low light setup (well I think so anyway) and even my rotala orange juice is growing and has the orange tops. At what point would co2 injection become required. Is there a sign to look for that the plants are needing extra co2. I was using flourish excel but I have ottos, shrimp and a L134 and although I supplement their diet with courgett, I need some algae in the tank.


----------



## dw1305 (31 Mar 2021)

Hi all, 



Fish are friends said:


> Fish are friends said:
> 
> 
> > My 240l fairly heavily planted tank is going wild. Everything is growing well and in need of trimming.
> ...


It wouldn't be. Just keep things how they are and carry on watching the plants, all the time they (and you) are happy just keep things the same. If plant growth slows add a bit more fertiliser. 

You could increase growth rate by adding more light, CO2 and mineral nutrients, but you don't need to and there really isn't any advantage. 

cheers Darrel


----------



## Fish are friends (31 Mar 2021)

I can’t keep up with the growth at the moment. Admittedly it’s fairly easy to grow plants but even the Fissidens Fontanas is showing signs of growth and it is on A shrimp tunnel on the substrate.


----------



## dw1305 (31 Mar 2021)

Hi all,


Fish are friends said:


> I can’t keep up with the growth at the moment


That is why I've mainly gone away from stems, other than <"_Ceratopteris thalictroides_ and _Ceratophyllum demersum_">.


dw1305 said:


> I know they aren't exactly what you are after, but long term a planting based on Moss, Ferns (_Bolbitis heudelotii & Microsorum pteropus_), _Cryptocoryne_ spp. and _Anubias barteri _cuts down a lot of the day to day maintenance.


I like plants that grow fairly slowly (_Cryptocoryne_ spp. _Anubias_, Ferns, Mosses) and then I just have a floating plant (non-CO2 limited) as both my <"canary">  and as a <"safety net">, just in case of a dead fish etc.

cheers Darrel


----------



## foxfish (31 Mar 2021)

I am sure there are more than a few of us who would like to see a photo of your tank?


----------



## X3NiTH (31 Mar 2021)

Fish are friends said:


> I need some algae in the tank.



I wouldn’t upset the positive equilibrium you have going in the tank but if you really need more of that type of flora for the grazers why not put a few rocks in a shallow bucket under strong light (outdoors or sunny windowsill) and dose the heck out of it (hydroponic strength ferts not unreasonable here depending on the rock porosity) to get them covered and periodically swap them in and out the tank to get ‘cleaned’.


----------



## Fish are friends (31 Mar 2021)

foxfish said:


> I am sure there are more than a few of us who would like to see a photo of your tank?


----------



## Wookii (1 Apr 2021)

To be honest, if you are happy with your tank, and are happy with the plants in terms of growth form and density, then there is no requirement to go down the CO2 rabbit hole - just kick back, relax, and enjoy it! The well worn phrase applies . . "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"!


----------



## roadmaster (1 Apr 2021)

I think the oto's and pleco will find plenty to eat between rasping on biofilm on back glass,rocks,wood, and your inclusion of vegetable matter.
I suspect the Sword plant's to maybe be munched on by the pleco, and the sword plant's really need a deeper substrate to do well over the long term in my experiences with them.
I like your tank as is, but I am partial to low tech/low maint myself.


----------



## Fish are friends (1 Apr 2021)

roadmaster said:


> I think the oto's and pleco will find plenty to eat between rasping on biofilm on back glass,rocks,wood, and your inclusion of vegetable matter.
> I suspect the Sword plant's to maybe be munched on by the pleco, and the sword plant's really need a deeper substrate to do well over the long term in my experiences with them.
> I like your tank as is, but I am partial to low tech/low maint myself.


The substrate is quite deep the pic is very misleading the plinth on the front comes up about 3inches so at the back it’s about 4 inches deep. It’s very low maintenance I do a 30% water change every 2 weeks and give it a basic gravel clean and just top up when needed. I am in need of trimming but I’m inclined to just leave it to all grow a bit wil.


----------

