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CO2 Silly question.

si walker

Member
Joined
30 Mar 2020
Messages
308
Location
uk
Hi all.
I was wondering how does CO2 actually work in the planted tank.
Yeah I could google it, but whats the point in that?
Does the CO2 mist/bubbles actually have to touch the plants individually or does it just remain in the water and allow the plants to utilise?

Okay so I have just found a post that asked a similar question, but the answers got a bit heated.

It seems that the bubbles need to stay in the water column as long as possible to evaporate. If they don't completely evaporate do they still work, but slightly less than others?
Its a Co2 mine field, but a lot of fun.
Hope this makes sense.
Enjoy the sun.


Cheers all.
 
I was wondering how does CO2 actually work in the planted tank.

CO2 dissolves in water, then more CO2 is available to the plants, CO2 is one of the main ingredients for photosynthesis. In the tank with high light intensities increasing the supply of CO2 helps the plants deal with the higher light intensities better and prevents pin holes and melting, plus plants grow faster. Having High CO2 in planted tanks is tricky because CO2 diffuses very slow in water, 10,000 times slower than air ( takes about 1 second for CO2 to travel over a meter in air, however in water takes well over a day to travel same distance). So flow is very important in CO2 injected tanks.
Does the CO2 mist/bubbles actually have to touch the plants individually or does it just remain in the water and allow the plants to utilise?

No, but its is believed to help by some.
 
So Co2 dissolves in water.
The filter circulates the water and shares the Co2 around the aquarium to benefit the plants?

If Co2 dissolves in one half of the aquarium, theoretically it can benefit plants further away as long as circulation is sufficient?
I'm just trying to get my head around how it basically works.

Thanks!!😊
 
The filter circulates the water and shares the Co2 around the aquarium to benefit the plants?

Yes and No, the filters output is used to create flow/circulation in the tank, the filter just happens to be in the pumps plumbing circuit that creates the output/flow

If Co2 dissolves in one half of the aquarium, theoretically it can benefit plants further away as long as circulation is sufficient?

CO2 dissolves into any water it comes into contact with, smaller bubbles have a large surface area to volume ratio so dissolve into the water faster, also small bubbles are less buoyant so don't reach to surface as quick and get dragged round by the current/flow.

Ideally the CO2 bubbles should get pushed all way round the tank and to the substrate level, should have the appearance of '7up' freshly poured in a glass
 
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