Surface turbulance in a planted non CO2 inject tank, good or bad?

[Harry Muscle]

I know that surface turbulence is bad in a planted CO2 injected tank since
it drives off the extra CO2 that is pumped into the tank. However, what
about a planted non CO2 injected tank, like mine? I'm setting up a 55G
planted tank with 1.75wpg, and instead of CO2 I'm using Flourish Excel. Do
I want surface turbulence or not?

I can see both an argument for and against it. For ... you want to rep
the CO2 that is being used up by the plants. Against ... you don't want to
drive off any CO2 that is produced by the fish and the plants at night. So
which one is right?

Thanks,
Harry




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[Andrew Roberts]

Harry Muscle wrote:
> I know that surface turbulence is bad in a planted CO2 injected tank since
> it drives off the extra CO2 that is pumped into the tank. However, what
> about a planted non CO2 injected tank, like mine? I'm setting up a 55G
> planted tank with 1.75wpg, and instead of CO2 I'm using Flourish Excel. Do
> I want surface turbulence or not?

Harry, if you are using Excel for a carbon source, I wouldn't worry too
much about surface turbulence. We're talking normal HOB filter
turbulence, and not Jacuzzi jets, right? :)

--Andrew

[Harry Muscle]

"Andrew Roberts" > wrote in message
. ..
> Harry Muscle wrote:
> > I know that surface turbulence is bad in a planted CO2 injected tank
since
> > it drives off the extra CO2 that is pumped into the tank. However, what
> > about a planted non CO2 injected tank, like mine? I'm setting up a 55G
> > planted tank with 1.75wpg, and instead of CO2 I'm using Flourish Excel.
Do
> > I want surface turbulence or not?
>
> Harry, if you are using Excel for a carbon source, I wouldn't worry too
> much about surface turbulence. We're talking normal HOB filter
> turbulence, and not Jacuzzi jets, right? :)
>
> --Andrew

I was thinking air bubbles, my wife likes the look of them.

Harry




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[Andrew Roberts]

Harry Muscle wrote:
>>Harry, if you are using Excel for a carbon source, I wouldn't worry too
>>much about surface turbulence. We're talking normal HOB filter
>>turbulence, and not Jacuzzi jets, right? :)
>
>
> I was thinking air bubbles, my wife likes the look of them.

I've got a tank with an air driven sponge filter that I use Excel on
(when i remember to add it) and crypts, anubias, bacopa and najas all do
fine. Growth isn't explosive, but I do see benefits from the excel.

[Harry Muscle]

"Andrew Roberts" > wrote in message
. ..
> Harry Muscle wrote:
> >>Harry, if you are using Excel for a carbon source, I wouldn't worry too
> >>much about surface turbulence. We're talking normal HOB filter
> >>turbulence, and not Jacuzzi jets, right? :)
> >
> >
> > I was thinking air bubbles, my wife likes the look of them.
>
> I've got a tank with an air driven sponge filter that I u cel on
> (when i remember to add it) and crypts, anubias, bacopa and najas all do
> fine. Growth isn't explosive, but I do see benefits from the excel.

Just for curiosity's sake, anybody know what the answer would be if I were
not using flourish excel?

Harry




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[Dunter Powries]

Harry Muscle > wrote in message
...
> "Andrew Roberts" > wrote in message
> . ..
> > Harry Muscle wrote:
> > >>Harry, if you are using Excel for a carbon source, I wouldn't worry
too
> > >>much about surface turbulence. We're talking normal HOB filter
> > >>turbulence, and not Jacuzzi jets, right? :)
> > >
> > >
> > > I was thinking air bubbles, my wife likes the look of them.
> >
> > I've got a tank with an air driven sponge filter that I u cel on
> > (when i remember to add it) and crypts, anubias, bacopa and najas all do
> > fine. Growth isn't explosive, but I do see benefits from the excel.
>
> Just for curiosity's sake, anybody know what the answer would be if I were
> not using flourish excel?

Well, all things being equal, the CO2 levels in the water over time will
tend toward equilibrium with the CO2 levels in the atmosphere. In order to
answer your question, you need to know whether CO2 production in your
aquarium exceeds ambient CO2 levels outside your aquarium. So, the
unscientific answer is that, unless you have an awful lot of fish and an
especially shortened period of photosynthesis, more CO2 is *probably* being
adsorbed into the tank than is being expired out.

