C02 or not

[dwafford0001]

A good friend of mine priced a co2 system to me and I was wanting to know how many people use them and are they really worth the money?

[jimg]

imo for a high light tank(some ground cover type and reds)yes ..... med/low no

[Greenheinie]

The cost up front kinda stinks, but once you make that initial investment, it only costs about $20 for a refill every 3-6 months depending how much co2 you blast in the tank. That and it's much more convenient than dosing Excel every day. No matter what your plants will be better with it, it's just a matter of money. Got a birthday coming up?

[underwaterforest]

+1 for Greenheinie comment.

I've tried the daily dosing of excel on some of my low tech tanks but I stopped it due to being too big a hassle, I even have a big jug of excel to prove it. Bottled Co2 is the way to go, but you can cheap out there too if you want. Most of the expense is in the regulator, but if you want minimum functionally which usually works just fine for most people you could get away with a mig/brew regulator for about 30 bucks. Add on a cheap needle valve for 10 bucks more and your golden. You may be able to find all of this in a regulator package for cheaper I haven't looked in a while. The solenoid feature is nice if you want to control pH dives with a controller, but personally I found my fish looked better if I ran co2 24 hours and at night I would bump up the o2 with a air pump or two, no solenoid needed. If you decided you need one you can always add a solenoid later. The co2 tank can be purchased or rented if you plan on having the planted tank for a few years and it is probably more cost effective to buy a tank. But for the meantime you could rent a tank, usually around 10 bucks a month. When you find a steal of a good deal ( just make sure it is still within the hydrostatic test date-5yrs or else you have to pay another 40 to test it). Also steel tanks tend to last longer than aluminum tanks, sure they look uglier and are heavy but I've had two 5 pound aluminum tanks leak the cylinder neck. So if you want co2 it can be done relatively cheaply if you look around for good deal and are willing to sacrifice functionality.

The only problem I have with co2 is that it makes my plants grow too quick !

HTH

Alex

[jcardona1]

If you're ready to go to the next level and have a lush planted tank, then co2 is a must. Sure, you can grow a few weedy strands of some Petsmart plant, but when you want to keep some of the more exotic and demanding plant species, co2 is a requirement, not an option :)

[underwaterforest]

Not to disagree jcardona1, but I have had success growing many plants without co2 or excel dosing. To me it is more about the light intensity rather than co2, co2 is more like nitrous for plants. Sure some species need it to thrive (usually the red ones) but most plants I have grown (quite a few different species) can survive without co2 with enough light. The biggest difference I see is the rate of growth with co2 enrichment, I have to trim ever few days with co2, but without I can trim every few weeks. If you into growing a ecosystem and cultivating it to your every taste, you can't go wrong with co2 just make sure you buy a pair of long handled trimmers too. If you just want some "green" in your tank you can live without co2.

.02

[rosyrobyn]

I've had tanks with and without CO2 injection. Both worked for me. I used to have a deep 220g tank - it had the bright lights, CO2 and fertilizers. The plants grew so fast I had to do a major trim every week, difficult to do when your arms aren't long enough to reach the bottom! So I stopped the CO2 and the fertilizing, took out half the light bulbs and anything that didn't survive got pulled out. I lost the more fragile plants but in the end I still had a lush tank only with slower growth - not so much work anymore.

Experiment. Avoid plants that are normally considered fragile/difficult. There are lots of plants out there that don't need special care.

[TonyAPBTx]

I got a regulator for Christmas this year. I added the co2 tank itself exactly 5 days ago today. I have a high light system and the difference is big already.

I'm not saying I've done anything like doubled the growth of my plants in 5 days but I can already tell that the plants are greener, growing small limbs and starting to get a little bigger. In fact, I have some pieces of grass sprouting up close to the glass of the tank where I can monitor their growth and its amazing how much growth they have picked up in the past two days.

I honestly don't think I have the best system currently for getting the co2 into my water with little loss at this point either.

[jcardona1]

co2 doesn't make your plants grow faster, light does. Lighting is your gas pedal, it's what drives photosynthesis. Co2 merely allows you to run higher levels of light w/o the algae problems, giving you healthy, fast growing plants. The perfect balance is low-medium lighting with co2 injection. You get lush healthy plants, but none of the crazy growth that requires weekly trimming. Scale your lighting back, but keep the co2 flowing. You'll love the results :)

[chriscro]

i agree that light quality is a must, but i have been using a diy co2 for a couple months now and i do see a difference already.
but to purchase a co2 system is crazy expensive and very hard to find a good quality used system

[exv152]

CO2 is one of three essential elements; being light, ferts and CO2. Balance the three and you get incredible and natural vibrant growth. Just my personal experience.