@@airwolfnh Some people like this work cause they sell extra plants to sustain their hobby. Also many people don't use stem plants, which are those that require constant pruning.
I really like when you do experiment videos. Given the small amount of aquarium focused lab research, and your degree feild; your one of the few content creators I'd trust to design a valid and descent experiment. Also as a plant and soil scientist, and a small time hobbyist: A+ Keep it up. Suggestions: a good future experiment might be analysis of the CEC capacity of your substrate. CEC is a key concept in understanding Agricultural growth, but very few in the hobby seem to know this principle exists; despite being a corner stone of plant growth. The test is pH dependent though... For pH7 your probably looking at an ammonium acetate, or barium chloride in an acidic pH. Just an idea, if you're looking at future tests
Blog post on this experiment: aquaproshq.com/blogs/aquarium-guides/aquarium-co2-guide CO2 equipment ► geni.us/KnWPj use code "aquapros" save 10% Fritz Clarifier ► geni.us/7P7B
You need to talk to Olight about them giving you a decent flashlight lol. The little tiny one I got from them for my pocket edc is brighter than that thing!
Plants never would have established that well in the first place on the L tank without co2 likely resulting in algae/failure. Love co2! Keep up the work Mike!
I think I like the no co2. Less trimming that i would have to do. Yes I loved planted tanks. But I also having nothing but time. To sit and watch my plants grow. I already have a few different types of plants grow out my ears,lol.
Maybe the CO2 tank isn’t showing nitrates because they’re being taken up out of the water column by the plants that are enabled to grow quicker because of the CO2. Whereas with the non CO2 tank, the plant growth is stunted and as such there is excess nutrient in the water column. This could mean the substrate, while important, isn’t everything?
Thanks so much for this video! I’ve been looking for a side by side co2 comparison and have I have only ever found 1 old one. Definitely helpful to me. Would love to see this experiment again, but with different slower growing plants such as Anubis, java fern etc. Thanks man have a great day!
again, absolutely love these kinds of videos, regardless of the limitations (and great job with pointing them out in the first vid), this was still very interesting to see what the c02 did in a relatively straightforward way. Out of curiosity, not really related, but do you still find the tetras to be pretty happy and still swimming around the tank with the c02? Sometimes i feel like tetras kinda like having the dense foliage but just wondering if you ever felt that way with tetras
Fantastic video. Finally, I got to sit in front of someone who explained the co2 story with raw data and informative conclusions. Thanks for this, great content.
Hello there, i realise that the odds of you reading this is probably pretty small, but i have a couple suggestions for experiements that could be interesting. It could be interesting to do an experiment with an air pump. I've always been told that adding an airstone to a planted tank, with or without co2 injection would drive co2 out of the water, that seems like a perfect subject for these tanks. Running them both with co2, and one with an airstone. I'd also think it would be interesting to run the experiment again with no co2 injection in either of the tanks. How would it impact plant growth, and mesurable co2 levels? The same experiment could also be run with no airstone, but with increased surface agitation from just the filter. That should be material for a few videos if you're as curious about the subject as me. Either way, it would be nice to have some semi scientific results to refer back to, whenever i see someone arguing about it. I also think that there are a lot of potential tests for lighting, such as length of the photoperiod in relation to algae, strength of the lighting in relation to algae and fertilization and co2 injection, plants reaction to different color spectrums, etc. There is also a lot of potential for testing different filter media, as well as filter sizes and what type of media (sponge, ceramic, gravel/rock etc), as well as different brands, and how much of it, you use. In short, i think this is a brilliant idea, i love these experiment tanks! I would also like to see a third tank added for control. :) In fact how about a whole setup more so you can run multiple experiments at once. XD Heck, how about 2 more testing setups, this could go far! :) Anyway, i hope you read this, and take some of it to heart. Kind regards from Denmark.
@@Ryan-xv3kc That's not entirely true... liquid co2 is not what causes plant melt, most liquid co2 do however contain glutaraldehyde and that is known to be sensitive to vals and anarcharis. With that said liquid co2 is used for plant nutrition not for algae control. Algae control is in itself a by product.
@@Ryan-xv3kc Suppliers have 2 ways of growing plants. Either out of water or under water. You normally get plant melt if you submerge brought plants that have been grown out of water by the supplier. Melting is normally just the plant adapting.
Excellent! This should show lots of people how C02 helps with plant growth and an example of how much plants spurred on with growth with co2 consumes nutrients.
