Hi! I tend to read a lot of posts without interacting, but this is such a great forum and I have a ton to learn, so I'll probably be more talkative in the future. I'm a longtime fish geek but am new to keeping plants (er, keeping healthy plants... I've had plenty of sad swords and cabomba over the years). I have a 4-month old 55 gallon that is evolving into a high-tech tank with simple plants (welcome back, sword plant! I'll do better this time). I've never used CO2 before and am trying to get a handle on the chemistry underlying KH/pH/CO2. I'm still getting over my intense fear of algae; I probably need more light and more CO2, but baby steps, right?
I'm a lurker but thought I'd say hello ;)
- Thread starter AnnieT
- Start date
Welcome! Glad you decided to post. You have a nice tank and those swords will fill in the tank in no time with injected CO2. Even at lower CO2 concentrations, say 15 ppm you will ample growth if all the other aspects of nutritions are provided. With the plants in your tank I would say focus on CO2 and nutrition first, light can come at a later stage. It's better to limit growth with light so you avoid algae and give your plants time to fill in the tank.
Love your tank! I just joined also and am cycling a 75 gallon to use CO2 etc. also. I'm excited to get rolling and much like you, am terrified of algae. I don't mind the normal stuff, but the black beard algae is the scourge of the seas....or lakes, as it were.