CO2 or other possible

Now thats one thing I don't want to do. I have enough landscaping to do in my yard without worrying about trimming plants in my tank every week.

As long as my plants grow I'm cool with that. But I don't want to make it more work than its worth.

I'll try Excel plus and maybe I'll move to CO2 after I get the hang of it.
 
reiverix said:
What's to maintain? It's simple.

It can be set up for cheaper. We are not talking about buying rocket parts.

You're serious about this?

You've tried compressed CO2? I assume it must be yes.
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I don't know what's to maintain. Hense the question. :duh:

No, I never used CO2. Do I really need more growth in my tank? Your constantly trimming your tank? This isn't a contest. I think it's really funny how defensive you guys are of CO2. You should be though...the only right way to grow plants is using CO2. If I don't do it your way...I'm wrong. :confused:

Anyway, how much does it cost to refill CO2..I'm serious. I have no idea. Someone mentioned it earlier but it wasn't clear if that was per year or one refill.

I don't want to cause any fights but I do think there are ways of growing plants that don't involve dosing CO2. Just my 2 cents.

P.S. In fact, I had great growth in my tank before I even came across Excel. Plants grew (even flowered) without CO2. Maybe I just like to grow plants on a low tech system...sorry if it's not your cup of tea!!
 
jec0995 said:
I think it's really funny how defensive you guys are of CO2.

I don't want to cause any fights but I do think there are ways of growing plants that don't involve dosing CO2. Just my 2 cents.
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I'm defensive when you give out bad advice saying that you think CO2 is a waste of time. That's all.

You're about growing plants without CO2. It can most definitely be done. Here's a picture of my 25 gallon that has low light, no CO2, and very rarely any fertilizers added to it. no CO2

IceH2O said:
Now thats one thing I don't want to do. I have enough landscaping to do in my yard without worrying about trimming plants in my tank every week.

As long as my plants grow I'm cool with that. But I don't want to make it more work than its worth.
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Good point Ice. Adding CO2 will increase growth rates and therefore maintenance requirements. More trimming and more nutrient requirements (ie. adding fertilizer more often). If you don't want this, keep light levels to a lower amount. You won't get as much growth obviously. You can also take out stem plants and use things like swords, crypts, anubias, etc.
 
Captain Hook said:
Good point Ice. Adding CO2 will increase growth rates and therefore maintenance requirements. More trimming and more nutrient requirements (ie. adding fertilizer more often). If you don't want this, keep light levels to a lower amount. You won't get as much growth obviously. You can also take out stem plants and use things like swords, crypts, anubias, etc.
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Whats the most wpg you'd recommend for a tank with no CO2?

I was thinking of going with 2x96 in the 75 gallon which would be about 2.5 wpg. Would this be considered medium in a tank that is 21 inches deep?

You say with a lower light level to forget stem plants. I have ludwega growing in a 1 wpg tank and still has red color to the leaves, and new growth. I guess it depends on the type of stem plant.
 
I didn't say don't use stem plants in low light tanks. I was just saying if you want less maintenance, you can plant other types other than stem plants.

I really can't say a maximum wpg to not use CO2. I don't have enough experience to do that. Honestly, at 2.5 wpg of PC lights I personally would want CO2 for sure.
 
jec0995 said:
Also, I would like to see someone get much more growth out of their plants than I do.
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jec0995 said:
This isn't a contest.
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:rolleyes:

Like Captain Hook said though, saying CO2 is a waste of time is bad advice. If you are happy using Excel then keep using it. No need to change what works.

[edit] We are all here to help each other. I learn new things every day.[edit]
 
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Captain Hook said:
I didn't say don't use stem plants in low light tanks. I was just saying if you want less maintenance, you can plant other types other than stem plants.
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I understand what you mean now, thanks for the clarification.

I'll try the 2.5 and if its to much without CO2 then I can either tone down the light or add the CO2 injection.
 
All of my tanks are currently low-tech and (fairly) low-light and I find that flourish excel is all that I need. My results are satisfactory, but I would like to get a bit more high-tech sometime in the future to see what I can achieve. I have a habit of buying more tanks instead of upgrading the ones I have, which is a habit I hope to break.

I do think 2.5 wpg in a 75 would be crossing the line where the use of excel would cease to be practical. In that setup I would want to be injecting CO2. I have been planning out my 75 gallon setup for a long time now, but just dont have the funds to make it happen. Good luck with your setup!
 
Since I'm not going to inject right away, and I'll be setting up the 75 sometime this week, I was wondering thoughts on substrate.

I was going to go fluorite and sand.

Could I bypass flourish excel if I did this:

1 inch fluorite, 1 inch eco, 1 inch sand and in what order would you put them?
 
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