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DSM and CO2

Joined
9 Jun 2018
Messages
124
Location
York, UK
Hi all,

I think I've decided to go with the DSM for my tank but I was wondering how much CO2 I should inject to begin with when it comes time to flood the tank. It's a 25L tank. Should I dose so that my drop checker turns yellow for the first week or so while the Monte Carlo adapts to being submersed? 24/7 or turn off the co2 at night?

Many thanks

Chris
 
If you do not have fish you can pump CO² as much as you like, you can't have enough. Than a yellow dropchecker aint an issue at all.. Adding CO² with lights off is simply a waste because the plants will produce it themselfs during the dark periode and do not photosynthesize. :)

Once you added lifestock the 30ppm CO² is about the limit.. Anything more you're at risk killing everything..
 
If you do not have fish you can pump CO² as much as you like, you can't have enough. Than a yellow dropchecker aint an issue at all.. Adding CO² with lights off is simply a waste because the plants will produce it themselfs during the dark periode and do not photosynthesize. :)

Once you added lifestock the 30ppm CO² is about the limit.. Anything more you're at risk killing everything..


Thanks, Zozo. Would 2bps be a good place to start with a small tank like this then? That's kind of the number I had in my head, reducing it to less than 1 bps when I put shrimp in.
 
Would 2bps be a good place to start

I realy have no idea for 25 litre it also depends on type of difuser and flow distritbution.. If a difuser creates a relative big bubble it will spill more co2 than a fine mist creating difuser etc. That's something you need to find out yourself.. But for a start why not, nothing much can go wrong and you can always encrease if needed..
 
Im not an expert, and I only did a week of DSM, but if you mean DRY START METHOD I understand that you need not waste your CO2 if you are growing the plants out of water. There is enough in the air. But once you flood it, what I did was start with one bubble per second.
 
Im not an expert, and I only did a week of DSM, but if you mean DRY START METHOD I understand that you need not waste your CO2 if you are growing the plants out of water. There is enough in the air. But once you flood it, what I did was start with one bubble per second.

Yes dry start is what I'm referring to :) Was the 1 bubble per second enough following the dry start method? I know that atmospheric co2 is around 400ppm so far higher than what would be in the tank once filled with water. I've read that the plants can melt a bit in this period as they adjust to the lower co2 concentrations which is why it's advised to inject plenty at first.
 
Best to blast it with as much C02 as you can get in the water, I think that might be around 40ppm.
However there are other benefits of a dsm like having an established root system and lots of bacteria activity in the substrate, so even if you do loose some foliage, the plants will recover quickly.
 
Best to blast it with as much C02 as you can get in the water, I think that might be around 40ppm.
However there are other benefits of a dsm like having an established root system and lots of bacteria activity in the substrate, so even if you do loose some foliage, the plants will recover quickly.

This is one of the reasons I've decided to dry start, and the fact that I can start with less plant matter. I have two pots of 1-2 grow on order and I'll let that carpet nicely over 4 weeks or so before flooding.
 
I am now doing 2 bubbles a second now the tank is flooded. Whilst it was dry the root system on the dwarf hairgrass began to establish. I now have a healthy carpet. I am new to co2. The worst problem for me since I flooded has been loads of brown customs. I have reduced the photoperiod of the brightest light strip.
 
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