Frustrated with my planted

[Gbbudd]

SOIL DECOMPOSING AND CREATING ENOUGH CO2? oh i doubt thats the case. anyone who adds co2 knows that you would need to have ALOT of decay to achieve enough c02to equal how much we pump into a tank. I'd shut the lights off for a week wrap the tank black it out. If your algea is out of control that will put a big hurt on it. go and plant the heck out of the tank with the fastest growing plants and with the lowest demands you can get your hands on. 50% aged water changes faithfuly every week then back down from the over planting. algea and your plants both thrive for nutrients and algea unfortunately grows fastser then most plants UNLESS the plants don't leave enough for the algea to thrive. when and if you see the plants whiting out withering then you may think about ferts

 

[platytudes]

I think we can't go much further into the discussion without knowing what kind of plants you have and what kind of algae you're experiencing. Pics would help!

 

[Jspigs]

I think we can't go much further into the discussion without knowing what kind of plants you have and what kind of algae you're experiencing. Pics would help!

:iagree:

 

[Miguel]

SOIL DECOMPOSING AND CREATING ENOUGH CO2? oh i doubt thats the case. anyone who adds co2 knows that you would need to have ALOT of decay to achieve enough c02to equal how much we pump into a tank.

CO2 intake comes from the intensity of light. The more lights you have the more CO2 you need. If you have low lights and decomposing soil there is an equal medium and there will be enough CO2. The plants will grow slower as nutrient uptake is lower than your tank. If you don't want to "pump all that CO2" decrease your lighting.

It is possible to have a nice planted tank with no CO2 injection. Here are some examples:
No CO2 injection

No CO2 injection

using soil as a substrate

more can be found here :
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/low-tech-forum/99729-low-tech-tank-show-tell.html

Either way, I am just pointing out that its possible. The More is better thought about lights and CO2 doesn't have to be true. Sorry for going off topic.