Hmmm… I thought I left a comment in this one cause this was a very cool experiment & I was waiting for the followup for what felt like forever. I appreciate the time you put into this brother. Don’t ever feel you work was ever in vain in any way. ✊🏾
I've definitely enjoyed this series! Mike is so funny and has so much personality! He makes science fun 😁👍 I have just started getting plants to grow in my own aquarium (low light) now I am interested in trying CO2 . I would like to increase my skill level a and try different plants! For now, I have everything growing beautifully, But I have that kind of mind that I want to experiment too!!😁 I really enjoyed the time lapse and the graphs, that was cool!! Thanks for sharing I really enjoyed the video! I hope you all have a very blessed day!!🙏💞🌱🐟🌱💯
I'd love to see some good information on efficiency of CO2 injection. I know direct contact of of CO2 bubbles to the plant is an important factor, but is there really a significant difference between a CO2 reactor and using the current diffusion method. Cory is pretty disdainful about different types of diffusion methods, essentially saying that they're all the same. I'd love to be able to see support or not for that
In my experience diffusion can be very wasteful, reactors with paddles and spirals with 'bell jars' have for me required less input of gas to achieve 30 ppm than those that just rely upon a ceramic disc creating so called micro bubbles.
@@williammcdowell6257 Certainly, but there have been studies that show direct contact on the plants with CO2 bubbles has a significant increase in growth (since that one tiny section is getting exposed to 100% CO2 as opposed to the 0.003% that you get with 30 ppm saturation) so there's some ambiguity as to what is actually most effective in terms of plant growth in relation to the inefficiency of CO2 vented to the atmosphere and whether that inefficiency might be worth it if it yields significantly better growth
@@christopherfassett9973 Interesting point which had never before occurred to me. Not at all sure that this would be easy to test. What I can say is that for a three foot, four tank, and five foot tank, I've found it much easier to hit the 30 ppm using a solenoid/timer controlled pressured system and a back up 24 hour per day yeast system, but also that with paddle reactors I used much less pressurised CO2. However, the biggest factor in efficient CO2 I have found is to make sure the water hardness is lowered to below 10 KH, my tap water is nearly twice this reading. For carpet plants I have always had to use a lot of light intensity, high punch e.g. 50 watts of LED at less than 2 feet 6 inches from the substrate, I know that lots of aquarists use less light. Lots of bright light, CO2, some low level nitrate, some added iron and perhaps potassium and I can grow almost anything. According to the books my speed of plant growth is always towards the max., that way less algae on old leaves. Plants, especially true aquatic plants must have surely evolved to cope with CO2 and other nutrients at what seem like very low doses to us? Still, I don't claim to know or be able to experiment to test your bubble idea.
I don't know how efficient this is, but I inject CO2 by putting the output into the intake of the internal power filters I commonly use in my tanks. Easy and not nearly as prone to failing as diffusers (I have not tried atomizers or reactors, but diffusers never worked well with my yeast reactors...maybe they work better for people with pressurized CO2).
Having kept both CO2 and no CO2 aquariums, I prefer no CO2 and so do the fish. Gets way too overgrown too fast. It's too much work when you have several tanks to maintain.
@@ModMyRide my tank would become so overgrown with plants that the fish had little swimming space left, especially the Corydoras. And my rasboras would just cluster in the the free space available. I had no idea if some fish were still alive because I never saw them. Nearly every week, I was pulling out handful after handful of plant trimmings; it was crazy. I liked that at first until I was basically replanting and rescaping the tank over and over again because of the overgrowth. I've since switched to lower tech setups with mostly slower growing plants like crypts, anubias and java fern. I actually prefer the look of them more and my fish are more active now since they have more room to swim in.
Would the fact that the plants were initially growing with co2 and then had the co2 removed have an affect on the experiment? And what substrate did you use? Is that stratum? Is there potting soil underneath it? If there isn’t potting soil, do you think that would make a difference?
Soil is brightwell, same in both. Initial conditions pre co2 experiment were very similar so I dont think the results from exp. 2 would be impacted too much.
I think also, the experiment began when he removed the CO2 from tank 1, so it may have had a little impact at the beginning, but over time, probably none.
I definitely think so. This experiment was really "What happens when you take c02 away from a c02 injected tank?" not "C02 vs non-C02". Plants need to adapt to new circumstances, and what that usually means, is structures that had adapted to the previous conditions dying off and new growth adapted to the current conditions. Id bet most of this 60 days would be compromised by that transition imo. I suspect if you ran it over a longer period, the tanks would look alot closer and when left tank had more "healthy growth" time - at least that's what my C02 vs no C02 tank experience has taught me.
