Using pH Down for CO2 fertilization?

[Hoa Nguyen <nguyenh at nosc_mil>]

I have a question for the group.  I'm not a chemist, so my question could
be completely crazy.

I've started up a "no-tech" 1-gallon planted tank that sits by the window
in my office.  I keep Java Fern, Anubias nana, Pygmy Chain Swords and
Glossostigma in it.  It has no heater (my office temperature is controlled
at a comfortable temperature), no filter, no air pump and no light.  It
receives about 2 hours of direct sun light every day.  I also keep a Betta
and a Malaysian trumpet snail (to clean the glass) in it.  I have had it
for just a couple of weeks.

The gravel is small, with bits of shells that added to the already hard,
high pH (8.6) tap water.

I have a bottle of pH Down that came with my A.P. pH test kit.  It contains
Sulfuric acid.  I have tried to add this to my tank occasionally (after
diluting it in water, of course), and noticed that the plants tended to
bubble after this addition.  I think I have read somewhere that the
addition of Sulfuric acid releases the CO2 from the carbonate.  Is that
correct?  If so, is the regular adding of pH Down to the hard water a way
of supplying CO2 to the plants (until the shells all dissolve, which could
be a few years--and that can also be replenished with additional shells)?
What's the effect of the leftover sulphur component?  Would it be okay to
do this regularly together with partial water changes?

Of course, all the latter questions would be moot if the answer to the
first question is "No, it doesn't liberate the CO2."   

Just a crazy thought.  Thanks for any info.

Hoa

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