what is CO 2 injections for fish tanks? how important is it to a live plant tank?

Question

i have a 55 gallon tank with many live plants and about 70 guppy fry. i have heard people talking about co2 injections, would this help my plants?

Answer 1

That really depends. Keeping plants is a balancing act as much as anything. You need to balance lighting and various nutrients like CO2, phosphorus and iron. The CO2 injector will help your plants if the tank is short on CO2 compared to the ther nutrients the plants need. otherwise if you crank up the CO2 in the tank for the plants to benefit from it you need to crank up the other nutrients as well. Of course there are limits to how far you can push it. Take a few days and browse a few planted tank websites and possibly get a good planted tank book. That will help you identify the needs of your plants and see if any are showing signs of low levels of any nutrients you need to correct, including CO2.

MM

Answer 2

I can not get plants to live in my tanks without co2. I am on my fourth bout with live plants in my 55g. I have only found a few species of plant that will survive without co2 in my water.

Round 1: inadequate lighting.
round 2: inadequate co2, some bad plant choices
round 3: instable ph/kh & instable co2, iron overdose.
round 4: everything cranked up & looking like a breathing jungle.

each round has cost me about $100 in plants.

Co2 is what your plants breathe. If you have a lot of plants, and bright lights, they will suck up all the co2 in the water within an hour or two of the lights turning on and then they will be harming themselves the rest of the time ghasping for air. Only the most conservative co2 consuming plants will thrive in a non-co2 injected environment.

You wouldn't want your face dunked in the toilet 80% of the time you're awake & neither do your plants.

In addtion to making the plants actually live beyond a little while, co2 injection will provide the ability to super-saturate the water with oxygen. Bubbles will visibly roll off of the plants as if they're breathing. If done right, it can increase the health of the fish.

Its tricky though... you have to have enough KH buffering in your water and you have to test the ph more frequently. If you go the DIY route, you will need 2-3 2L bottles for your 55g tank. 55g is about the max you would want to try to maintain on DIY methods. Even then it can be tricky if you miss a scheduled yeast & sugar refill...

Answer 3

Generally not if the tank is filtered well. A filter helps balance CO2 as well as O2 levels. CO2 injections will help encourage faster growth, but you also need to be sure you've got enough iron and light.