Hi All,

My .02 on Co2. YMMV!

I found I had to get a fair amount of co2 into the tank in order to really
get a lot of extra growth. I tried a bunch of fancy DIY co2 stuff, and was
never happy with the amount of labor and reliability vs added growth. My
ambient temps vary a lot, and that always influenced co2 production, and
hence pH fluctuated.

I also used a compressed system, and tried both a needle valve and a pH
based controller. The pH controller by far worked the best. I was using a
diffusion chamber in-line with a canister filter.

Anyway, over all I found co2 was too much hassle for me. I had to really
watch all the trace nutrients, iron especially. When I stayed on top of it,
HUGE growth. If I fell off, the algae would quickly get the upper hand. I
find now that I get a nice level of growth with no co2, and the maintenance
level is easy. Now that my tank is established and full of plants, I don't
want fast growth anymore, it just means more work.

Mind you, this is from someone who has abandoned a lot of tech. I don't use
my UV sterilizer or RO filter anymore. I just don't find it necessary.

Make sure that your water is medium hard, or as hard as your fish like it.
The co2 produces carbonic acid, which in turn eats at your hardness. If you
have soft water, a pH crash may occur.

Jonathan

"Harry Muscle" wrote in message
...
"Rich Conley" wrote in message
...
High light and no CO2 is a bad idea...you could also do DIY CO2....its
almost
free...


Why? Lots of algea? That's the first thing that comes to my mind.

Thanks,
Harry

P.S. DIY CO2 seems like too much hassle. I'd rather spend the money on
pressurized CO2 than spend the time on DIY CO2, however, overall, I would
like to stay away from CO2 if possible.




-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 80,000 Newsgroups - 16 Different Servers! =-----