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co2 additions and plant growth
yes, lets bring this topic back up, because I have some important issues
to discuss on this topic :)
First and formost I setup an extremely cheap aquarium with the following
materials, a 2.5 gallon oct tank with hood (non-florescent, bulb type
;) a 35 watt plant growth light, pourish clayish substrate, steal wool,
and a power filter. Am unsure of the cost on all of these but it's not
that much when you consider standard tank setup's :)
After having little luck with bananna plants and laceleaf plants in my
20 gallon tank I decided to move them over to the 2.5 gallon tank for
some testing. Last night the everything has new stalks and growth up to
2" per plant. And I use 0 co2 additions
Ed
> Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 17:11:19 -0700
> From: "Alysoun McLaughlin" <alysoun.mclaughlin at ncsl_org>
> Subject: Re: Optimum Aquarium Setup
>
> >From: Jennifer Glover <jglover at wam_umd.edu>
> >Subject: Optimum Aquarium Setup
> >
> >I have always wanted lush plant growth, but could never get healthy
plants.
>
> We had an all-too-brief discussion of this, specifically about whether
CO2
> is 'necessary' or not, a few months ago. Maybe others would be
interested
> in reviving it?
>
> In my experience, and the experience of other people I've known,
striving
> too hard for 'optimum' conditions at first can be more of a harm to
your
> plants than a help.
>
> If you plunge right in, with a super-rich substrate, with heavy doses
of
> various fertilizers, with a zillion watts of light, you're likely to
end up
> with an algae explosion. That can be frustrating to fight with. And
> especially if they're not starting off well, your plants will really
suffer
> from a thick coating of algae all over their leaves, and blocking
their
> light.
>
> I think it's better to start with the basic necessities, and give
yourself
> room for growth.
>
> There are probably as many different ideas of what 'the basic
necessities'
> are as there are hobbyists, but I'll take a stab at it. I hope and
expect
> others will argue with me about it. I think you need a moderately
rich
> substrate, whether that's soil, or gravel enriched with laterite, or
peat
> underneath, or seachem's flourite (my personal favorite, certainly for
a
> beginner. Easy, simple, adequate, with plenty of room for growth). I
think
> 2 watts per gallon is strong enough for the vast majority of plants in
a
> moderately-to-heavily planted tank. If you've got these two basics,
you
> should have healthy plants (of course, with some exceptions. We all
have
> certain plants we just struggle with.)
>
> In my opinion, liquid fertilizers and CO2 should not be added until
you've
> achieved an equilibrium, and are ready to start experimenting to get
> stronger growth. My opinion, of course, is based on my tanks, which
have
> lots of fish. Without the fish, you might need liquid fertilizer from
the
> start.