Co2 injection and surface aggitation.

[JosephMCorbett]

Right now I've only got about 5 plants in the 125 and I fair fish load. I'm planning to set up a pressurized C02 system and then within the next few weeks plant more heavily. I understand that in a heavily planted tank, there is plenty of oxygen available and the need for surface aggitation to oxygenate the water is not as much of a concern - it is actually counter productive because it will out-gas your injected Co2. But what if you have more fish than plants? I can't imagine turning off my powerheads right now and injecting Co2. Should I get all set up with Co2, but leave it off until I've planted the whole tank. Then, turn off my surface agitation and turn on the Co2 and let the plants take over the oxygenating? Right now the powerheads are just roiling the surface on each side of the tank.

I will eventually plant more heavily, but these things take time. I just wanted to get my lights, Co2, substrate, and ferts. working for the few plants I do have and as I feel more confident, plant more heavily. Get the "life support" running first before I buy 50 plants. Also, if I take it slowly and my plants are propagating, I may not need to buy so many.

In a heavily planted established tank, some I've read, will turn off Co2 at night (plants aren't photosysthesizing) and run some bubble bars/powerheads for the fish (because oxygen defficiancies will be at night when the plants and fish are using oxygen in respiration).

 

[PurpleSmurf]

With a heavily planted tank I think running a bubble strip just as the CO2 turns off would be beneficial, but turn it off about two hours before the CO2 starts again and an hour before the lights turn on.

Maybe try placing your powerhead lower in the tank to lessen surface movement?

 

[Alex Perez]

In a heavily planted established tank, some I've read, will turn off Co2 at night (plants aren't photosynthesizing) and run some bubble bars/power heads for the fish (because oxygen deficiencies will be at night when the plants and fish are using oxygen in respiration).

I turn off my CO2 at night because there is no need for it.
As far as running bubble wands/bars, It isn't needed unless you have a
few plants and a high bio-load. In a high light, CO2 enriched tank with lots of plants the O2 saturation reaches >100% before lights out. So there is plenty of O2 to last the night.
In a low-med light tank with no CO2 it might be a good idea. But not 100% sure. You should look at the fish and see how they are doing. If when you wake up the fish are gasping at the top then it probably means they need more O2. (could also mean that there is to much CO2 in the water)

Also when setting up a planted tank you should plant heavy from the start.
Once you got the Lights and CO2 going, You need to have lots of plants to out-compete the algae. High Lights + CO2 and little to no plants = algae.
Also remember that with CO2 and High Lights nutrients are going to be used faster than the Bio-load can replace it so additional fertilizers need to be added.

Also on your other thread you asked about a reactor or diffuser.
A diffuser injects CO2 by breaking up the big Co2 bubbles into smaller bubbles these smaller bubbles then diffuse into the water. Unfortunately lots of the bubbles make it to the top of the tank and escape into the air. Diffusers work well for smaller tanks.

A Reactor mixes water and CO2 gas and by agitating the water it forces the CO2 bubbles to break apart into smaller and smaller bubbles until they get diffused into the water.
This method is a lot more efficient than a diffuser. And it works much better in lager tanks.

 

[JosephMCorbett]

Thanks Alex for the input. I'm just paranoid about my fish running out of oxygen, I've always had too much airation(sp?) going on in the tank. I know that too much aggitation loses the Co2 your injecting. Looks like I'll just have to experiment. I was running two powerheads with air diffusers with an 18" airstone. I have removed the airstone and the air diffusers to the powerheads and so now only have the powerheads roiling the surface. I know I don't have enough plants now to even think of turning them off. When the Co2 and plants are in the tank, I'll take it slowly by angleing the water flow away from the surface slightly at first and see how that goes.

 

[djlen]

What is the wattage/type of lighting currently above the tank? Do you plan to increase the wattage?
With 2.0 - 2.5 wpg and lower, there is no necessity for CO2 no matter how many plants you keep. It would help, but is not necessary.

Len

 

[JosephMCorbett]

djlen, I've got a 48" Coralife Lunar Aqualight with 4X65w PC bulbs. It came with 2 10000K and 2 Actnics - which I swapped for 2 6700ks. The tank is 72", but I had to go with a 48" hood because of the canopy. At 125 gallons, this puts me at 2+wpg at a depth of 20". There are alot of people that don't run Co2 at this wattage, I just figured it couldn't hurt. My current Co2 level in the tank is calculated at around 4-5ppm. From what I've read, Co2 levels should be at least 15ppm for good plant growth. What do you think? Also, I'm going to mix my standard aquarium gravel with Flourite for a 50% mix. I also have some Flourish, Flourish Trace, Flourish Exel, and Flourish Potasium on order. Have been using Tetra Flourapride since I put the few plants I do have in the tank. I was running carbon in the filter which I took out today....read that this is counter productive to fertilizing. I'm new to the whole plant thing so be patient. The plants I do have just seem to be barely alive and growing and propagating is what I want. I take really good care of the tank and the plants, but nothing seems to be working.

Here is my plant list:
2 Amazon Swords
1 Brazilian Sword (heard this is not a fully aquatic plant, so I don't expect it to survive).
1 Anacharis bunch (heard this is a cold-water plants, so I don't expect much out of it, but it is growing shoots and roots).
1 crypt spiralis(?) (Don't really know the name of it. I was given it by my LFS who got it from a lady that was thinning hers down. It grows like mad in her tank. I actually have about 5 bunches of it in the back/side of the tank. It looks like grass (lawn type grass) but it's about 24 inches long.

I've had the lights running for a week and finally today noticed 2 new leaves on one of the Amazon Swords.

If I stick with low light plants, do you think I should skip the Co2?