Re: Hagen plant_go natural C02 sytem 2

["Roy Wadey" <roy_wadey at hotmail_com>]

Just to clarify what I meant when I said the Hagen system 'works fine'.
I hooked it up to a 60 litre (24x12x15) aquarium on which I previously used 
a Sander Floramat C02 system.
I didn't find the Floramat to be very effective. This is a low pressure C02 
bottle sytem which you manually release into a small bell-jar type reactor. 
Diffusion of C02 can be increased using a small airlift on the reactor to 
circulate the water. With or without the airlift operating, and even if I 
remembered to inject C02 2 or 3 times a day, the floramat had little or no 
effect on the pH (i.e. very low level of dissolved C02) and only a small 
effect on plant growth. The tank is a low light system (2 watts/gallon) 
planted mainly with Java moss and various ferns but with some stargrass and 
vallis. in the back corners. The floramat allowed the stargrass to survive, 
when previously it had always deteriorated after a couple of months, and 
made the ferns and moss a brighter green. However, growth was very slow.
The Hagen plant grow system quickly produced a dissolved C02 concentration 
in the 20-30 ppm range and within a week resulted in a massive spurt of 
growth in all the plants. After 24 days all the plants are looking much 
healthier and are due for a second pruning. The system is still producing 
C02 bubbles at the same rate and so looks good for the claimed 1 month at 
least.
Once again, this is just a fancy version of a DIY system but it is at least 
much more effective than some of the other cheaper alternatives to high 
pressure C02 bottle systems, and much less bother than the Sander Floramat.

Roy.




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