I've been having good results growing plants in my little 15 gallon tank. I started it a couple of years ago and just ruined it by messing with it too much and then not paying attention to it at all- recipe for disaster- but I took all the plants out (they were covered in black beard algae) and started again slowly. I've got it packed with thriving plants now. So, I really have no reason to mess with it, but part of me just can't help it.
I've been looking at how to make sure the plants have enough CO2. Honestly, I think I probably get enough- algae is not a problem right now ( knock on wood) and I get decent growth on the plants. I have the tank a bit heavily stocked with fish, so they are contributing and I am not a stickler for removing every bit of decaying plant matter that is in there, so I think that helps add CO2 to the tank also.
Alternately, I have the water return pointed up so that the water is somewhat turbulent to ensure a balance of O2 also, so the fish are pretty happy. I think I'm talking myself out of doing CO2- part of how I got myself in trouble the first time was using a cheapy CO2 method where you couldn't turn it off. It ran all the time, until it didn't. The water was going up and down wildly with CO2 levels during that time.
The Fluval CO2 unit does allow you to turn the CO2 on and off, and, after reading through the comments, if you follow the directions and are careful about sealing the connections, it seems to work pretty well. Do I NEED it? No, definitely not. It might be fun to mess around with, and certainly would help plant growth, but honestly, it's only a 15 gallon tank- not sure I need much more plant growth.
What are your thoughts? See below for my tank and the "Scampy Scamper" Milo with his "what? I'm not doin' nothin'" face.
I've been looking at how to make sure the plants have enough CO2. Honestly, I think I probably get enough- algae is not a problem right now ( knock on wood) and I get decent growth on the plants. I have the tank a bit heavily stocked with fish, so they are contributing and I am not a stickler for removing every bit of decaying plant matter that is in there, so I think that helps add CO2 to the tank also.
Alternately, I have the water return pointed up so that the water is somewhat turbulent to ensure a balance of O2 also, so the fish are pretty happy. I think I'm talking myself out of doing CO2- part of how I got myself in trouble the first time was using a cheapy CO2 method where you couldn't turn it off. It ran all the time, until it didn't. The water was going up and down wildly with CO2 levels during that time.
The Fluval CO2 unit does allow you to turn the CO2 on and off, and, after reading through the comments, if you follow the directions and are careful about sealing the connections, it seems to work pretty well. Do I NEED it? No, definitely not. It might be fun to mess around with, and certainly would help plant growth, but honestly, it's only a 15 gallon tank- not sure I need much more plant growth.
What are your thoughts? See below for my tank and the "Scampy Scamper" Milo with his "what? I'm not doin' nothin'" face.
