Can I get away without?

Captain Hook,

Can I have strong plant growth without using CO2?

--My immediate answer is NO, you cannot. Upon noting that your aquarium is a 20g however I realize that you can use Flourish Excel as a suitable carbon supplement. You MUST have carbon for plant growth to be heavy.

...should I add the plants and wait a while before adding fish?

--It isn't necessary to wait. Provided that your fish load isn't excessive, the plants can handle the waste from the fish and there will be no accumulation to toxic levels.

Also note, planted aquariums do not cycle the same as fish only aquariums.

HTH

PP

Can I have strong plant growth without using CO2?
No. Can you have plant growth? Yes, but with low light and no CO2 it won't be strong. It may be successful and it may be cheaper, but all planted tanks need work and I kind of think the fully natural lowlight scenario requires a good bit of know how…

Excel is a good sub for CO2 and is a reasonable alternative in a smaller tank. Pressurized made a massive difference in my 30g and I'd tried DIY and Excel. For me they weren't worth the effort involved.

…should I add the plants and wait a while before adding fish?
No. You shouldn't fully stock on day one but a fully planted tank can begin to take fish right away.

Sorry for the all the questions.
Don't be. That's the whole point of this place. And welcome to AqC

Originally posted by Captain Hook
I know about cycling and everything but should I add the plants and wait a while before adding fish?

Click to expand...

Here, you should probably read this.

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8028&highlight=plant+cycle

Regards,
Raithan O. Ellis

Welcome Captain.....
Plant it heavily with fast growing plants and if they have some water sprite or salvinia( floaters) pick up some of them as well for your initial start up. The heavier you stock with plants the sooner it will establish itself. The good news is that they are the cheapest to buy because of their fast growth.
If you don't have another tank, borrow a sponge(loaded with mulm) from a healthy, established aquarium and put it into your new filter along with your new sponge. No filter carbon.
If you have access to mulm from another tank, suck it up and pour it into your new tank. Right over the substrate. All this will seed the tank. Looks ugly.....let it settle in and do it's job. Great stuff. After it settles, you plant.
You don't need CO2 as long as you stay at or below 2.0 watts/gal. and are careful with your water changes and feeding your fish and plants. CO2 helps force fast growth in plants to help them compete with algae. Without it you need to be careful about cleanliness.
You do need carbon. Excel is a good substitute for CO2 for a 20. If, later you're not satisfied with the growth you can try your hand at DIY CO2.
I would use 2 bags of Flourite(15lbs. each) in a 20, but that's just me. I like a deep substrate. Yes you can mix reg. gravel with it or Eco-Complete.
Don't be afraid to ask questions.....we live for questions!
Good luck!!
Len

Another important point is to select plants appropriate for the conditions that you can provide. Carbon is important, but in low light levels, there are many plants that will not survive, much less grow, no matter how much carbon you provide.

Excel has to be added daily, religiously in order to be at all effective. It is an organic compound that contains the organic compounds that plants derive from C02. It is not actual C02.

Most people I have talked to used it for a while and then got tired of it eventually.

The answer to your question is yes, depending on the plants you choose and what your expectations are. The most light demanding and fast growing plants in general will grow very leggy and with somewhat deformed growth without C02. Slow growing plants will fair much better without C02 than the fast growers.

2watts per gallon is a fair amount of light, and you can get your feet wet with C02 by using a DIY system. You will see a big difference in growth, and when you get tired of the hassles of DIY systems, then by that time you will either be bitten by the bug and want to move to pressurized gas, or you may lose interest in it all together! Or just stick with slow growing plants.

Robert

Many people(myself included) have had the most success with tubes in the 6500K range. It is closest to sunlight of any of the fluorescent bulbs.
Yes, flourite is expensive, but it's a one time expenditure and a great substrate. No need for anything else with it, except for the mulm suggested above.
If money is a consideration, go to our search engine and look up "Profile" and see what you think. It's got many of the same properties as Flourite at a much cheaper price. I would not use it alone, but mixed with Flourite it can save you some money and give you the same effect. I think they sell small bags of it as well as the 40lb. bags. If you can afford it, Flourite is the way to go however for looks and effectiveness.
My advice is to try the Excel and see how it works before delving into CO2. In a small tank it can be effective and it's a simple procedure to dose on a daily basis.

Len