It's a good idea to start your CO2 roughly an hour or so before your lights come on. The reason for this is simple.
When your lights come on, you want your plants to hit for floor running. What I mean by that is you want your plants to begin growing instantly. As the CO2 build up over the 60 minutes before the lights are on your levels begin to rise (remembering the carbon dioxide has been off for maybe 16 hours) and your plants take complete advantage of this. Good levels of CO2 and lighting (don't forget your fertilisers) = happy planted aquarium.
By contrast, having your CO2 come on when your lights start up, you delay the growing process as it takes roughly 1 hour for CO2 levels to hit that perfect 30ppm level.
In addition, turn your CO2 off 1 hour before your lights go off. There will be sufficient CO2 in your tank for that time for your plants to continue growing.
When do you turn your CO2 on and off?
36 comments
6-7 bubbles per minute is pretty much fruitless and at that rate you may as well turn it off. If you used a drop checker with bromo blue, you would fine the checker would stay blue all the time :(
Are you using a drop checker?
On a 190L tank, aim for about 2 bubbles per second and then see how the plants go.
The reason why your tank is OK at night is due to the fact the CO2 is having no effect. It’s great that your plants are healthy, and there’s no reason for them not to be, but it sounds like you’re running what I would term a low tech planted tank.
Does that make sense?
Hi. I have a 190ltr tank quite heavily planted and a CO2 diffuser on all the time!! Not really considered turning it off, having said that it is only providing about 6 or 7 bubbles a minute. The tank is really healthy and plants and fish are all flourishing. Is it ok to leave on – you have me worried now!!
That’s bang on. Your plants hit the floor running which is just what they need. Good work.
My drop checker is green when lights turn on. It goes a lime green once lights have been on about an hour.
That’s interesting that you have it 2 hours before lights come on. What colour is your drop checker when the lights finally are on?