So Much For Going "low Tech"... Should I Jump To Co2 Injection

[l_l_l]

Some people of you might know already how I wanted to "keep things simple" and how "uninterested" I was in having a high tech aquarium.
 
The problem is.. I love plants so much that I have now no more choice of going high tech, dosing ferts everyday and keeping up with the plants is harder than I would had thought.
 
Of course, it all started with the low light plants, in a low light setup.
After starting to dose fertilizers, I realized how much growth I would be able to obtain, how full and green my plants would be.
This hooked me up.
 
I thought that since my "higher" light aquarium was a shrimp farm, I would for sure not have to be worrying about algae, so I dosed ferts on a daily regime and followed the bottle instructions.. that was foolish.
 
It's not even summer and I can see green hair algae growing in the outflow on my water lettuce.
I think I'm going a bit too hard on the iron.
 
I'm reading more and more guides on how to go EI dosing, seems the logic thing to do, but all guides I have read (almost) are promoting CO2 injection.
 
I have started reading information on how to build your own co2 injection system, and was wondering... How BIG of a difference would it make if I started injecting CO2? 
It seems that if I start doing that, I will also have to control water flow (which is not something I had much thought about before a few days ago.) which means, more money spent.
 
Basicaly, I'm seeking advice of people who made the jump, who were just like me dosing ferts and excel, until they realized how fun and rewarding planted aquariums were.
 
I'm thinking of doing this for my 20g shrimp aquarium, but I'm also wondering if I could also run co2 on my 46g, which has giant val growing in it.. Apparentely, co2 aint good for them? I know excel will melt mine, but what about pressurized co2?
 
Thanks for reading! 
 

 

[SO19Firearms]

I thought that since my "higher" light aquarium was a shrimp farm, I would for sure not have to be worrying about algae, so I dosed ferts on a daily regime and followed the bottle instructions.. that was foolish.

Do you mean by following the bottle instructions you weren't dosing enough nutrients, or it was foolish to have a high light tank with no CO2?

Either way EI is based on high light, CO2 injected (or carbon dosed) system - if you don't have high light you can save money by dosing less nutrients.

I think you mentioned something about Iron too - so just to be clear nutrients don't cause algae - having too much light and not enough CO2 causes algae (mostly)
So plan your route forward with that in mind....

 

[l_l_l]

I've read that when you have too much Iron you can get green hair algae..
 
I meant that it was foolish to have a high light tank and dose a lot of nutrients without having CO2.
 
The reason why I'm dosing more nutrients is because my Anubias have started to show signs that they are missing some..
Pin holes, yellowing of leaves, etc..

 

[daizeUK]

Basicaly, I'm seeking advice of people who made the jump, who were just like me dosing ferts and excel, until they realized how fun and rewarding planted aquariums were.

 
Dosing Excel means you were already high tech and your ferts should include sufficient NPK, do they?
 
My 64L is still a liquid carbon tank, no injected CO2, and it produces very good healthy growth although not quite as much as my CO2 injected tanks but still very satisfying.
 

The reason why I'm dosing more nutrients is because my Anubias have started to show signs that they are missing some..
Pin holes, yellowing of leaves, etc..

 
Your anubias is more likely carbon deficient than nutrient deficient.  You can increase your Excel dosing to double the standard dose - this worked wonders for me - or inject CO2.

 

[l_l_l]

Thanks Daize!
I will try dosing more excel to see if that helps.
In any case, I might try a small DIY co2 kit, with fermentation thing..

 

[SO19Firearms]

I've read that when you have too much Iron you can get green hair algae..

Ignore that.

I meant that it was foolish to have a high light tank and dose a lot of nutrients without having CO2.

You can dose as many nutrients as you like

I might try a small DIY co2 kit, with fermentation thing..

I'd stick with excel or go pressurised. Fermentation things can be unstable and as you know 90% of all algae is caused with some problem with CO2 then it's just a problem waiting to happen.

Some examples of CO2 problems for general interest -

High light - meaning not enough CO2
Too much flow - CO2 moves over plants to fast for the plants to use
Too little flow - not enough CO2 moving over plants
Plants that can't handle high light (anubius) being in high light areas cant process CO2 fast enough
Unstable CO2 - Excel not dosed everyday - during lights on
- Fermentation process changing with sugar/heat/pressure
- Gas pressure dropping

IMO

 

[l_l_l]

Wait..
Do you mean I should dose excel when my lights are off?
How long before they turn on should I dose?
My Anubias problem could be because I have too much light?
That makes a lot of sense because those are all things I am doing right now.

 

[SO19Firearms]

Excel I'd dose just before the lights come on so it's in there ready, but not way before if you can help it as it only hangs around for so long - consistency is key tho so not every other day or once a week etc (some do, and it's pointless and asking for algae)
 
Light's the driving force - too much means a plant will grow faster, needing more nutrients and more CO2 - some plants like anub can't handle growing fast very well and fail - even if everything is supplied - so if it were terrestrial it'd be a "Shade lover"
 
 
 
IMO

 

[l_l_l]

I'll try modifying a bit my schedule and see what's up!
Thanks for heads up