[Eric Schreiber]

Harry Muscle wrote:

> I know that surface turbulence is bad in a planted CO2 injected tank
> since it drives off the extra CO2 that is pumped into the tank.
> However, what about a planted non CO2 injected tank, like mine? I'm
> setting up a 55G planted tank with 1.75wpg, and instead of CO2 I'm
> using Flourish Excel. Do I want surface turbulence or not?

I can't give any absolute answer, but I have a heavly planted 20 gallon
with an Eclipse hood (lots of surface turbulance). I haven't injected
CO2 for several months, and I don't even use Excel. Plant growth is
excellent.


--
www.ericschreiber.com

[Victor Martinez]

Eric Schreiber wrote:
> I can't give any absolute answer, but I have a heavly planted 20 gallon
> with an Eclipse hood (lots of surface turbulance). I haven't injected
> CO2 for several months, and I don't even use Excel. Plant growth is
> excellent.

Is that a 20g long? With an Eclipse 3 hood? I have one of those and my
plants grow great!

--
Victor Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam here:
Email me here:

[Eric Schreiber]

Victor Martinez wrote:

> Is that a 20g long? With an Eclipse 3 hood? I have one of those and
> my plants grow great!

20 high with an Eclipse 2. I had to add extra lighting for the plants,
but I'm very happy with the system.


--
www.ericschreiber.com

[bannor]

On Thu, 26 Feb 2004 19:39:13 -0600, "Eric Schreiber" <eric at
ericschreiber dot com> wrote:

>Victor Martinez wrote:
>
>> Is that a 20g long? With an Eclipse 3 hood? I have one of those and
>> my plants grow great!
>
>20 high with an Eclipse 2. I had to add extra lighting for the plants,
>but I'm very happy with the system.

How did you add extra lighting to this hood? I have the Eclipse 1
hood on a 10 with only 1 15 watt tube... is there an upgrade kit or
something available?

[Eric Schreiber]

bannor wrote:

> How did you add extra lighting to this hood? I have the Eclipse 1
> hood on a 10 with only 1 15 watt tube... is there an upgrade kit or
> something available?

There aren't any formal lighting upgrade kits that I'm aware of. What I
did was buy the "2 x 13 Watt Deluxe Bright Kit" and two 6400K bulbs
from AH Supply (http://www.ahsupply.com). Added to the 30 watt already
in the Eclipse 2, this brought my total up to 56 watts.

I don't know how much room is in the Eclipse 1. The gap between the
standard light and the filter compartment on the Eclipse 2 is about
3.25" from front to back - just barely enough for the AHSupply kit to
fit into. I used a piece of plexiglass hanging on a pair of heavy gauge
metal hooks (covered in aquarium silicon to stop rusting) as a sort of
shelf for the light.

I'm extremely happy with the AHSupply kit, by the way. It's bare bones
but it comes with a great reflector, ballasts, wires and fixtures, as
well as clear instructions on how to do the wiring. If you're at all
handy with tools it's easy to set up, and does an excellent job of
lighting the tank.

And besides, it's always fun to play with electricity.


--
www.ericschreiber.com

[Harry Muscle]

"Dunter Powries" <fech.redcap@spedlin> wrote in message
...
> Harry Muscle > wrote in message
> ...
> > "Andrew Roberts" > wrote in message
> > . ..
> > > Harry Muscle wrote:
> > > >>Harry, if you are using Excel for a carbon source, I wouldn't worry
> too
> > > >>much about surface turbulence. We're talking normal HOB filter
> > > >>turbulence, and not Jacuzzi jets, right? :)
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > I was thinking air bubbles, my wife likes the look of them.
> > >
> > > I've got a tank with an air driven sponge filter that I u cel on
> > > (when i remember to add it) and crypts, anubias, bacopa and najas all
do
> > > fine. Growth isn't explosive, but I do see benefits from the excel.
> >
> > Just for curiosity's sake, anybody know what the answer would be if I
were
> > not using flourish excel?
>
> Well, all things being equal, the CO2 levels in the water over time will
> tend toward equilibrium with the CO2 levels in the atmosphere. In order
to
> answer your question, you need to know whether CO2 production in your
> aquarium exceeds ambient CO2 levels outside your aquarium. So, the
> unscientific answer is that, unless you have an awful lot of fish and an
> especially shortened period of ynthesis, more CO2 is *probably* being
> adsorbed into the tank than is being expired out.
>

Ah, well that makes sense. So the answer would be yes. In an average non
CO2 injected tank you would want surface turbulence in order to replenish
the CO2 that is being used up in the tank.

Thanks,
Harry




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