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am i wasting my time ?

S

sean178

Member
Joined
13 Nov 2013
Messages
29
good morning all.
I've been bumbling around from website to website picking up and using various bits of information and I'm now starting to wonder if I am treating my tank correctly (I can almost hear the sighs "another do 1st learn later post :oops:)
I found this site a few days ago and I've been reading through the tutorials at every opportunity and now I have a couple of questions (thanks to everyone who has created a tutorial, they have been fantastic reading, if only I'd come here 1st)
I have a juwel trigon 190 that is planted with a tropical plant collection that I got from aqua essentials, some hair grass, a couple of mosses and a red lotus.
when I decided to plant the tank out I read up on co2 injection and installed a pressurized system.
I also started dosing plant food, installed a power head to improve circulation and set myself out on a proper maintenance schedule and I have to be honest all seems to be going great.

in the tutorial regarding co2 I read, there was talk of light conditions and now I'm wondering if the co2 in my tank is really serving any purpose. I'm assuming that the 2x T5 28w lights (with reflectors, if that makes any difference) I have on the 190 falls into the "low light conditions (generally less than 2watts per gallon)".
the author states that at these light levels there is normally enough co2 present for plant growth, so, am I wasting my money pumping co2 into my tank if the plants have no need for it ?

secondly, after reading the tutorial regarding ei dosing, would I be wasting my time following this system with the lighting levels I am running.
sorry for the long winded post, I hope it makes sense. many thanks for looking.
regards.
sean.
 
thanks for the quick response gents.
I have to be honest, since I started down the path of a serious planted tank, it has never looked better. it is, at long last, a pleasure to have it in the room.
its just that, as usual, I jumped in with both feet and now its hard to tell if it was one thing, a couple of things or the combination of everything I am now doing that has made the difference.
it was just reading the co2 tutorial that raised the question.
sean
 
If it isn't broken then don't fix it :D

P.S. If you're having success with the current setup there is not point in fixing it, perhaps what you're doing right now is whats granting you the success, doing something to it may well knock things out of place. Having excess CO2 and nutrients etc won't cause harm unless the CO2 levels pose an impact of livestock.

Michael.
 
Trying remember the thread but if recall correctly co2 lowers the light compensation point of plants so you can actually use less light.....
 
OllieNZ said:
Trying remember the thread but if recall correctly co2 lowers the light compensation point of plants so you can actually use less light.....
Click to expand...

Quite true. A 'low light tank' with CO2 addition will outperform a 'low light tank' with CO2 in terms of growth. Whether you are after faster growth is a seperate question.
 
thanks everyone. my Ei starter kit arrived today, so im ready to start the 7 day cycle on sunday, I like the idea of doing my water change/clean up on a Saturday as I have the house to myself.

Michael W said:
Here is a link from the Tropica article about light and CO2 well worth a read to understand their relationship: Tropica Aquarium Plants - Rådgivning - Tekniske artikler - Vandplanters biologi - Interaktioner mellem lys og CO2
Click to expand...

thanks for the link, I'll have a read of that at the weekend, it looks a bit heavy going for an early morning "post work" read.
sean
 
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