co2 Flux question

Re: co2 Flux question

Not counting the "Redfield Ratio" above ... I'd agree in general with David and Ian above ...

In the hobby, we have a lot of "annecdotal" analyses that become part of our general practices ... I am quite confident that Ian hit the nail on the head when he brought the "range" aspect up - that above a certain unspecified range, wild CO2 fluctionations are unlikely to have any significant effect. And David also hit the nail on the head that we really should think of Carbon as a nutrient that we dose just like our macros and micros ...

Now if we think about Cabon as a Nutrient and then think about dosing it in a common sense manner like EI treats macro nutrients, then our goal should be to maximize our CO2 levels within a range that is not harmful to our livestock (gee, that sounds just like what Ian said) ... we essentially are dosing carbon ...

Now Tom often tells us that there really is nothing wrong with turning off the CO2 at night and turning it back on in the morning when the plants will be consuming the greatest portion of it ... Now if we make the assumption (like David brought up) that Carbon is consumed at a relatively aggressive uptake rate, this would actually make sense ...

And if we again tie that back to the EI philosophy of dosing to acheive a maximum within a range ... we shouldn't have any problems except when we run out and our plants have to work harder at finding other sources of carbon within the water column ...

And since I started this post with the observation that we have a lot of "annecdotal" analyses that become part of our hobby ... have you heard one of the latest anti-algae rumors running around? There are a few people that are advocating a Flourish Excel dosing supplement to our pressurized CO2 to add an additional source of Carbon to fight algae ...

So annecdotally, in the context of part of a CO2 swing including a bottoming out (i.e. running out of CO2), then yes, I suspect that there is a algae aspect to a CO2 swing, but I am quite confident that the context is in the bottoming out of the CO2 or running out of CO2 aspect ...

Gee ... in most cases, the only reason I know that my CO2 tank is empty is because all of a sudden I see algae growth ... then I know its time to change my CO2 tank ... there, that ***PROVES IT*** - CO2 swings cause algae ... I know it, I can prove it ... all I have to do is let my CO2 levels swing when my pressurized CO2 tank runs out and I get algae! There, we have proved it, CO2 swings cause algae !!!!

All jokes aside ... we have a lot of annecdotal things in the hobby that scientifically may not be valid, but when put into practice, often they teach us to perform certain tasks in a consistent manner ... and it is some other aspect of the consistent practice that is really what benefits our plants ...

So if you think about a lot of the things that you hear in the context of "best practices" they often work even though they may not be scientifically sound. Thus if you can keep your CO2 levels stable ... I suspect that the implication is that you will always have some level of CO2(ie carbon) available...

So I am also confident that stable CO2 levels are probably one of those good "best practices" kinds of things ...

Greg