Will my plants survive if I remove the CO2?

This is my vivarium cube tank. I think the tank is already densely planted and I don’t really want the plant to overgrow the tank and let it look messy. So I am planning to remove the CO2 injection to slow down the growth and I wanna to use the co2 set up for my farm tank instead. Do you think the red plants and the rest of the plants will survive once I remove the CO2 injection? Should I dim the light if I remove the co2? Here’s a before and after picture (3 months apart~)
I am still looking for a fish for this tank

Plant List and Equipment Set Ups:

• lucky bamboo
• dwarf sag
• Needle fern
• Tradescantia zebrina
• Buce giant island
• Rotala mexicana goias
• Green pothos
• Lobelia Cardinalis Dwarf
• Limnophila aromatica mini
• Limnophila rugosa
• Ludwigia Arcuata
• rotala rotundifolia

Equipment set Up:

• Clip on light and full spectrum light with built in timer and full color/brightness control
• CO2 at 1 bubble per second
• You can use any hang on filter with just sponge

 

Lucky Bamboo isnt aquatic, it will die submerged so yes, it needs direct CO2, ie., leaves and most of the stalk need to be in the air.

Dwarf Sag does not require CO2 but will need ferts
Java Fern doesnt require CO2
Wandering Jew (Tradescantia zebrina) again, like Lucky Bamboo, is not aquatic. It needs to be in open air.
Bucephalandra doesnt require CO2 but it appreciates it. If you arent injecting CO2 you want a tank with GOOD surface agitation and water movement.
Rotala Mexicana Goias requires CO2 and is a rare plant. Tough to grow.
Green Pothos, see above for Lucky Bamboo and Wandering Jew
Lobelia Cardinalis Dwarf appreciates CO2 and is tough to grow without it.
Limnophila aromatica mini can be grown without CO2 but does MUCH better with it.
Limnophila Rugosa does not require CO2
Ludwigia Arcuata does not require CO2
Rotala Rotundifolia does not require CO2

That said, CO2 is like steroids for plants. It promotes much better/faster growth. If youve been injecting CO2 and you cut it out, you WILL have plants melt back. Some a little, some a lot. You do have a couple plants that require CO2, but most everything will be fine without it. However, if you stop CO2 you will want to fert as you do have some plants that will require some special nutrients, especially if youre not supplementing now.

 

thanks I already moved the co2 tank into my farm tank and the Ludwigia repents has been growing like a weed LOL I cannot wait to grow Rotala HRA on the left tank and some moss on nice scapes

If I remove the CO2 the red plants might loose the red color but if I dose iron, would that keep it red without the CO2

 

I think you would need to keep high light to retain any intense reds, but high light in the absence of CO2 might be a recipe for an algae outbreak.

 

thanks I already moved the co2 tank into my farm tank and the Ludwigia repents has been growing like a weed LOL I cannot wait to grow Rotala HRA on the left tank and some moss on nice scapes

If I remove the CO2 the red plants might loose the red color but if I dose iron, would that keep it red without the CO2

Light and CO2 cause the red color, dosing iron will not do anything. Keep up good maintenance and reduce lighting a little and your plants should keep at least some red color.

 

the advice here is great keep in mind the plants will likely all experience some degree of melting at first though. imo the rotala is likely to melt into oblivion

 

I agree with the above. Removing the Co2 will cause some melting.

 

I did an experiment on this a while back on this:
Why Submersed Plants Grown in a High CO2 Environment Will Not Melt in a Lowtech Environment + An Experiment | Aquarium Plants Forum | 465404

The takeaway from the link above is that removing CO2 from a tank with CO2 injection previously will NOT cause significant melting, provided that you adjust for the absence of CO2 by significantly dimming your lights. I grew fairly "difficult" stuff like pogostemon helferi, limnophila aromatica mini, rotala h'ra, and monte carlo among other things. Again, no melting and fairly good growth, but provided that I continued my regular maintenance and fertilization.

You might notice a slight built of melting, but it likely won't be anything crazy as long as your light has been adjusted accordingly. I'd recommend to continue fertilizing your tank on a regular basis and to keep performing water changes and other types of maintenance. In my experimental tank above, I got lazy once I let the tank become lowtech. I almost completely neglected it which caused the tank to look really ugly, really fast.

 

Hi guys so here's the red plants picture (50 shots after LOL) after I remove the CO2 and I reduce the white light brightness down to 60% but the blue and red LED are at 100% brightness to have a nice purple reflections. But this picture was taken the 4th day without CO2 so finger cross that all plants will thrive in this tank. BTW that's my new betta, I was so happy when I got him but he hasn't eat anything for 3 days now. His gill is black and look a bit swollen, I am not sure if he has gill infection from the LFS