CO2 released during lights off

E

ersteb

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Mar 10, 2008
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I wonder how much co2 is realeased by the plants during respiration when lights are turned off at night...

my co2 is timed with the lights...so when the lights go off so does the co2...but whent the plants respirate they give off co2 which replaces the co2 that naturally gasses off from the tank

my 30g is heavily planted and i turned off the co2 for a week as the levels got much too hi..but even after a week it was not fully dissapated

so i guess that once a tank is established andplants are flourishing the need to co2 injection should be less as the plants will tend to 'feed themselves' to a certain extent

see what i mean?

tks,

Ed
 
I believe that there is a net loss when considering the CO2 released during respiration. That is, if CO2 is the only source of carbon (not always the case) and it consumes 10 units of carbon it will only release maybe 7 or 8 units of carbon through respiration. (those numbers are illustrative only! I have no idea what the real proportions are)

How are you measuring the CO2?
 
using charts along with KH and PH measurements i will have to admit that reading the PH color charts definately leads to errors...

i shut down the co2 for a week in my 30g and when i retested it was still in the comfort zone..ph6.4 kh3

my 30g is very densly planted...my 55g is being planted with cutting from the 30g...the transplanted cuttings did poorly until i began injecting co2 and now new healthy growth began immediately

the 30g has just 2 goldfish and the 55g is community tank
will post some pics as soon as i figure out how to do it!
 
The only reason NOT to run CO2 24x7 is to save CO2. At $10 a refill, that is not really a concern.
 
The only reason NOT to run CO2 24x7 is to save CO2. At $10 a refill, that is not really a concern.
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So are you stating that thre is no risk of overdosing with co2 at any level??? Has anybody ever situations whereby you lost fish due to too hi a co2 level in the tank?
 
ersteb said:
So are you stating that thre is no risk of overdosing with co2 at any level??? Has anybody ever situations whereby you lost fish due to too hi a co2 level in the tank?
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It is very easy to overdose with co2. I have near 100% efficiency at diffusing co2 into my water, and on many occassions have poisoned my fish.
 
The majority of plants, including all common aquarium plants, consume CO2 only when light is available. So there is no reason to run CO2 at night unless your release rate is too low to give you the levels you want running in daylight only.

Also, plants release CO2 all the time, not just at night, but healthy plants consume more CO2 during the daylight hours than they release in 24 hours, and so are net consumers of CO2. However, plants are not the only source of CO2 in your aquarium; fish, bacteria, and protists are net producers of CO2.
 
ersteb said:
So are you stating that thre is no risk of overdosing with co2 at any level??? Has anybody ever situations whereby you lost fish due to too hi a co2 level in the tank?
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I am not saying you can't overdose - you absolutely can overdose CO2. That is where a drop checker comes in. It is the easiest and cheapest way to see where you are at on CO2.

What I AM saying is that leaving the CO2 system on at night is fine. I have seen this first hand in my 55g tank which is heavily planted and has a decent number of fish. The CO2 can run 24x7 and I never notice any difference in the behavior of my fish. I've had a drop checker on with my system for months with 4 dKH solution in it. It is always green.

Here are just a couple of articles talking about how you can achieve a much better equilibrium by leaving CO2 on than if it is constantly going on and off. Google

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/CO2/night.html

http://aquaticconcepts.thekrib.com/Articles/AFM_CO2.htm
[Don't shut the CO2 off at night in a manual system. Many people assume you have to turn off the CO2 at night because the plants won't be using any and too much will build up in the aquarium. This is not true. Much more CO2 is lost to atmospheric diffusion than is used by plants. If you turn the CO2 off at night, the water will return to equilibrium levels by morning. This has two consequences: it will take longer to get the CO2 level back to optimum and the pH swings between day and night will be much greater, stressing your fish. ]

http://www.brainyday.com/jared/aquarium/co2.htm
[A Note about Solenoids: You can use a solenoid on a timer to shut off the CO2 at night, when it's not needed. Rather than having to build up the CO2 again each morning, we just leave the CO2 on 24/7, as many folks do. If you turn off your CO2 at night, you can go about twice as long between cylinder recharges.]
 
I recommmend getting a timer and shutting your co2 off at night, especially in the beginning. When you first go pressurized, it takes a little while to establish the right bubble count, and it can be very easy to overdose your tank. I just purchased a Coralife Power Center and my plan is to run co2 during the day and an airstone at night. That way, I get a good o2 saturation at night. Minimizes the risks associated with too much co2.
 
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