On Tue, 14 Jan 2003 21:20:56 -0500, "Bruce Geist"
wrote:

I am wondering if it is ever possible that CO2 in the filter would inhibit
nitrifying bacteria. (I doubt it, but I am curious..) Have you checked your
nitrites and ammonia levels since making this change?

Adding CO2 to the water in no way reduces the O2 level of the water.
In fact, most tanks with CO2 injection will have a measurably higher
level of O2 due to photosynthesis. So, the bacteria have just as
much, or more O2 available to them.

The one place where CO2 could reduce biofiltration would be in a
trickle wet/dry setup. In my wet/dry, the trickle chamber is fairly
well sealed, and probably contains higher than normal levels of CO2.
So I probably have reduced bio-filtration because of CO2, but wet/dry
filters provide so much bio-filtration that the small reduction
doesn't have an effect.



Chuck Gadd
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua