I recently purchased a 75 gallon and I am starting to get everything ready. I have bought a 216 watt lighting system for the tank. When reading forums online I read that a lot of light increases plant growth but also increase algea. I am new to CO2 systems and know very little about them. I read that if you have too much lighting you have to have a CO2 system to prevent algea from growing and at the same time it will increase you plnat growth. Is this true and what CO2 system would be good enough for a semi planted to heavy planted 75 gallon aqurium.
Help with CO2
- Thread starter Flbrylas
- Start date
it's accually a combination of light, nutrients, and co2. i'm kinda new to plants right now and have just set up a dirt tank and seeing how that goes. from my understanding with a dirt tank you only need plants, water, dirt, and about 1 watt per gallon for lighting and thats pretty much it. youtube has alot of videos about it.
I agree with you on that but I over due everything. I like to have open options. With over 2.8 wpg, substrate and CO2 system I can pretty much stick any plant in my tank. The problem is I don't understand what CO2 system I need. Also I am a huge anti Algae freak and on my 75 gallon I am making it a priority to not have any algae eating. I know weird but I am going to Aquascape my 75 gallon and don't want Plecos eat wood and SAE and Ottos tend to nibble at certain plants sometimes.
if u want to avoid algae then u can overplant and under stock. ur best freind from my understanding about not having algae is your plants. have enough plants to soak up all the extra nutrients in the water so the algae have none to feed on. i have a small diy co2 system setup in case i need it later on but with dirt it tends to put co2 and other sources of carbon in the water for the plants and alot of people recomend not to use co2 with a dirt tank. and i have seen people produce realy good results just focusing on substrate over co2 and lighting. I'll put up a couple links for u to check out so u can see how i'm getting my information.
this is about the co2
279. Do you need CO2 in a dirt substrate planted tank? - YouTube
a warning of co2
297. How to Use CO2 in the planted tank. CO2 is the great but you need to be careful - YouTube
this is about lighting
175. How much light do I need on my planted fishtank? - YouTube
about algae (he starts off in a reef tank but quickly moves on to fresh water planted)
327. How to get rid of Algae in the Planted tank. Plecos in the planted tank - YouTube
and this is the substrate thought on planted tanks. (this is a low tech way, low light and no co2, just focusing on substrate)
296. Substrate is the most important part of a planted tank. - YouTube
this is the method of fish keeping that i am going with right now.
this is about the co2
279. Do you need CO2 in a dirt substrate planted tank? - YouTube
a warning of co2
297. How to Use CO2 in the planted tank. CO2 is the great but you need to be careful - YouTube
this is about lighting
175. How much light do I need on my planted fishtank? - YouTube
about algae (he starts off in a reef tank but quickly moves on to fresh water planted)
327. How to get rid of Algae in the Planted tank. Plecos in the planted tank - YouTube
and this is the substrate thought on planted tanks. (this is a low tech way, low light and no co2, just focusing on substrate)
296. Substrate is the most important part of a planted tank. - YouTube
this is the method of fish keeping that i am going with right now.
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What type of lighting? The old 'watts per gallon' rule doesn't work much with the higher-tech lighting available now. I can get better growth out of 96watts T6 CFL and a decent reflector than a 216 watt T8 setup. The reflecter makes a big difference in how much light is usable by the plants.
Growing plants is all about 'balance.' If the plants cannot take in what is offered, different types of algae (another type of plant) will fill the void and use what is not being used by the more desirable plants.
As you increase light, you must increase all nutrients (carbon being one) to avoid algae.
It also depends on the type of plants you want to grow. Slow growing plants will not use the extra light and extra CO2 and other nutrients, so will not prevent an algae outbreak. Fast growing plants take more maintainance (trimming them), but can easily outcompete algae.
Growing plants is all about 'balance.' If the plants cannot take in what is offered, different types of algae (another type of plant) will fill the void and use what is not being used by the more desirable plants.
As you increase light, you must increase all nutrients (carbon being one) to avoid algae.
It also depends on the type of plants you want to grow. Slow growing plants will not use the extra light and extra CO2 and other nutrients, so will not prevent an algae outbreak. Fast growing plants take more maintainance (trimming them), but can easily outcompete algae.
Yes, it is normally outside the main tank, but water is being pulled from the main tank to the scrubber, and the flow returned to the main tank. It can also be done with the HOB filters.
Basically, you are flowing the tank's water over the screen. The added light gives the algae the ability to grow quickly. The more light, the more CO2 and other nutrients the growing algae will take in. The water being returned to the main tank will have less nutrients in it (so it 'starves' any plant or algae IN the main tank), and more oxygen.
This has been used on saltwater tanks for decades (built into the 'sump' under the main display tank), and is just now getting a foothold in the freshwater realm.
More oxygen is good for fish. Fast growing plants in the main tank can produce more oxygen though. If you see a well-done planted tank, you will often see bubbles streaming from the plant leaves/stems (this is referred to as 'pearling') when the lights are on. This means that they are producing so much oxygen that the water cannot dissolve anymore. The oxygen bubbles float to the surface and are off-gassed.
Basically, you are flowing the tank's water over the screen. The added light gives the algae the ability to grow quickly. The more light, the more CO2 and other nutrients the growing algae will take in. The water being returned to the main tank will have less nutrients in it (so it 'starves' any plant or algae IN the main tank), and more oxygen.
This has been used on saltwater tanks for decades (built into the 'sump' under the main display tank), and is just now getting a foothold in the freshwater realm.
More oxygen is good for fish. Fast growing plants in the main tank can produce more oxygen though. If you see a well-done planted tank, you will often see bubbles streaming from the plant leaves/stems (this is referred to as 'pearling') when the lights are on. This means that they are producing so much oxygen that the water cannot dissolve anymore. The oxygen bubbles float to the surface and are off-gassed.