new to co2

Kuhlifan

Kuhlifan

AC Members
Mar 28, 2007
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16
Ohio
I like planted tanks, but have never used co2 before. What I've grown has always worked well without it. A five gallon tank I set up around Christmas is now completely overgrown with hair/beard algae. The plants I bought from a local pet shop were infected with it, but as I've never dealt with it before, I didn't recognize the danger. Well, now I'm looking to use co2 to help control it. I'd love to just buy some flourish excel, but nobody around here carries it and I prefer not to double the cost of a product by paying shipping. I've read some about DIY co2 injection, using a 2 liter pop bottle and yeast, but I'm not sure how co2 effects the fish.

What parameters does co2 change, and how dangerous to fish can that be? Five gallons is a small amount of water, I don't want to risk overdosing. What should I look for in terms of water parameter changes if I introduce co2? Since I might use a DIY system (store bought ones are too big for a 5 gallon tank), will fluctuating co2 supply (due to the system winding down or winding up or running out and being restarted) be a major problem for the tank?
 
If your not already using ferts, then I would suggest getting some. CO2 on such a small system would be hard to control and would be easy to over do it and suffocate your fish. It would be easier to have your plants overtake the algae with ferts and even if you are using CO2 you should be using ferts anyways. In the plant section there is dry ferts that I use and they do the trick quite well.
 
I do dose with ferts, a hagan product called nutrafin Plant Gro. It's worked quite well for me in the past, but now my problem is a lack of co2 and an overabundance of everything else, it seems. I've since stopped dosing with the hagan, and I may have to break down and turn off the lights too. I may try a half method and use a 20 oz bottle instead of a 2 liter to see what that does for me.

Still, I'm interested in knowing what parameters I should watch out for when injecting co2 (carbon) into the system.
 
hair algae is from excessive iron levels
bba is from inconsistent co2 levels.

injecting co2 with a diy setup might help or it might make your problem worse because of further varying co2 levels. but, imo, it cannot hurt right now because you already have the algae so you cant blame the DIY for the algae showing up.

with that said, what i would do:
2L diy co2
dose ferts properly (limit if you have iron rich ferts)

what to watch for when dosing co2:
your ph will drop. but that is ok as long as it doesnt drop too much.know what the PH of your water is before you start dosing co2. then monitor it. view an online 'co2 calculator' or 'co2 chart' in order to get a ballpark number on how much co2 is in your tank.
 
Excel can be bought pretty cheap if you get it online actually. The fact that it's 1/2 price from what it would be a LFS makes up for any shipping. Check out thatFishPlace.com with such a small tank, I would go that route if I were you. Assuming you don't have vals!
 
No vals. I have moneywort, pygmy chain sword and previously had two banana plants and a ruffled sword that came infected with the algae and has slowly died off. When the algae wasn't so bad, they were thriving, but now they're dead.

I also have some sort of plant had a few small pieces that came with the pygmy chain sword. I don't think it's an algae, but it's doing well in the tank. I have no idea what it is though.
 
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