catshanon Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Leaving the C02 on during the darkness actually aphixiats the fish, because the fishes are trying to find some oxygen in the water column as are the plants and all they can find is C02. Thus a slow aphyixsiation takes place and the only thing that saves them is the timer turning the lights on in the morning. If you see your fishes in the tank hovering at the surface gasping for air early in the morning, this would be why. C02 running 24/7 is not only a waste but it is bringing your fishes to a near death experience on a nightly basis and it is only a matter of time before some will succumb to this nightly be rage. This process happens to the fishes "best" when the tank is well or heavily plant. R FYI: "It is a common misconception that water can hold only so much dissolved gas and adding CO2 will displace oxygen. This is not true. As a matter of fact, if enough CO2 and light is present to enable vigorous photosynthesis, oxygen levels can reach 120% of saturation. Even at night, when the plants stop using CO2 and start using oxygen, the oxygen levels will stay about the same as a typical non-planted aquarium. " These are not my words, but from George Booth, who is a renowned aquarist.. and your saying that "this process happens "best" when the tank is heavily planted " is totally wrong. In reality, the opposite happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catshanon Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 I think the "steak, potatoes, and marathon" analogy is going a little overboard with the anthropomorphism. My plants are really lazy and wouldn't do a marathon to save their lives... although some do send out runners occasionally! -roll- Great one, werner !!!!! :rofl: -roll- :rofl: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 The reason Cale262 is seeing such great growth by leaving it on all night is that the plants get to start the day with all the CO2 they need. Many people who do turn the CO2 off at night, start it up about an hour before lights come on again. That way plants don't have to wait for CO2 to get to necessary levels for top production. And, the reason he isn't seeing any problems with his fish is for the reason Werner described. When plants receive all the CO2 they need, they will actually saturate the aquarium with O2 - there's plenty in there to last the night. And, since the plants start in top production mode as soon as lights come on, they start producing top amounts of O2 right away. I would disagree with your point about the plants not waiting for the C02 and thus get growing faster in the morning. No one I know rolls out of bed eats a couple of steaks and a few potato's and then does a marathon before lunch. If the plants truly need all that C02 first thing in the morning you should see pearling* happening within the first 1/2 hour of the lights being on when in fact it usually doesn't start till the lights have been for at least an hour or even 3. Just like human behavior we get up have some coffee breakfast and then we go to work and start working. I'm sure the plants work much the same some even show the "behavior" of not fully unfolding there leaves until an hour into their timer driven day Even in nature the full intensity of sun is in the middle of the day when it is directly overhead which is when most of the aquatic plants are doing the greatest amount of actual growing. The rest of the day light is at best somewhat subdued or diffused coming thru bush or other vegetation *Pearling is the giving off of oxygen by the plants during photosynthesis R Plants are in no way as complicated a system as humans. If a plant were a human, it COULD get out of bed, eat a full steak & potatoes dinner and run a marathon ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Because a plant is quite a simple system compared to animals, their metabolism is quite fast - in some instances, almost instant. That is why the extra boost of CO2 in the morning is such a help. The reason pearling does not occur right away is because O2 levels in the tank aren't at 100% as soon as light comes on - both fish and plants have depleted it down to around 70-80% overnight. For the record, I do shut my CO2 off at night b/c I only want to fill my tank oncer per 14 months instead of every 7months - I'm such a cheap SOB! :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cale262 Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 For the record, I do shut my CO2 off at night b/c I only want to fill my tank oncer per 14 months instead of every 7months - I'm such a cheap SOB! :P LOL^ maybe we can do a group buy on CO2 fills @ Praxair :P Well, ATM I have both of my planted tanks going CO2 24/7 and have been closely monitoring the fish...no unusual activity to report thus far, none of them are showing any signs of stress...The 20G is 2/3bps and the 125G is too fast to count but I'm guessing 8/12bps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firestorm Posted February 14, 2009 Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 Is there maybe a way of slowing down the bubble count at night instead of fully turning it off? Even this would probably be helpful for the plants rather than completely shutting it off (and you will still save a bit on costs). I guess if you think about it, fish will still produce CO2 at night, so in these lakes and such where live plants are found, I am sure the CO2 levels also rise at night. I just run yeast CO2 right now, I never turn them off at night. Only once did I ever see my fish gasping at the top, but it was only because I was dumb enough to change the mixture in both canisters right before the lights went out, so my fish were getting an extra large dosing of CO2 that night :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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