Aquascaping Blog
Airstones and air pumps have been a staple of the aquarium trade for decades. Air Pumps have been and still are a huge help for bringing Oxygen into the water and this works wonders on aquarium water. A lot of hobbyists may be wondering: is co2 better than compressed air? Air Pumps (compressed air) have been essential for fish, especially for overstocked tanks. The question is; will it do the same for aquatic plants? Will it also dissolve CO2 into the water since CO2 is also present in the atmosphere? Let's start the fight: CO2 vs compressed air!
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A newbie in the planted tank hobby would be bombarded with terms like pH, gH, kH etc. While this may sound a little too technical, understanding what these represent would make it seem much easier. To simplify things, these are just names we call for certain measurements of certain elements in the water. These are necessary to ensure that the tank has the most favorable conditions for plant and fish growth.
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Some claim that the most effective way to control algae is to provide the tank with sufficient amounts of CO2. This will come either via CO2 injection or via chemicals like CO2 tabs and liquid CO2. This may sound a bit bold but a lot of experienced aquascapers swear by it. They know through experience that while CO2 supplementation is not an overnight miracle cure it works beautifully long term. Adequate CO2, along with sufficient filtration and good husbandry is the only thing that will prevent the algae from growing and becoming a menace to the tank. There are dozens of chemicals that can kill algae. Numerous methods have been developed to eradicate algae in the aquarium, but none apart from the things mentioned can effectively prevent them from ever coming back.
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Do all aquarium plants need CO2? The answer to the question is a big “Yes!”. But plants do not use CO2 like animals use Oxygen. It is not the same as breathing. Plants would only need CO2 when they photosynthesize....
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The most common problem a planted tank encounters is algae growth. There are many forms of it. The planted tank first sees Diatoms (brown algae), which occur within just days of the tank is set up and flooded. As the tank slowly matures, it may encounter other algae forms like Hair Algae and Black Beard Algae. If it survives these initial algae attacks, it can contend with Green Dust algae and Staghorn Algae. Most experienced hobbyists already know the simplest and most effective way to deal with this problem- carbon dioxide injection.