o0Faraz0o

Ok today at work I heard that air bubbles remove CO2 from the water, and then later on while researching I read that air bubbles inject CO2 into the water. Which is true?

cerianthus

It all depend on the difference in concentration b/n water and atmosphere. If your tank has higher [CO2] then aeration will drive out CO2 from water to atmosphere but if atmosphere has higher [CO2] than water, aeration will drive CO2 into water to reach Equilibrium, theoretically.
Usually [CO2] in tank water is higher than atmosphere (depending on amt of livestock) due to CO2 produced by livestock, unless consumed by photosynthetic lifeforms during daylight hours, But CO2 will eventually be close to atmophere when constant aeration is applied to tank.

Hope this helped a bit!

AlyeskaGirl

"By exposing your tap water to the air and agitating the surface, you are causing a gas exchange at the surface of the water (oxygen goes from the air to the water while carbon dioxide goes from the water to the air)"

Source link:http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/articles/107

o0Faraz0o

hmmmm welll my tank is one of those fully covered design cause its a non-costume made, the lights filtration and everything are built within, anyway I was going for a low-tech planted tank. Im planning on having java ferns and java moss and the like you know those hardy plants. So Im thinking I should stay away from the air bubbles since the atmosphere above the water is going to be low in CO2 and have very little ventilation to the outside.