Waylanderxx
Aquarium Advice Regular
Could an air stone and a bubble powered decoration be bad for plants? I've read on another post that they remove CO2 so the fact that I have them in my tank I'm soon going to plant concerns me
Could an air stone and a bubble powered decoration be bad for plants? I've read on another post that they remove CO2 so the fact that I have them in my tank I'm soon going to plant concerns me
Hello Way...
Adding an airstone will increase the oxygen in the water a bit. Oxygen is a plant waste product, so your plants may not do quite as well in the higher oxygen environment. But if you like the bubbles in the tank, a small one won't hurt.
B
I was about to post this same question, but framed slightly differently:
I don't have a heavily planted tank (only about 6 or so in my 56 gallon tank); but I do have an airstone/pump in there, along with 2 200gph HOB filters.
I'm guessing that between the HOBs and the plants, there is sufficient oxygen introduction into the tank, and the airstone is superfluous at this point? (I wouldn't object to introducing a small circulation pump in the tank to keep water moving, but again, with the 2 HOBs, that might be overkill.)
Hello d...
Airstones do little to get oxygen into the tank water and release carbon dioxide. The bubbles are small and even a lot of them don't create enough surface movement.
Filtration devices will do a much better job of gas exchange. Your filter simply needs a gallon per hour (gph) rating 6 times the volume of the tank in gallons. So, if I have a 30 gallon tank, I want a filter large enough to turn over at least 180 gallons of tank water per hour. More filtration is a bit better, but if you perform large, weekly water changes, you don't need much added filtration, because the filters are just filtering water that's already clean.
Keep in mind that mechanical filters are simply taking in toxic water and replacing it with water that's a bit less toxic.
B
Airstones function to increase surface agitation. Surface agitation causes gas exchange between the air and the water. This drives the levels of CO2 and oxygen in the water towards their equilibrium concentrations.
SO, if your levels of CO2 are high than their normal equilibrium levels (in the case of CO2 injected tanks), the an airstone will reduce CO2.
If your CO2 levels are lower than equilibrium levels (like if your plants have used it all), it will increase your CO2 levels.
Essentially, if you're not injecting CO2, don't worry about a bubbler.
The concentration of co2 at equilibrium is significantly below saturation. This is why we have to inject so much co2 relative to the equilibrium concentration when we use higher lighting levels.
But yes, co2 levels in an aquarium are between 3-7 ppm, varying on a number of factors, especially temperature. There is some disagreement on the number, but its pretty minor in the long run (I've seen an entire thread of people arguing about whether it was 3 or 5).
The benefit you would see from 2 ppm increase in co2 would not warrant the changes. You simply won't see a tangible advantage from it.
I'm talking 4ppm here!
Do you think it would be cost effective to CO2 inject my 18 gallon tank (10x20x20) vis-a-vis only excel supplementation?
Flourish makes excel tabs? I know they make flourish root tabs, but those are for nutrient supplementation, not carbon supplementation. Or do the flourish tabs contains a carbon soruce as well?Probably not, IMHO. I use Flourish Excel on my lightly planted tank and the plants are doing fine (so long as my nibblers aren't nibbling them away). I may move from the liquid to the tabs, though, since the tabs will get right at the root.
Flourish makes excel tabs? I know they make flourish root tabs, but those are for nutrient supplementation, not carbon supplementation. Or do the flourish tabs contains a carbon soruce as well?
Do you think it would be cost effective to CO2 inject my 18 gallon tank (10x20x20) vis-a-vis only excel supplementation?
Is there a significant difference in CO2 levels at 80F vs 76F? I mean, if I'm not currently injecting but would like to maximize my CO2 equilibrium what are the optimal factors? What temperature? What pH? What KH?
I know i'm talking tiny amounts, 3ppm vs 7ppm (especially when CO2 is injected at amounts 10x this), but if I had the choice, and the time and effort was negligible, I'd rather have 7ppm CO2 + Excel vs. 3ppm CO2 + Excel.