# To CO2 or not to CO2



## robo-snickers (Jun 12, 2012)

Hi, I am in the process of deciding how i should set up my 72 bow front tank. so far i plan on making a DIY hood with two T5HO 48" bulbs. I will dirt the tank and use sand as a cap and also plan on trying out some dry fertz because i read some good things about it and its a lot cheaper then buying the liquid kind from pet stores. This leaves me with using CO2. I have never used CO2 and i have only used Excel which seemed to work fine for my 29G tank, but a 72 Bow front is a different animal and I am not sure if what lighting range i will be in with the lights i plan on making. preferably i would NOT want to use CO2 but i have thrown the idea out. what do you guys think? will it be okay to just stick with excel?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

If the question is whether you "need" CO2, I would say no. If you went to a 3x T5HO setup maybe the need would increase. There is one thing that I will say though. Many setups do not "need" CO2 as the lighting is such that it may not demand it, but I would also say that adding CO2 is one of the best things that you can do to your tank. Your plants pick up and grow to unbelievable rates. 

You may need to closely manage your lighting time without CO2 and even with, you would need to still control it.


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## Arthur7 (Feb 22, 2013)

Absolutely Co2! My experiments have made ​​it clear that light alone can not do anything if the main plant nutrients are lacking.
I photografiere every 14 days the growth and progress since the Co2 it is the gift significantly. the young leaves of the Amazon sword are twice as big as the old. The Riccia cloud is getting bigger. It will be produced more leaves.
Plants are expensive. Before, I had to buy new again!
they can really believe it.
The interests of the waterworks are the same everywhere. You do not want to have a lot of dissolved C-bicarbonate so that the tubes are protected.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I'm all in on co2!Best thing I have added to my aquariums since wet/dry ,sump filters and predrilled overflows.The difference is night and day.
Excell is not liquid co2,it is a carbon source that is beneficial,but it doesn't even compare to pressurised injected co2.
I dose ferts and excell along with my co2(well glut;the generic excell).


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## robo-snickers (Jun 12, 2012)

I can see how CO2 can really change a tank, I am more worried about the price tag of a system. I have seen the DIY system using a paintball cylinder and this actually looks like itll be fun to make, but again dont know how much it'll cost to build, how long a 20 oz cylinder would last for 72 Gallon tank, and how much it'll cost to fill it up. In all honestly the main reason I am considering CO2 is cause i heard its the best way to combat algea and i fell the HO lights will cause problems.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

In the long run it is worth it to go with a 20 lb bottle and "standard" regulator.Just saying you didn't start out with a 72 g aquarium did you?Save yourself some money and get the right stuff first time ang avoid "upgrades" and everything else that is extra after the deal.
One and done is always cheaper over the long run then what i could afford this week.
I only speak from 30+ years experience "wasting money" on fish crap!
For me co2 is $1 a pound(about) for my 20 lb tank or $3 for a 3 ounce "soda stream" refill at the same place!
You choose $1 a pound or $1 an ounce?


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## Arthur7 (Feb 22, 2013)

The algae: Before I gave Co2, the Amazon sword were stagnant for long. At the leaf margins grew beard algae. Also in the Java moss were black filamentous algae. I have removed, but they always came back.
In the first 14 days with Co2 came 4 new leaves. Each was greater than the previous one. The Java moss grew, there was so much that I could throw away the piece with the filamentous algae. The pennywort (Hydrocotyle) was previously a long time with few to scroll halfway down. Now he pushes arrow on the arrow to the surface. the screens are much larger.
The black root fern grows very slowly. He also had filamentous algae. They are gone.
It seems as though that the plants more and more dominate over the algae. The algae does not grow back. The little old Amazon leaves with the beard algae I have removed. There are only large light green leaves, without algae.


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