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Re: No CO2 plants




On Fri, 25 Sep 1998, Kelly Beard asked:
>
> What plants grow well without the addition of CO2?

It would probably be easier to list the plants that require added CO2.

> Most of my plant
> experience is with Barclaya Longfolia, Amazon Swords and Anubias Bartari
> (?sp).  I'm guess most Anubias won't care, and I seem to remember from here
> and web pages that Crypts don't really seem to care either.

Many of the common aquarium plants grow fairly well (usually slowly)
without CO2, as long as other condition are conducive to growth.  The
light level makes a difference, as does the combination of plants in a
tank.

An example... I've grown A. barteri nana in tanks without added CO2 for
some time.  It grows very well under moderate to low light in combination
with other plants that grow well under low light.  It also grows in
sunlight as long as the competition for the limited CO2 supply isn't too
intense.  Small fish and shrimp like to hide in the protection of their
roots, and I think their CO2 output helps the plant compete.  When I add
Val.  (a very competitive plant) to that setup the anubia stopped growing
and eventually died.  Java fern and a myriophyllum both failed under those
same conditions.

I'm not sure I have enough experience with this to generalize, but it
looks to me like amphibious plants or plants that naturally grow partly or
entirely emersed don't compete well for low CO2 supplies under bright
light.  The same plants can grow very well without added CO2 as long as
the light is moderated.

Conversely, plants that naturally grow fully submersed are likely to
compete and grow well without added CO2.  There is at least one exception
to this, as Cabomba caroliniana doesn't seem to do well without added CO2
- an observation I find a little difficult to explain.


Roger Miller