Planted 15g + DIY Co2

Very basic question. I have 6 live plants in my 15g that I just picked up yesterday. I've read in some places that you shouldn't run an oxygen pump when having live plants, so I'm going to turn that off when I get home if this is true.

But to keep my plants alive, do I need to make a DIY Co2 pop bottle? And since my tank is smaller, does it have to be a 2L bottle? It seems like a lot for a 15 gallon.

depends on your set up. and what the plants you have inside your tank. c02 for me is only needed when you have medium to high lighting in your tank and yes the bubbles from your airpump tend to dissipate the c02 present in your aquarium

i have a 13 gallon aquarium, i use a 1.5 litre bottle

I'm getting a 45 watt bulb today [temporarily running a 100 watt cos my only other option was a 20 watt halogen that was too short to make it to the top of the tank] so I'll have 3WPG.
Plantwise I remember a couple of the names.. Rotala Indica, Anacharis, Moneywort, Red Ludwigia, Anubias... and the last one I forget. It looks like my rotala indica, but a lot bushier and slightly pinkish.

It's not too heavily planted right now as I just bought the plants to let them grow in.. would a 1L bottle be sufficient until they grow enough? This is what it looks like right now:



From left to right it's Rotala Indica + fake silk plant, Anubias, plastic hygrophilia [to break up the filter current], Moneywort in front of the one I can't remember the name of, Anacharis in the back right and Red Ludwigia in front of it.

I'll stop using the air pump when I get home.

Edit: It's early and I can't spell.

make sure ure using bulbs of the right type i think its safe to go with a 1 litre bottle and just notch it up next time if it is insufficient its always best to take small steps so as not to shock your fishes look around for a diffusion method that suits your tank i suggest first trying an upturned bell and then going with a reactor

A 1 litre bottle will simply finish brewing sooner. There really is no milage in having less brew!

If you find your CO2 content is getting too high then simply add surface agitation to release some of the surplus CO2.

kenneth_kpe said:

make sure ure using bulbs of the right type i think its safe to go with a 1 litre bottle and just notch it up next time if it is insufficient its always best to take small steps so as not to shock your fishes look around for a diffusion method that suits your tank i suggest first trying an upturned bell and then going with a reactor

Click to expand...

The lights I'm using are just regular desk lamps for now, because I don't exactly have the cash to buy a $60 hood setup. My dad is making me a stand and hood for this tank, so these lights are only temporary until he finishes the hood. He's getting me the proper lights then.

I figured I'd just use an airstone to diffuse the Co2 at first, and see how that works. I've got two that aren't being used right now, so it's the easiest thing to try it. If that doesn't work, my LFS has attachments for that Hagen Co2 thing that I could use.

The WPG rule only applies to tanks in the 20-50 gallon range. Smaller tanks require higher WPG, larger tanks require less. Takashi Amano grows high light plants in 0.5 wpg in his largest tanks, but might use 7 or 8 WPG in a small tank.

Well, with a 60 watt bulb to make 4wpg [store had no 45 watts ], would that be enough? And how many watts would I need when my dad finally finishes my hood?

60 watts would definitely be alright. At this point, you've already got high lighting, so you'd need CO2 or else you're going to be faced with an algae outbreak. So make sure you got your DIY CO2 setup working, and you'll be alright.

Yeah, but a regular desk lamp is only going to be around 2400K nowhere near what the plants need to thrive.

if its incandescent light you'll need to change to a florescent light's more like 2 x 15watts or 2 x 20watts in the 5500K - 6700K spectrum

I have the same size tank with 60watts (3 x 20watt lights) and working well

I'm pretty sure its a fluorescent bulb.. I'm setting up the Co2 thing tonight, and then I'll check and see how much these lightbulbs will cost.. Dad's working on the hood FINALLY so I've got to check about the bulbs anyway.
Yay, another excuse to go to the LFS! Thanks for the help.