# do I need co2 system



## mike 1980 (Apr 9, 2011)

I am getting a 55 gal started, and am using lots of plants. I have read about a co2 system, and my question is do I need one????


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I would say no, initially. What type of light will you have? That will determine whether you need it or not more than anything else. The type of plants you want will matter also.


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## mike 1980 (Apr 9, 2011)

I have 120 watts, 6500 k lights. I ordered 10 ancharids, 10 vals, cryptocoryne, sword, java fern, tiger lotus, limnophila, and maybe a few others. 

I hope to get my plants tue. or wed. Do I need any fertilizer for them?? 


I am so glad for all you people on this site, when I ask my LFS questions they tell me to quit researching stuff on the internet. 


Thanks


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I would say that with those plants and that light you don't "need" CO2. CO2 is a great enhancement to a planted tank, however. You would see some accelerated growth from it. I would recommend a pressurized if you went that route. Need help in what to get or where to get it, refer to the other CO2 thread currently going.


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

I think you are borderline actually. Like Jr. said...not required but may be something you want to look at down the road. I would as well advise on dosing ferts if you really want a nice planted tank.


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## mike 1980 (Apr 9, 2011)

Thanks, I have looked up the ferts online and there a lot of varieties. seachem flourish has plain flourish, exel, iron, trace, potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus. Any suggestions?? 

Also, Do I need ferts all the time or just when starting the tank? I thought fish would do the fertilizing. It will be a heavy planted tank (in my opinion).


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

mike 1980 said:


> Thanks, I have looked up the ferts online and there a lot of varieties. seachem flourish has plain flourish, exel, iron, trace, potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus. Any suggestions??
> 
> Also, Do I need ferts all the time or just when starting the tank? I thought fish would do the fertilizing. It will be a heavy planted tank (in my opinion).


Best suggestion I can make will be to use dry ferts. They are cheaper. If you are just getting started with them, I would recommend to start with a pre-mix blend. This let's you get used to mixing and dosing without worry of over doing it. Once your comfortable with that, you can migrate to the EI dosing method where you have more control on the individual nutrients that you dose. AquariumFertilizer.com is one place to look at to get your supplies.

As for routine, it's best to establish one because you will be bringing balance to your tank. If you swing that balance one way or the other, you could wind up with algae issues. The pre-mix here again allows you the flexibility to miss a couple of days here and there where as the EI method is pretty straight forward in dosing for (6) days and water change on the seventh day to reset.


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## mike 1980 (Apr 9, 2011)

Cool, I didn't even know they had dry ferts. I will check into them. Do most ferts boost ammonia?? Or do the plants consume it fast enough that it won't matter??

thanks


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## bigscale (Nov 17, 2010)

I personally am a great fan of CO2 systems I have set up a CO2 SYSTEM using a JBL and a fire extinguisher this saves me a considerable amount of money instead of using a JBL cylinder the plants in my aquarium have simply taken off so much so that I have to continuously farm it also it helps to control the PH level in my discus tank


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## mike 1980 (Apr 9, 2011)

bigscale said:


> I personally am a great fan of CO2 systems I have set up a CO2 SYSTEM using a JBL and a fire extinguisher this saves me a considerable amount of money instead of using a JBL cylinder the plants in my aquarium have simply taken off so much so that I have to continuously farm it also it helps to control the PH level in my discus tank



Is there any plans I can look at to rig something like that up?? I have 2 fire extinguishers in my garage, they are just for shooting water, not the foam that normally comes in them. Not sure what a JBL is. I don't know anything about CO2 systems, but it looks like it could be a headache from what I've seen on some posts. 


Thanks


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Setting a CO2 system is by far NOT a headache. I used to think that because I didn't know much about it and what was involved. Once I got it all and hooked it all up, I was like, "this is it"? If I had to guess, the difference with using a fire extinguisher is only the bottle that is different, but I could be wrong.


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