# need help with fresh water plants.



## aquilla101 (May 27, 2013)

Hi all I'm new to keeping aquatic plants and I read here on the forums about co2 injection and lighting,I have a 250l fish tank,with a yeast co2 system,with about 65 watts of light using 1 t8 bulb and 2 cfl bulbs,not to sure on the names of my plants,but I have about 5 different species of plant,and had some of them for over 2 months now and haven't seen any new growth,some seem to be dying,any help with identifying the plants and telling me what I'm doing wrong would be appreciated,thanks sorry for the long write up.


----------



## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Diy co2 will not work on a tank that size unless you have several bottles going. At least 6 2ltrs.

Would need a pic of the plants to help identify them. You don't have enough lighting for a lot of plants. You should also be adding some ferts, depending on the plants.


----------



## aquilla101 (May 27, 2013)

Hi thanks for the reply,ok so I need to get more co2 in there,atm I'm using marltons liquid fertz,unfortunately It seems I can't upload photos(using my phone)don't have internet,is there some way I can upload photos maybe to a website or something?thanks sorry still new to this forum still finding my way around.also how much light do you think would be good enough for my size tank.


----------



## jamnigh (Apr 24, 2013)

if you upload to photobucket you can always copy them over to here


----------



## WheeledGoat (Jan 29, 2013)

for lighting, it's going to totally depend on what plants you have. your current lighting would be ok for low light plants like val, swords, etc... it'll help a lot if you can post some pics.

co2 - I agree w/ susan - you're going to have a hard time getting up to 20-30ppm co2 on a tank of that size with DIY... but don't give up, every little bit will help. You may want to consider supplementing with "liquid co2" (it's not really liquid co2 - it's gluteraldehyde, another form of carbon that the plants can use) but that can start to get expensive and so may only be a temporary solution. Flourish Excel is a popular and expensive product. I use it occasionally. I've read many good things about API CO2 Booster - it's supposed to be the same thing but a good bit less expensive. I haven't bought any cause I haven't finished my first bottle of Excel yet.

There's a whole world of fertilizers you can get into, including buying dry fertilizers and mixing your own stuff. For now, to ease into it, you might try Aqueon Plant Food.


----------



## jamnigh (Apr 24, 2013)

I personally use the API CO2 booster, decently priced, 1ml per 10 gallons once a day, so for me in a 20g tank, its not much. I have had it for 2 weeks and barely put a dent in it. A 16oz bottle has enough to treat 5,000 gallons...and its about $8.


----------



## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

In my honest opinion you should bite the bullet and go pressurised. It will be cheaper for you in the long run. On a tank your size dosing any liquid carbon will end up being a huge cost in order to make the plants happy enough to thrive.


----------



## jamnigh (Apr 24, 2013)

Agreed with Bev here. It will be more cost effective going pressurized. I want to, just haven't gotten to that point yet. If you do a true pressurized setup, original cost is a little high, but upkeep is almost nothing.


----------



## aquilla101 (May 27, 2013)

Thanks for the info ill be looking for a pressurized co2 tank,I'm thinking of also getting some co2 liquid for the mean time,thanks very much for the info,I managed to find all the names of my plants,still can't upload pictures,even through photo bukkit,anyway,also would like to ask if the moss that grows on rocks in the wild,and on wet rocks,is poisonous to fish,cause I put some in my fish tank,thought maybe it would grow in there,and soon after my red dwarf gourami just dropped dead.


----------

