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Could I get away with just using liquid co2?

karl1987

Member
Joined
14 May 2008
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39
About to rescape my tank. Its a juwel rio 240. Been using sodastream bottles on it for over a year now, but its costing a fortune and getting a fire extinguisher isnt an option unfortunately.

Bought myself an interpet tri spec led lighting unit for the tank a few days ago which im about to fit when i rescape.

My main worry is that the unit will be too bright and will require me to continue using pressurised co2 which ideally I dont want to do. The daylight leds are as followed - 14 x 3w 6500k white leds and 5 x 2w red leds, giving a total of 52w.

Heres a link to a photo I took on my tablet regarding the units par ratings on the box -

https://postimg.org/image/b4lgklwav/

The light unit will be roughly 45 cm above the top of the substrate giving my a par of roughly 42 based on that.

Pretty much all the plants will be easy to keep such as rotala rotundifolia and crypts. So do reckon I willl still require pressurised co2 or could I get away with just liquid carbon without running into algae issues?

Thanks
 

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Funny is how the general consensus of aquarium keeping is shifting throught the generations. In the todays generation there is no website to find relating algae growth to co2, it is presented like aquarium keeping without it is near impossible.. I've red blogs about aquarium keeping where was stated "I was fighting algae for many years and it drove me into dispear, till i found CO2 and all my algae problems vanished like snow in the sun." :rolleyes: The concept Low Tech is pushed towards oblivion as difficult, near impossible without algae issues and pain staking slow.

The truth is :) you can easily get away without co2 or liquid carbon with growing easy plants. No need to run into long term algae issues once the aquarium is sufficiently planted and grown in, mature enough, not over stocked and properly maintained. Any initial algae issues any new setup can run into and most likely will, will also go away once all is matured and plantmass is sufficient large enough under the propper light intensity and sufficiently fertilized.

Those 54 watt and par readings on the box do not tell you much how it will work out in real time. This is something you need to experience once all is up and running. Do you want to be or are you in the high range of light, than you might not get around without co2 even with easy plants. Tho easy plants do not require high light, that's whats makes them the easy category. Less light will make 'm grow less fast so need less co2.

It's one or the other, if you have high light, easy plants and no co2 you probably are best off to invest in a dimmer if yet doesn't have that.

Low tech is slow tech, it needs a bit more (few months) patience but can easily be as satisfying as it can be as beautifull if not more beautifull. And once a low tech is running properly it can stay like that for many years with actualy very little input. As so often said, high tech is like living the fast lane, driving a sportscar, dangerous curves and situations are comming faster towards you and needs skill and experience to anticipate correctly. While riding a bicycle is much more relaxing and much more educative, you see more of the world around you because it takes a bit longer to get there, it's easier to process.

I'm willing to bet my live on it, the majority of aquarists using co2 have more often algae issues then the experienced low tech aquarist will ever have. ;) Like they jumped into a sportscar without learning to drive..
 
I guess no one can answer the question without having the same light and tank. But I think you can learn the most by experimenting with different ways of growing plants.

The thing about tanks without pressurised co2, like zozo mentioned, is you have much more time to react and correct any problems. I like that slower pace in my aquarium.
 
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