Do I Still Need CO2???

[joestyx]

I have recently upgraded my 55 gallon to house aquatic plants......I added lighting, ferts, and flourite black sand to my setup (it looks good), but my question is do i absolutely need to inject co2 to keep my plants healthy and growing????

"Co2 tanks" are out of the question, they are way too expensive unless you plan on selling aquatic plants....

"DIY co2" wouldn't be enough for a 55 gallon unless i had like 5 2 liter bottles i heard

"Commercial CO2 System" it says great on tanks up to 30 gallons which isn't enough.....

 

[jmhart]

If you don't need co2, you don't need ferts...

It depends on how much light you have. Anything 2 watts per gallon or higher is a must for co2. Without it you'll have stunted plants and major algae issues.

 

[Bk718]

I have recently upgraded my 55 gallon to house aquatic plants......I added lighting, ferts, and flourite black sand to my setup (it looks good), but my question is do i absolutely need to inject co2 to keep my plants healthy and growing????

"Co2 tanks" are out of the question, they are way too expensive unless you plan on selling aquatic plants....

"DIY co2" wouldn't be enough for a 55 gallon unless i had like 5 2 liter bottles i heard

"Commercial CO2 System" it says great on tanks up to 30 gallons which isn't enough.....

Tell us about your tank.
Lighting(wpg) and photo period/ Which ferts and what schedule

co2 tanks are expensive but you can find some for a good price, like 5lb co2 tank for $65 shipped

diy co2 for a 55 is possible. I ran a 3L bottle and diffused via filter intake, it worked well. Though two 3L bottles wouldve helped more.

Commercial co2? you mean like the hagen/red sea tiny canisters? those are a waste of time on a tank this size. they are basically a diy version of co2 but only come in a .5-1L container.

 

[joestyx]

If you don't need co2, you don't need ferts...

It depends on how much light you have. Anything 2 watts per gallon or higher is a must for co2. Without it you'll have stunted plants and major algae issues.

No, i'm not saying i don't need it, i am asking that if i have just one piece of the puzzle missing can i still have success???

 

[jmhart]

How much light do you have, that's the real question.


My point is, if you're light is low enough that you don't need co2, then you don't need fertilizer's either.

High light needs co2 and fertilizers, low light doesn't need either.

If you have high light, you need all of it, of you'll have problems.

 

[joestyx]

Tell us about your tank.
Lighting(wpg) and photo period/ Which ferts and what schedule

2.0 wpg, lights on 12hrs a day, i use flourish 2x a week (i plan to get the whole line of nutrients)


if diy can be done with good results on this i will do it

 

[Bk718]

you will need to dose more than just flourish. Missing NPK

Whats your filtration?
You can try diy just to get a feel of what co2 is and what it can do for your tank. Then can decide further if you would like pressurized or would like to stick with diy.

 

[jmhart]

2 watts per gallon, so 110 watts over a 55.

You can go with DIY CO2. It probably won't give you the levels of co2 that pressurized would give you, but it'll give you enough. With that much light, you'll need at least some source of carbon.

 

[joestyx]

you will need to dose more than just flourish. Missing NPK

Whats your filtration?
You can try diy just to get a feel of what co2 is and what it can do for your tank. Then can decide further if you would like pressurized or would like to stick with diy.

yeah i am gonna get seachem's line of nutrients minus the flourish since i have that already

 

[joestyx]

2 watts per gallon, so 110 watts over a 55.

You can go with DIY CO2. It probably won't give you the levels of co2 that pressurized would give you, but it'll give you enough. With that much light, you'll need at least some source of carbon.

that's what i was thinking, i will try the diy.......i have been contemplating this for a while now.....

thanks for all your help guys, i love this site