Beginner's questions - regarding CO2

Hello! I am a beginner's beginner, I got a 90 gallon tank from my friend and
want to set up a planted tank with lots of neons...(look like will be
pretty...)

Anyway, I am getting some easy-grow/medium-easy-grow plants, but after
viewing some articles, I found out that I might need to support CO2. I have
a 220W Jalli light and a canister filter.

I want to ask :

1. What CO2 system should be better for me in this situation? I found
several CO2 SOLENOID DIAPHRAGM VALVE on ebay, sould I need to buy one of
them?

2. If I really need those valves, shoud I also purchase a CO2 tank? Where
could I purchase them, and where could I refill them if they are empty?

3.Even though if I have them all, how can I know the plant got them? I
mean, does the CO2 automacilly go into water???

4. Do I really can turn off the CO2 at night?

5. Would the Co2 affect neons? Or could you recommand some article about
CO2 and fishes?

Thanks a lot! Any information will be helpful!

Doreen

"DOREEN" wrote in message ...
Hello! I am a beginner's beginner, I got a 90 gallon tank from my friend and
want to set up a planted tank with lots of neons...(look like will be
pretty...)

Anyway, I am getting some easy-grow/medium-easy-grow plants, but after
viewing some articles, I found out that I might need to support CO2. I have
a 220W Jalli light and a canister filter.

Doreen, you should realize that you can get by just fine with no CO2
at all. There are really two very different approaches to
plant-growing, and you have to decide what sounds good to you:

"High tech": CO2 injection increases plant growth rate, which
necessitates regular fertilizing. Rapid plant growth means that things
look beautiful but require frequent pruning. High nutrient levels let
you grow pretty much anything.

"Natural aquarium": No CO2 injection, and plants grow slowly enough
that fish food usually provide all the fertilization necessary. Plants
that usually have emergent (above the water) growth in the wild may
have trouble living completely submerged in these setups.

If you decide to go with CO2, realize that you'll have to research
fertilizer as well, may need an enriched substrate, etc. Adding CO2
without doing those other things can lead to your plants becoming
starved of nutrients, which is bad.

Also, understand that the "slower" growth in a non-CO2 enriched
aquarium doesn't necessarily seem slow by terrestrial plant standards.
For example, in my no-CO2 tank, Limnophila sessiliflora doubles in
size every two weeks. Plants can do this even living off of the
nutrients in fish food because typical submerged growth is about 93%
water.

- Jim

I agree with his statemen,
You may want to check out Diane Walsteads
Ecology of a planted aquarium for low tech setups.
Awesome book

Marcus

http://www.aquatic-store.com/

Co2 tanks on sale
Eheim 2026 $143
Co2 regulator and bubble counter with needle valve $75

WEBBOARD

http://aquatic.yupapa.com/phpbb/index.php






On 29 Aug 2003 11:50:05 -0700, (Jim Seidman) wrote:

"DOREEN" wrote in message ...
Hello! I am a beginner's beginner, I got a 90 gallon tank from my friend and
want to set up a planted tank with lots of neons...(look like will be
pretty...)

Anyway, I am getting some easy-grow/medium-easy-grow plants, but after
viewing some articles, I found out that I might need to support CO2. I have
a 220W Jalli light and a canister filter.

Doreen, you should realize that you can get by just fine with no CO2
at all. There are really two very different approaches to
plant-growing, and you have to decide what sounds good to you:

"High tech": CO2 injection increases plant growth rate, which
necessitates regular fertilizing. Rapid plant growth means that things
look beautiful but require frequent pruning. High nutrient levels let
you grow pretty much anything.

"Natural aquarium": No CO2 injection, and plants grow slowly enough
that fish food usually provide all the fertilization necessary. Plants
that usually have emergent (above the water) growth in the wild may
have trouble living completely submerged in these setups.

If you decide to go with CO2, realize that you'll have to research
fertilizer as well, may need an enriched substrate, etc. Adding CO2
without doing those other things can lead to your plants becoming
starved of nutrients, which is bad.

Also, understand that the "slower" growth in a non-CO2 enriched
aquarium doesn't necessarily seem slow by terrestrial plant standards.
For example, in my no-CO2 tank, Limnophila sessiliflora doubles in
size every two weeks. Plants can do this even living off of the
nutrients in fish food because typical submerged growth is about 93%
water.

- Jim