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I have always struggled to keep plants alive. I really didn't want to invest in CO2, is it not harmful to the fish? So I would just buy more plants every few years. I have an LED light attached to a timer and it's probably 12 years old. For about a year my current plants did well, I found a type that worked. But not now. I do have algae that needs to he cleaned every year so I'm thinking unlike florescent bulbs I don't believe these lights lose their ability to grow plants over time. Or do they?
My understanding is that if you limit the light to 8 hours max, have CO2 supplementation and fill the tank with plants, that algae will have a tough time growing in your tank. In addition, performing partial water changes every couple of weeks will help with the pH balance, etc..
I finally invested in a CO2 tank with regulator last year and it alone has helped prevent the massive algae blooms that seemed to strike my tank every few months. The upfront investment was $125, but tank refills are only $10. Each refill lasts about 9-10 months. Also, don't feed your plants more than 2x week and keep the CO2 on a slow drip (1-2 bubbles per second in the bubble counter). CO2 will NOT hurt the fish, unless you have it cranked high (15+ bubbles per sec.). My tetras are in good shape and show no ill effects from the added CO2.
Thanks for the reply but maybe you missed my point. I'm not upset at the algae growth, I am upset because I can't get my plants to grow. As I said in my OP I'm not crazy about a CO2 both for the cost, hassle, and I'm worried about harming the fish. I do water changes about once a month (easy care fish, I am done with high maintenance salt water tanks) and have an LED timer on for 8 hours/day. I have some algae but with a 45 gallon tank it's not too much to scrape off every week or so. Is CO2 really necessary to maintain healthy plants? How about the bottled stuff you can buy without a complete system, will that help and not harm the fish.
Is CO2 really necessary to maintain healthy plants? How about the bottled stuff you can buy without a complete system, will that help and not harm the fish.
No, CO2 injection isn't absolutely necessary to grow healthy plants. I grew low-light plants in my 55 gallon tank for years without it. I did find they grew better, though, once I started using SeaChem Flourish Excel to provide a bio-available carbon source for them. (I also dosed lightly with Flourish and Flourish Trace as well.) If you buy Flourish Excel in the gallon-sized container, it is more reasonably-priced.
(As I recall, though, there are a few types of plants which die when dosed with Flourish Excel. See this thread for details: Excel KILLS plants?! - The Planted Tank Forum But most common aquarium plants do fine with it.)
No, CO2 injection isn't absolutely necessary to grow healthy plants. I grew low-light plants in my 55 gallon tank for years without it. I did find they grew better, though, once I started using SeaChem Flourish Excel to provide a bio-available carbon source for them. (I also dosed lightly with Flourish and Flourish Trace as well.) If you buy Flourish Excel in the gallon-sized container, it is more reasonably-priced.
(As I recall, though, there are a few types of plants which die when dosed with Flourish Excel. See this thread for details: Excel KILLS plants?! - The Planted Tank Forum But most common aquarium plants do fine with it.)
Thanks. Can an LED light lose it's spectrum the way a bulb can? It still shines brightly so I don't think it's going bad. Just trying to figure out why the plants I've always had suddenly turned ugly.
Thanks. Can an LED light lose it's spectrum the way a bulb can? It still shines brightly so I don't think it's going bad. Just trying to figure out why the plants I've always had suddenly turned ugly.
I don't know the answer to that. I do know they eventually burn out, but I don't know if the spectrum changes before they do. (My light fixture used CF bulbs; since it worked well, I never felt the need to upgrade to a higher-tech product.)
My son put some in his tank, overlaid with gravel, and his plants are going nuts. A selection of Swords and a couple others. Also has a daylight/grow light fluro bulb.
I think he used SeaChem.
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