Thinking of DIY CO2

[jbradt]

Hey all,

I'm thinking of trying out DIY CO2 on my 29 gallon, heavily planted puffer tank. It's got anubias, java fern, crypts, lutea, wisteria, java moss, and vals (hence, I don't want to dose Excel). I dose flourish 1-2x's per week, and do 10%ish water changes every other day, with larger changes once per week (40%ish). Lights are 28 watts T5 on about 9.5 hours per day.

I was wondering if it would even help in this situation to dose CO2, or would I need to up the lighting for it to be effective? (I have a 15 watt light I could add). I know I don't want to get into dosing heavy ferts, and I don't have a problem with algae or anyting, I was just wondering if these changes would help the plants grow a little faster, or "thrive" more.

Any thoughts are welcome and appreciated!

Here's a pic of the tank.

 

[tackful]

I have been using DIY C02 on my 29 gal tank for two years with good results. However, with more C02 I think your 28 watts of lighting would need to be increased to something closer to 2 watts/gallon as a minimum. Otherwise your plants might not get the energy they need to keep pace with and benefit from more C02.

 

[ghengis]

I reckon just leave it, to be honest. Looking at your tank, you have pretty good growth and everything looks very healthy. The plants you have listed are all fairly low maintenence, so don't really require high light or gas injection.

If you wanted to step it up a little, and get some (slightly) more demanding plants then DIY is a great way to get started on CO2, and you will learn heaps... But for now, IMO, if it ain't broke, why fix it??

 

[jbradt]

But for now, IMO, if it ain't broke, why fix it??

Honestly, that's exactly what I was thinking, but I've been looking for a project to keep myself out of trouble... :evil_lol:.

I guess I'll just let it be and look for something else. Thanks for the replies!