Sir Douglas Cook wrote:
Summary

I have learned that those of you that have over 10 years experience
in this area find that CO2 is wonderful.

I'm less than 10 years in this hobby, and think CO2 is a Good Thing if
you've got a lot of plants.

That's great, although a free CO2 pump made from a pop bottle is
to much work, it still works for those that are unsure of the advantages
of CO2 mixed in their aquarium.

I decided the DIY CO2 was too risky initially (blowing yeast mix into
the tank or exploding the bottle) and went for a manual-fill CO2 chamber
from small compressed cylinder (not one of the big regulator-type
constantly bubbling systems - way too expensive).

I have also said for the beginner that it might be safer
for them to learn how to use CO2 on a Plant only tank
for reason stated above.

Agree, or go the route I did, with a Floramat system.


I do have a question for you.
If fish and there waste produce CO2,
Why don't you just add more fish?

Filter may not take the fish waste load.


I assume the reason is fish produce CO2 and ammonia and a
CO2 pump or supply only produces CO2.


Yep. If you have a lot of plants and a lot of fish, then the size of
filter goes up due to the fish load. You could have a lot of plants and
just a couple of fish, but that'd still not make a difference to the
requirement to have CO2 (if you want good strong thriving plants).

I know this sounds like a dumb question,
But, its seems the more I learn the more questions
I have.

Questions are great. I asked loads when I was starting out with my live
plants. Now, I'd not have a tank without plants. Previous attempts all
failed, but I have:

Upgraded the lights
Added CO2
Add plant food
Removed the UG and gone to external canister (internals mean uprooted
plants at maint time)

I probably have more fish in the tank than previously, partly due to
bigger filtration capabilities but also due to the heavy planting
(territories are smaller due to plant cover for a start).

For me, the most noticeable change was after I added the CO2. It's not
a lot going in, and is patchy some days depending on how much I'm around
to top it up.

Plants grow like mad and I end up with a damp jungle some times rather
than a fishtank. Of course, if I back off to try and get the plant
growth rate down, they don't thrive - it's a case that I'm making them
fit in a smaller environment than they'd have in the wild, so frequent
pruning goes on.

Fish love the plants.


Thank you all for your time, and efforts.
Sir Douglas Cook

http://www.greyspace.bravehostNOSPAM.com/
Remove "NOSPAM" for correct address
London Ontario Canada
Aquarium Maintenance Man for Hire

You're welcome :-)

--


Velvet