cheap co2 system

Tuffcents

I have my 40 gallon tank setup complete. the water cycled and everything stable with me doing 2 15 gallon water changes on tuesday and saturday. well, I wanted to add some plants so I got a Amazon Sword and a plant that looks like grass. They each had 3 bulbs with about 5 inch leaves. I spread them throughout the gravel. The lighting is 2 18watt eclipse lights. I have florapride fertalizer.

My question is do I need to add a Coz fizzer or will they be ok with out it?

Any additional information will be helpful on plants in general or a link where I can read some good info. I also heard that I can make my own co2 set-up thnks.

Patrick

Jay

Hi Patrick,

The answer is no, CO2 is really only necessary in a high light, fairly well planted tank, with an established nutrient dosing schedule.

The key here is high light. You have about 1.1 watts per gallon of light and the generally recognized amount for success is a minimum of 2 watts per gallon. 4 watts per gallon would be considered high light in a fw tank. The plants will not flourish in that small amount of light, especially swords.

The fertilizer you are using contains no phosphates, or nitrates, both essential to plant growth and well being. This product assumes a lightly planted tank where PO4 and NO3 are being generated by the natural cycle (the bacterial breakdown of fish poo and left over food). This product is really only supplying trace elements.

The essential ingredients for plant success are..

1. Sufficient light to drive photosynthesis.
2. A reliable source of carbon
3. A sufficient supply of NPK: Nitrate, Potassium, and Phosphate
4. A good plant substrate.

All of the above except light, adjusted to the amount of plants in the tank.

I would browse through the posts in the planted tank forum to get an idea of what is involved to be successful.

Please get back to us with questions.

Regards,
Jay