Could this be alternative way of adding CO2 to the aquarium?

[Sam0]

From what I understand plants create more CO2 at night - how much I'm not sure.

But what if we grabbed floating plants from another aquarium like waterweed or something and put it into the desired tank you want more CO2 in at night, then when day arrives remove those floating plants back into your secondary tank? Would those added plants at night bring in a worthwhile amount of CO2, or would it just be marginal?

Just some food for thought. Would love to hear some others takes on this!

 

[Peaches1710]

This is something I've always thought about and wondered! Would love to know aswell!

 

[Rye3434]

I feel like the added CO2 would be negligible and that you are just stressing those plants unnecessarily where they would be in a perpetual state of trying to adjust to new conditions, hindering their growth in the other tank, this is just my guess

 

[Sam0]

I feel like the added CO2 would be negligible and that you are just stressing those plants unnecessarily where they would be in a perpetual state of trying to adjust to new conditions, hindering their growth in the other tank, this is just my guess

With a hardier floating plant like waterweed I'm not sure if it would really be that detrimental to it? Especially if the paremeters and water source is very similar between the tanks. The plant health would be something to consider for sure though you are right.

I guess it would be nice to know the amount of co2 a plant emitts at night, I'm struggling to find that information. This method I'm proposing is unlikely to be that effective but on the off chance it is, this could be pretty awesome!

 

[Cherryshrimp420]

Why do you want more CO2 at night?

 

[BlackOsprey]

All plants emit very small amounts of CO2 as part of cellular respiration. I don't think that adding floating plants would increase the CO2 levels by any appreciable amount that'd justify the extra work, especially not when it's a floating plant that'll put that CO2 into the air it's exposed to rather than the water. It's certainly nowhere close to a proper alternative to CO2 injection.

 

[Sam0]

Why do you want more CO2 at night?

With the goal of it carrying over the next day and helping the plants grow with the added CO2..

Yes, I know a fair amount of the CO2 will dissipate over night, and yes I know too much CO2 is bad especially at night.

Adding CO2 at night maybe isn't the most ideal, I'm just wanting to explore alternative methods and gather other peoples thoughts on it.

All plants emit very small amounts of CO2 as part of cellular respiration. I don't think that adding floating plants would increase the CO2 levels by any appreciable amount that'd justify the extra work, especially not when it's a floating plant that'll put that CO2 into the air it's exposed to rather than the water. It's certainly nowhere close to a proper alternative to CO2 injection.

Appreciate the insight - yeah I don't think this method could replace CO2 injections all together, more so pondering if it could act as a nudge to help low tech planted tanks. Also to clarify I meant plants that can feed solely off the water column and that don't have established roots.

Interesting, I always thought most plants in an aquarium would emitt a fair amount of CO2 at night - although I'm struggling to find sources to confirm this, and I don't have any anecdotal evidence either

 

[Cherryshrimp420]

I think there is some misunderstanding of CO2 availability in planted tanks. We don't need to build up a "storage" of CO2 for low-tech tanks, CO2 is everywhere in the atmosphere, it's always available. We can constantly add CO2 into the water simply by using an airstone. Stirring the water will bring CO2 levels up to an equilibrium level with the atmosphere.

We only inject additional CO2 if we want plants to grow faster than what the atmospheric equilibrium level provides. But even without additional CO2 injection, plants can still grow quite well, and I've never seen carbon deficiency in low-tech tanks... It's more likely something else like light, potassium, pH, iron that's restricting growth.