Baby Tears Aquarium
Posted on Monday, July 20th, 2009 at 2:30 am
JBL Pro Flora M 603
Introduction – Carbon Dioxide (CO2) connects the respiratory processes of the animal and plant kingdoms. It is one of the main products of respiration by animals and plants (as they respire during the night), and it provides the carbon necessary for plants to create organic matter and oxygen out of simple compounds. CO2 systems pose one of the greatest challenges of money, time, and ability to the freshwater enthusiast. Undoubtedly, though, they promise astounding results. Takashi Amano and other renowned aquarists have created breath-taking aquascapes through pressurized CO2 systems.
But why are CO2 systems so important to aquarists interested in having planted tanks? Because of a relatively simple scientific formula (bear with me here!): CO2 + E + H2O +… => O2 + C6H12O6 + H2O +…
This unbalanced formula outlines the general (but not complete) reaction involved in photosynthesis. Plants create oxygen (O2) and sugars (C6H12O6) for growth during the day by absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2), water (H2O) and light energy (E) along with important nutrients such as iron, nitrate, phosphate and potassium. In an aquarium with standard lighting and no CO2 system, a small amount of CO2 is naturally present in the water. It is present because it interacts with the atmospheric CO2 at the waterss surface, and it is present because fish breathe out (respire) CO2.
In such a setting, some plants such as Anubias species (spp.), Java Fern and Java Moss grow quite well. This is because they require only low levels of light to transform (photosynthesize) CO2 into O2. However, most plants, such as baby tears, Glossostigma elatinoides and Ludwigia spp., require relatively high light to perform this same transformation. As the equation indicates, with higher light, more water and carbon dioxide are required for the plants to photosynthesize, grow, and indeed live! So, in an aquarium with good lighting (more than 2 watts per gallon of water), carbon dioxide must be added to the water in order to balance the above equation.
CO2 fertiliser with 500 g reusable CO2 cylinder pH regulato
Planted Aquarium -14 gal BioCube
