tony

I have 3 live plants in my 20 gal. tank. You can see the fish I have in my signature below. I would like to know if the plants aid in oxygen production, (I'm pretty sure they do) and I also need to know if the plants are getting enough carbon dioxide. I don't know much about plants and carbon dioxide, but I think I read somewhere that movement of water on the surface will affect carbon dioxide levels, Is this true? My tank has quite a bit of current at the surface.

Thank You

Wolfgang8810

the more surface agitation will dissapate co2 faster especially if you have an air pump. a good level of co2 in a highly planted tank is 30 parts per million.

Isabella

Wolfgang is right. And in less heavily planted tanks people have the CO2 content smaller (i.e. around 15-20 ppm). The lighting level also determines how much CO2 you should have. In lower lighting conditions, you should have less CO2, and under stronger lighting, more CO2. But it shouldn't exceed 30 ppm. More than 30 ppm CO2 can be very harmful to fish (or so I've gathered from my readings).