1st Timer! Buying Plants Friday!! Do I Need Co2?

How important is it to have co2 when starting plants? Is this something that I need to get Friday before I get the plants. I haven't done much reading on co2 but have read it can harm fish. I won't be adding fish for some length of time due to my tank not being cycled yet but do plan on adding fish. I'm looking into buying Anubias Nana, Water Sprite, and some vallisneria. I will be researching co2 but unsure if I definitively need it or not. Of coarse I want my plants to grow quickly which I understand this helps it to but don't want to harm fish in the future. Any help is appreciated!

 

Shouldn't need CO2 with those plants. I keep those plants in one of my tanks and have never used CO2. Pretty heavily planted too.

 

Different plants have different lighting and fertilizer/CO2 requirements. Just choose those that fit the environment and they should be fine; they're typically categorized as low/medium/high light and yes/no for CO2 required.

They have different planting methods too, e.g. anubias not buried and vals buried with crown just above the substrate, so just check which method is best for your chosen plants.

The three you mention aren't demanding and don't need CO2 but vals grow better with higher light.

Amazon sword, java fern, and java moss are easy, undemanding plants. You really can't go wrong with them.

A water column fertilizer will benefit all plants and root tabs will feed root-feeding plants if your substrate is inert.

Remember to dip and QT plants before adding them to your display tank.

 

Snails aren't a bad thing in my opinion. The much maligned bladder snail is a welcome part of the ecosystem in my tanks. Don't overfeed and their population won't get out of control.

 

Different plants have different lighting and fertilizer/CO2 requirements. Just choose those that fit the environment and they should be fine; they're typically categorized as low/medium/high light and yes/no for CO2 required.

They have different planting methods too, e.g. anubias not buried and vals buried with crown just above the substrate, so just check which method is best for your chosen plants.

The three you mention aren't demanding and don't need CO2 but vals grow better with higher light.

Amazon sword, java fern, and java moss are easy, undemanding plants. You really can't go wrong with them.

A water column fertilizer will benefit all plants and root tabs will feed root-feeding plants if your substrate is inert.

Remember to dip and QT plants before adding them to your display tank.

Thank you!!

 

Snails aren't a bad thing in my opinion. The much maligned bladder snail is a welcome part of the ecosystem in my tanks. Don't overfeed and their population won't get out of control.

A lot of people like snails but other things like ich and other parasites, planaria, hydra, algae and bacteria, etc., can also hitchhike on plants. Inspection, dip, and quarantine can't guarantee they won't be introduced but it can mitigate the risk.

 

A lot of people like snails but other things like ich and other parasites, planaria, hydra, algae and bacteria, etc., can also hitchhike on plants. Inspection, dip, and quarantine can't guarantee they won't be introduced but it can mitigate the risk.

Fair point. Can't argue with that.