Is it possible to have too much CO2 that it will inhibit plant growth?
I have a Carbonate Hardness that stays around 3.5-4 dKh and have noticed that when the pH is around 6.0 that growth almost comes to a hault (90-120 ppm CO2).
I've raised the dKh in some cases to get the pH higher without adjusting the CO2, but have seen no change in growth rate as a result.
I've got LOTS of light (4x55WPCFs)
over my 55G (My fish may die of skin cancer
) and figured the higher-light and higher CO2 combo would be beneficial...
However: the best growth rates seem to occur when I decrease the overal CO2 concentration, keeping the dKh constant (around 4) and allowing the pH to go up to 6.2-6.4 (still high per the CO2 charts) - this yeids a CO2 concentration of ~ 45ppm (still in the red zone).
I've done this (non-experimentally) several times and noticed the change in growth rates.
Any thoughts are appreciated.
- Jeff
I have a Carbonate Hardness that stays around 3.5-4 dKh and have noticed that when the pH is around 6.0 that growth almost comes to a hault (90-120 ppm CO2).
I've raised the dKh in some cases to get the pH higher without adjusting the CO2, but have seen no change in growth rate as a result.
I've got LOTS of light (4x55WPCFs)
However: the best growth rates seem to occur when I decrease the overal CO2 concentration, keeping the dKh constant (around 4) and allowing the pH to go up to 6.2-6.4 (still high per the CO2 charts) - this yeids a CO2 concentration of ~ 45ppm (still in the red zone).
I've done this (non-experimentally) several times and noticed the change in growth rates.
Any thoughts are appreciated.
- Jeff