Debunked: CO2-Myth --- See tanks without carbon dioxide fertilization

[seesolo]

thank you sir, just saved me a lot of money, want to go into aquascaping to show how freshwater tankers can look as nice as a salt/reef tank

 

[ridehardorgohome]

47g Planted Bowfront
Current 39x2w t-5 @12hr a day
Black Sand Substrate
Flourish Excel x2 a week


12g Nano Cube
Coralife 24x2w cpf @ 12hr a day
Eco-Complete Substrate
Flourish Excel x2 aweek
Breeding RCS

 

[HarleyK]

Very nice, I love it.

I see you use Excel with shrimp - what dose are you administering?

Thanks,
HarleyK

 

[ridehardorgohome]

Very nice, I love it.

I see you use Excel with shrimp - what dose are you administering?

Thanks,
HarleyK

I use the recommended dose on the bottom sometimes a little more,I have used up to 3x that does with them to get rid of hair algae and no problems...

 

[seds]

Check out my great accomplishments in the field of aquascaping without CO2~! Both are unheated.

40 GALLON MINERALIZED TOPSOIL TANK!

Huge limnophila forest, some dwarf saggitaria carpet starting to spread...

10 GALLON E.I. DOSING

I haven't really been aquascaping so much recently, but look at that Lemna trisulca growth!

 

[Jake Adams]

These planted tanks look good but they also look like they are running without CO2. When you can grow plants like these w/o CO2 then you can say that CO2 is some kind of big myth, and dont even try getting anything more than imaginary red without CO2. Carbon dioxide is still the limiting factor for many aquatic plants, and you simply can't get results like these without it.

 

[HarleyK]

Hello Jake Adams to MFK!

Thanks for your input. Unfortunately, I am red/green insensitive, and even my red rubin sword doesn't do it for me .

Are you the owner of Aquascaperz, or did you just copy/paste their pics? If you are, then congrats, nice plants. If you aren't, then I'd certainly be interested in some pics of your own tanks with details of the set-ups

Thanks,
HarleyK

 

[Jake Adams]

Hello Jake Adams to MFK!

Thanks for your input. I am red/green insensitive, and even my red rubin sword doesn't do it for me .

Are you the owner of Aquascaperz, or did you just copy/paste their pics? If you are, then congrats, nice plants. If you aren't, then I'd certainly be interested in some pics of your own tanks with details of the set-ups

Thanks,
HarleyK

These are my plants, grown in my own tank and Aquascaperz is also my site. Here is a video of my full tank from late in the summer. For starters I can tell you that this tank uses a LOT OF CO2 and if the carbon dioxide tank runs out the colors fade within a day or two.
[YT]<object width="853" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dEaSQcjA2Js&hl=en_US&fs=1&hd=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dEaSQcjA2Js&hl=en_US&fs=1&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="853" height="505"></embed></object>[/YT]

 

[ridehardorgohome]

Well if thats really your s/u, Congrats and Great Work

 

[HarleyK]

These are my plants, grown in my own tank and Aquascaperz is also my site.

Howdy,

Thanks for the clarification, and again, compliments on the nice tank.

I don't think your plants and my comments are mutually exclusive. I say that CO2 is not the limiting factor in plant growth as a general rule. There are always exceptions to a rule, be it specific plant species (let's say your reds), or specific plant keepers (who make sure no other nutrients/factors are limiting). I completely acknowledge that, as I said in post#1:

Only extreme-planters keeping demanding species will actually need it.

You are one of them together with jcardona1 and a handful of others here on the board.

To clarify the context of this thread and give you a bit of background where I am coming from: /\/\onsterfishkeepers.com is a website dedicated to big fish with big appetite and big tanks. Many member's tanks have little to no green, we are more likely to house a 2 ft arowana than a 1 inch tetra (you'll find those at our sister site Aquariacentral.com). But in this sub-forum here gather those enthusiasts who enjoy plants and either keep or want to keep them. I'd hate to see members waste their money on CO2 systems in the false believe that that's the only way/silver bullet to a planted tank, as it is often falsely advertised to be. Bottom line is that you can have a nice planted tank without it.

But please don't get me wrong, you've got an awesome planted community tank and your comments are much appreciated and remind us of the complexity of nutrients for coloring. We often discuss it for fish, and you're making the point for plants.

I thank you for that.
HarleyK