A Bare Minimum Of Co2

I know everyone talks about CO2 for explosive plant growth and stuff, but at the moment I'm kind of just trying to keep the plants I have from melting. I'm guessing it's not going too well right now, because despite dosing ferts and getting a decent light, my plants are either melting or showing signs of deficiencies. Even the supposedly easy anubias is melting on me.

I'm guessing the main culprit is lack of CO2 since I'm not injecting, not adding Excel, and up until recently, nothing lived in there.

Today I added four endler's guppies to the tank. I'm betting such a small amount of tiny fish probably won't respire enough CO2 for a 10 gallon tank. How many critters around an endler's size would produce enough CO2 to at least keep the plants alive?

 

No amount of creatures will be able to produce enough co2 and fit in the tank. (you want about 25ppm of co2)

You could try setting up diy co2 for very cheap:

 

Not even to just keep some low maintenance plants from melting? I know that people manage to keep planted tanks without CO2 injection.

 

I guess it's possible, but if your light is stronger you need more co2 to sustain their faster growth.

 

What counts as a stronger light? Mine's one of those 6500K LED's they sell for about $20 online.

 

If it's LED, you'd need to measure in PAR, or maybe take a picture and post it for a rough idea.

 

Almost everything in there except for the anubias and banana plants came from my dirted 5.5 at home. The plants in the 5.5 are thriving without extra CO2 so I know it's possible...

Also the light is a beamswork.

 

Ok, if you look on aquarium co-op's youtube channel I think they tell you the PAR of the beamswork light.

 

Note that there's quite a lot of disagreement about "optimal CO2" levels. Some, such as Tom Barr (EI developer), believe that a range of 25-35 ppm is necessary. He ascribes low CO2 (~15 ppm) with high lighting as responsible for black brush algae.

Others, such as Edward (PPS developer), thinks 10-15 ppm is more appropriate and doesn't associate lower CO2 with increased algae. Many people working with lower lighting systems dial in a more conservative CO2 concentration: 10 ppm or so.

Latent CO2 levels in a non-injected tank should be quite low (2-5 ppm), but it's unfairly unusual to have CO2 deficiency arising for what are otherwise easygoing plants. Too much water surface disturbance perhaps?

If pressurised CO2 is not in the books, and DIY CO2 looks too much like a mess. I'd encourage using Excel or Metricide 14 to supply carbon intermediaries.

 

Never seen that Barr concluded BBA specifically is from high lighting and no co2...
However, would be correct to say MOST algae is from incorrect lighting and co2.


BlackOsprey can you post some close ups of the plants so we can take a better look? From what I can make it it doesn’t look like “melting”.
Also what ferts are you dosing, and how often?
When did you add these plants? Did they all come from your other dirted tank?
Do you use root tabs?

For the record, it is entirely possible to have a lightly to heavily planted healthy low tech tank... while co2 is almost always helpful (anubias seems to be the only plant co2 is not outwardly affected by), it is not 100% necessary

 

Never seen that Barr concluded BBA specifically is from high and no ...

Here's a relevant post from Mr Barr. I paraphrased him incorrectly, apparently lighting is irrelevant:

"BBA grows in ranges of about 5-10-15ppm of CO2, that seems to be an optima.(See Sheath and Wehr)

So non CO2= not good.
High CO2, also not good, but it will grow, but not very well.
Folks adding CO2, but doing so poorly?
Loads of BBA.

Every single case I have seen in person and addressed/cured over 20 years: always has something to do with CO2. Perhaps some basic care of the tank also, but the bottom line has never been anything other than CO2.
I can induce the BBA with CO2, I cannot induce BBA with anything else."

Again, this is just Mr Barr's perspective. Others have reported no issues with their own tanks with lesser CO2 injection.

 

Minnowette you seem to be interested in many of the things I am as well.... Recently there has been talk about why BBA is not found in ponds... and could it be due to a particular wavelength from the sunlight (UV specifically, forgetting right now if UVA or UVB) that prevents this...
will try to dig up some of my readings, but in case I can’t find it it’s worth taking a look into.... interesting reads for sure

(Sorry for derailing OP, had to “geek out” with a like minded plant person for a Sec)

 

Never seen that Barr concluded BBA specifically is from high lighting and no co2...
However, would be correct to say MOST algae is from incorrect lighting and co2.


BlackOsprey can you post some close ups of the plants so we can take a better look? From what I can make it it doesn’t look like “melting”.
Also what ferts are you dosing, and how often?
When did you add these plants? Did they all come from your other dirted tank?
Do you use root tabs?

For the record, it is entirely possible to have a lightly to heavily planted healthy low tech tank... while co2 is almost always helpful (anubias seems to be the only plant co2 is not outwardly affected by), it is not 100% necessary

I'll post pics when I'm home.

I'm using Easy Green. Dosing one squirt every 3-4 days. The bottle recommends dosing twice a week for medium light tanks.

The bonsaI rotala, anacharis, corkscrew vals, and some of the repens came from my dirt tank. The rest were bought a few weeks ago. Due to wonky shipping problems (post office is backed up from college students at this time of year) they went for a week and a half without ferts.

I put in Flourish root tabs while I was waiting on the Easy Green. I think most of my plants are column feeders anyways.

 

True rotala Indica (what you are calling bonsai) unfortunately is on of those that can be fussy, and really does need pressurized co2.
Looking forward to pics later
Also, beamswork fixtures are low light fixtures, just FYI likely you would be fine dosing once a week, but the extra dose won’t hurt much.
Also, easy green is great for K and micros, but is low on N and P. Depending on plant growth going forward you may need to supplement these in the future. If you want to stick with an all in one, I would recommend getting thrive by nilocg when your easy green runs out.
Delayed shipping could be a contributing factor here for sure.

 

Okay, here they are. The guppy grass in particular seems to be having a hard time. And if anubias doesn't need co2 injection, I'd like to know why the leaves are messed up. It was healthy when I got it.