To co2 or not?

[Conort2]

Hi

I currently run a 150l low tech but getting the itch to add gas to it. It's planted with mostly crypts, some anubias, Buces, echinodorus, aponogeton and limnophilia. Everything's grows ok but very slow and still seem to have slight issues with crypt melt even though it is no where near at the rate it was. I like the idea of co2 giving me more options for planting as at the moment my choice is quite limited. My main worry however is due to the fish i keep in the tank which are sewellia, garra, minnows and danios which are all hillstream fish with quite a high oxygen requirement. Would It be beneficial to add gas but at a low ammmount to say 15ppm rather than 30ppm or is this going to give me algae issues? shall I stay as I am or make the jump?

Cheers

Conor

 

[Konsa]

Hi Conor
You didn't share anything about your tank substrate,filtration ,water circulation , fertilizer dosing or ligth unit.How often and what volume are your waterchsnges.Adding some pics will help too.Adding CO2 even in small amount is always beneficial but by doing so it will increase the the demand for the other nutrients and U need to make sure the CO2 ammount U are dosing is constant which is not always easy to achieve.
The plants U mentioned doesn't require CO2 injection to grow healthy.It may be just the case of balancing things out a bit.
Regards Konsa

 

[Conort2]

Sorry, that would help ha. substrate is soil topped with fine gravel and sand, filtration is a fluval 306 and a similar sized tetra tec with spray bars full length along the rear of the tank. Have circulation pumps I can add if necessary. Fertiliser I am dosing approx 1/2 ei at the moment. lighting is the chihiros rgb set on the lowest setting and water changes are fifty percent weekly. I will try and add pics when I'm back home tomorrow, hope this makes things abit clearer.

Cheers

Conor

 

[Konsa]

Hi
Cryptocorine will melt due to various reasons.Some of them being swings in water temperature(they do better at high temps 24+ degrees rather than low twenties) , flow reduction,light intensity . Soil substrate going a bit clogged as in one of my tanks...
Every time you change something plants will need few weeks to adjust.
Its easier to manage a low tech tank than a CO2 enriched one.
Regards Konsa

 

[Zeus.]

If you generally happy with the tank, I would say NO, as Konsa says try to find/resolve the issues by other easier means, CO2 injection just gives a lot more maintenance plus CO2 issues.

 

[ceg4048]

shall I stay as I am or make the jump?

I say yes, jump, but be aware that, as the other posters have mentioned, you can have even more problems with a CO2 injected tank that you do with a low tech tank. As long as you are aware of that and have eyes wide open, then it is always worth a try. You are not married to CO2 and so if you don't get on well with it then end the relationship an go your separate ways, without consequence.

My main worry however is due to the fish i keep in the tank which are sewellia, garra, minnows and danios which are all hillstream fish with quite a high oxygen requirement.

The amount of Oxygen dissolved in the water has nothing to do with the amount of CO2 dissolved in the water, and in any case, when CO2 causes your plants to grow faster then the plants produce and dissolve more Oxygen in the water than could have been achieved without CO2, so this is not the issue.
The main issue is that CO2 is toxic and negatively impacts the fishes ability to use the Oxygen that is available.
So, it's a good idea to use small amount of the gas. There is no lower limit. Even a tiny increase in gas will work.
The limit is that you should not increase the light above what you already have. This is the critical mistake that many make. They automatically assume that when they add CO2 that they must also increase the light, and this is a fallacy.

Another option is that you can add daily amounts of the so-called "Liquid Carbon" such as Excel or Easycarbo.
This is easy to do, requires no investment in additional equipment, and if the tank is small then it is not so expensive.
As noted above however, adding CO2 also means that you need to pay more strict attention to nutrients and also means that you need to clean your tank and filter much more often.

In any case, ensure that you research the various posts in the forum to get an idea what the problems are and how to resolve or avoid them.

Cheers,

 

[Conort2]

Hi

Sorry for the delay in replying, I've taken some crappy pics that hopefully gives you a better idea of what's going on. A lot of the older leaves on the crypts and especially the java fern looking at it aren't great. These are plants I've had great success with before with similar dosing and flow in other aquariums. Main difference I can think of with this tank is it gets quite a lot of sunlight. Not a full on direct blast but this tank is pretty bright all day when the lights are off and you can see the plants turn towards the light so I guess it's enough for them to be growing and wanting co2. Im leaning towards putting say 15ppm of co2 in rather than 30ppm and see if this benefits me, hopefully making these older leaves on the plants last and improving the plants general health.

Thanks for all your help so for guys.

Cheers Conor

 

[Conort2]

Forgot to mention also adding 8ml of easy carbo currently too.

 

[Conort2]

Took the plunge and bought a pro-se series kit from co2 art and a couple of 2kg extinguishers. Think with all the light hitting the tank liquid carbon isnt cutting it. Hopefully I can get the balance right without having to add too much co2. Wish me luck ha.

Cheers Conor

 

[Konsa]

Hi
Good luck.
Just remember in planted tanks only algae happens fast rest needs its time.Take your time when tweaking things giving the plants time to respond and U will be ok.
Regards Konsa