Hi there,
I've been doing some thinking about airstones/surface disturbance etc. and understand why it's a bad thing for those with a CO2 system going but what about those of us without c02 and using excel.
My understanding of surface disturbance is that it speeds up the natural osmotic balance of CO2 between the air and the water.
For example (and I'll use real basic numbers here) If the water in the tank has 25 parts CO2 and the air outside has 50, the surface disturbance will increase the rate that the water bleeds CO2 in its attempt to equalize correct? If so, then this is why having surface disturbance is a bad thing when you are equipped with a co2 system.
So would it not naturally follow that if you do not have a CO2 system set up, the plants will be using every last available ounce of Carbon available to them and in a moderately planted tank they would devour the CO2 at a decent rate. Therefore, the air outside the tank would have a higher saturation of CO2 then the tank and surface disturbance would increase the rate that CO2 is dissolved INTO the water, making it a good thing for those of us without CO2.
Am I out to lunch on this theory, had too many beers..... Tell me what you think!
Cheers
I've been doing some thinking about airstones/surface disturbance etc. and understand why it's a bad thing for those with a CO2 system going but what about those of us without c02 and using excel.
My understanding of surface disturbance is that it speeds up the natural osmotic balance of CO2 between the air and the water.
For example (and I'll use real basic numbers here) If the water in the tank has 25 parts CO2 and the air outside has 50, the surface disturbance will increase the rate that the water bleeds CO2 in its attempt to equalize correct? If so, then this is why having surface disturbance is a bad thing when you are equipped with a co2 system.
So would it not naturally follow that if you do not have a CO2 system set up, the plants will be using every last available ounce of Carbon available to them and in a moderately planted tank they would devour the CO2 at a decent rate. Therefore, the air outside the tank would have a higher saturation of CO2 then the tank and surface disturbance would increase the rate that CO2 is dissolved INTO the water, making it a good thing for those of us without CO2.
Am I out to lunch on this theory, had too many beers..... Tell me what you think!
Cheers