co2 and wet/dry

[anti]

doing the construction my new build i decided to add a few plants (5)at best. unfortunately the way the tank is constructed it is setup for a wet/dry. research indicates that this system wears off too much co2. but how? is it the use of bio filter materiial or just the movemnt of water through the baffels, or both. more importantly how can i limit the wearing off of co2 through said wet/dry?. i was thinking of making a wet/dry where the main bio filtration will be through an incorporated FSB and use the rest of the space for return filters and possibly chemical filtration if needed. or am i overthinking this over 5 plants

[devonjohnsgard]

For that many plants... You may be over thinking it.

The co2 is warn off by the water being broken up over the baffles. Just is just like when water is broken up through a HOB or Hydro Sponge. It just breaks the water surface tension, which releases the gas.

Not having the surface tension breaking is best, but at the same time, it's important for the fish. So there needs to be some. Just not over do it if you are focusing on plants and not wanting to waste co2.

I think if you use something like SeaChem Excel with the Wet/Dry. The plants will grow fine.

[anti]

thanks devon. how long do you figure it takes a plant to adjust and actually start to grow once placed in an established system? i am a little concerned about available oxygen for fish during this adjustment period if im purposely not breaking water tension. there must be a fine line to it all. i dont want to see hundreds of dollars of fish sufficate over less that $20 worth of plants. i have to start considering all this now cause it wont be long before plumbing and confguring takes place. in addition i guess i shouldnt overthink the chemistry aspect in regards to kh,gh, and ph over 5 plants either huh? my fish are happy and healthy as is. dont want to mess with what works too much.

[devonjohnsgard]

Yeah, I wouldn't worry about changing chemistry for the plants. Different plants will adjust differently. They should start growing fairly quickly, but I know I've had plants which completely lost all their leaves and started regrowing again. I wouldn't think a plant is fully adjusted for weeks or a month...maybe longer.

If you have any filtration all that's breaking surface tension...that would be fine. Don't worry about changing it for co2. Just does Excel and some flourish, and your plants will be great.

[anti]

famtastic!! ?

[devonjohnsgard]

Jun 6, 2015 16:35:41 GMT -5 anti said:

famtastic!! ?

I think so!