So,after a lot of reading looks like i will have to get CO2 system for my plants .

The thing is i got no idea how these things work.

I had a look on ebay and i can see cans or tablets .
Do i put tablets straight into my tank and job done ?
How do cans work ? do i attach airline and just spray it into the water ?

Sorry,i know this sounds really silly,but i just dont know how they work , so could you guys please give me some more info on this.

Oh,and one more thing,i read that CO2 somehow messes up pH , how to sort this problem out ?

Thank you.

I don't think it's a silly question. I'm in the same boat. I was looking around there are a bunch of co2 devices. Some are like $30 on ebay...but many people on here talk like it's expensive.
I was told with the lighting system I want that I'll need pressurized co2 and not a DIY. I'd like to know where to look and what system to buy.
And yes, teh PH question is a good one too.

Required CO2 is based off of your light. Your plants will certainly benefit no matter. There are really only two ways to go about it effectively, pressurized and DIY. Which way you go largely depends on what you want to spend and the size of the tank. DIY usually works pretty well for smaller tanks and usually cost less than $20-30.

What is your tank and light setup and why do you fell you have to have it?

I have a 30-gallon tank

My light will be this one, about 2-4 inches elevated from the tank:

Aquatic Life 30" Dual-Lamp 2 x 24W T5 HO Light Fixture - AquaCave

(1) 24" 24W T5 HO 10,000 K Lamp
(1) 24" 24W T5 HO 420/460 Lamp

What system would I need? DIY or pressurized? If pressurized, which one is good, cause I can't seem to find a chart or anything that would help me determine.

I feel like I need it cause of the light, and I'd like to grow some more high-light plants.

Thanks!

I'm not a fan of the bulbs in the light but they can be changed out rather easily if you want.

On a 30g, if you went the DIY route, you should have at least two bottles running. If you went pressurized, I could recommend using a paintball rig. They are just small regs and equipment that connect to the paintball tanks as opposed to the larger CO2 units.

BigAlsOnline has some available if you're interested in that route.

Sondre....what size is your tank?

Paintball rigs are fairly inexpensive and easy to run. I ran one on my 29g for about 5 months or so. I recently changed it over to a standard 2.5lb tank. The 2.5lb tank was only $20 more than the paintball tank, not counting the cost of getting it filled. You can get started with a paintball system for about $140, depending on what type of diffuser or reactor you wanted.

Is there a site I can goto that will tell when exactly what I need for this and how to set it up and keep it going?

Thank you all

My tank is 100 litres,with 2 x t5 24w bulbs . I was told by other members on this forum that my lighting is high and i would need CO2 to keep my plants healthy .

What do these paintbal rigs look like ? can anyone upload a picture,i just had a search on ebay,and all i get are paintball uniforms etc. lol :D

what other pressurizes systems are ? and how do you use these cans of CO2 ? is anyone using them ?

i feel like i am a 5 year old kid who knows nothing lol :D


EDIT : I just found this : Natural Plant System

But its only £15 ! Everyone keeps saying that CO2 systems are expensive , £15 ??? confused !!! :D

Or you can just run the lights for a shorter period each day.

my .02

__________________
fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

anyway,this is what i got for my tank : JBL Aquarium Equipment at zooplus: JBL ProFlora bio160

how long should i keep lights on ? 6 hrs ? 8 hrs ? 10 hrs ?

you should run your lights as long as you possibly can without cloudiness/algae showing up.

my .02

__________________
fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

How do you set that up,Sondre?Do you have to add the sugar/yeast to it too?The other one you linked was just a fancy DIY system.

I would start out with my lights at 8 hours,then if you want to go longer,turn them up by 30 minutes a week,until you either see algae or are happy with the length of the lighting period.

__________________
http://bountifulbettas.blogspot.com/

"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

yeah,you got to add something to the bottle,refills are cheap,i got 2 refills for about £10.
Dont know what it is that i will have to add(first time ever trying CO2),but i know its all included in a package.
will let you know how i get on with it .

Waste of money this was ! It doesnt work. But my plants seem to be fine,so maybe i dont really need CO2 ?

IME probably so.

to me there seems to be plenty of co2 from the fish and the atmosphere around the tank.

But that's just me and and my.


ta da:


.02

__________________
fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

haha :D

Its just everyone keeps saying how important it is to add CO2,but the bloody thing doesnt work !
And like i said my plants seem to be doing fine without it,they are growing really fast ! They might grow even faster with CO2,but whats the point of that ? i will just have to spend more time/more often trimming them .
So i think i will leave my tank as it is (without co2) will save my time and money.

Unfortunately, a majority of those things are just a waste of time. I started out with one of those as well. It was a Hagen ladder system. I also tried another type of one where it used fiz tabs. Boy was that a joke.

If you're not going pressurized, DIY is definately the way to go.

Now as to do the plants "need" it. Depending on the setup and type of plants, maybe not so much. However, any plant you keep in your aquarium will greatly appreciate any extras it gets. And they will respond with glee.

Thanks for your help guys.

Not diy person , lol and the other systems are just too expensive , spent far too much already on these tanks .So i am just going to leave it as it is .

Yeah, I was sort of wondering about that system when you posted you bought it. Too bad things like that don't work, it would sure save on the costs of some things.

CO2, whether pressurized or DIY, is always a nice addition to any planted tank. Need? Maybe not for most setups, but some well lit tanks "require" CO2 or they will have many other issues. You can get away with no CO2 I guess even with hi-light, but nobody likes 3hr lighting periods on their tanks. The two basic things a plant needs to survive is light and CO2. Adding CO2 takes the plant to a level that its growth is not hindered by a lack of CO2 in the tank. You should read the DIY CO2 thread and see what its about. It's basically just mixing sugar and yeast in a container.