@@sigh6140 @AQUAPROS Yeah, this experiment tested the response to the removal of CO2, not the effect of CO2. With many plants taking over a month to melt and regrow to adjust to a new tank, 1 month won't get you the true response to lack of CO2. To properly test what Mike is trying to test, you'd have to set up a steady state system and measure the inputs and outputs. If you start with the same thing and change conditions you're just measuring the systems response to changes, not the systems response to different environments. The ideal experiment to measure the difference would be grow 2 tanks for several months, one with CO2 and one without. Keep them trimmed so they have about the same plant mass, and then you compare how much more plant mass is produced in the CO2 tank vs non-CO2 in the same period. The graphs showed that CO2 was not the limiting nutrient and to properly measure how much of an impact the CO2 is having you'd have to do an EI dosing method where everything is dosed in excess. If you want to get real saucy and quantitatively compare rather than just a qualitative comparison you can measure the degassing rate and the injection rate for a mass balance on the CO2 flux and calculate the efficiency of the physical system. Then dry out the steady-state excess plant trimmings and weigh them to measure how much carbon is fixed to get your overall conversion rate from injected CO2 to plant mass and your biological fixation rate. You should even be able to use that to estimate relative PAR in different tanks/lights without a PAR meter.
JUST GOT CO2 LIKE 3 ISH WEEKS AGO I LOVE IT SO FAR THANKS THIS IS PERFECT VIDEO AS THERE ISNT MANY ON UA-cam OF THIS STUFF. AND A LOT ISNT GOOD QUALITY
Great content! Thank you for this. I'd love to see this same experiment done with fertilizers and no fertilizers. I always tell people that having co2 doesnt mean anything unless you have nutrients for the plant to use around the carbon scaffolding. The same is true of high lighting to some degree.... it's the blance of all 3 that produces best
As someone who's only just got CO2 connected up, with the very same glass CO2 drop checker shown here... this was just what I needed to reassure me that I'm doing the right thing. Regardless of where I am with my tanks though, it is suffice to say; amazing, insightful and well put together video. Thank you.
Interesting video. The benefit of the plants consuming even more Nitrate seems like a great reason to get a CO2 system especially if you have lots of fish. I didn’t know it can help that much. Im still new to planted aquariums, i may consider getting a CO2 system after watching this video as my plants grow but always seem to be struggling despite having good light, good substrate, adding liquid fertilizer 😬
When I want nitrate absorbed out of the tank, I add floating plants because they can take co2 from the air and they are very efficient at nitrate absorption
@@arthurheine5631 Also, a pothos with it's roots in the water will grow like gangbusters as it sucks the nitrates out of the water. Not always an option if you have house cats. But if you don't need to worry about pets getting poisoned, pothos are super easy to grow out of an aquarium or filter.
This was very informative. I have dosed CO2 passively in the pass and I could notice the difference between the other tank that was very similar to the dosed tank. I will be getting a CO2 Regulator for my next setup. What information have you gathered from the CO2 Controllers out there? Are they worth it. I noticed you never posted the PH levels of both tank. How much did the CO2 tank PH fluctuated? At any rate I enjoyed watching. I’ve watch you for years, because you are cutting edge. I did the Moons of Endor on round styrofoam balls. The bottom half of the Moons didn’t fair well. I loved it while it lasted. Thank you for sharing. I enjoyed watching.
When Mike busts out the lab coat, ~ish gets real folks...🤣 I’m glad to see this experiment come to its conclusion. This is very interesting. So allow me to propose a hypothetical; I plan on doing a plywood tank (huge 8’x4’) & was considering incorporating it into a home aquaponic system. If this tank were to be heavily planted & CO2 injected, would that increase the nitrate absorption by the tank plants to the point that it would severely limit the available nitrates for the hydroponic filtration of the plant side of things. This is a LONG term plan for a facility that has yet to be built but after following you for the past few years (& others) I’m wondering if this huge tank I plan should not get the heavily planted treatment I intend for it.
Thank you for this expariment, i have a few planted tanks that have been doing "good" (growth rate wise) with out any Co2 in part also cause im not very familiar with setting up and using a Co2 system so i been holding back in getting one. This video explained alot for me about using Co2 and its benefits. Thank you again.
The reason you have trouble detecting phosphate in the water column is because these active clay substrates are very good at adsorbing phosphates, effectively they act as a phosphate scrubber. Therefore you need to dose large quantities (>5 ppm etc) at a time to detect anything in the water. After a few months of (high) dosing, the substrate will saturate and you will start detecting phosphate in the water column. In my experience this kind of scrubbing effect of the substrate can aid the growth of GSA as you are experiencing in these tanks.
How did you get this study approved by the IRB? They keep telling me to "stop wasting their time" and to "respect the resources of the institution" whenever I send in my applications.
@@AquaLady153 Well it won't be funny if I explained it, but IRB= International Review Board, which basically has to approve certain types of studies to keep things safe and ethical. I was joking about how he made this seem like a real experiment by pretending I seriously did the same thing and was treated like an idiot. But it's pretty niche, I guess
Hey bro, I like your technical videos. Can you do a similar video with fertilisers like, one tank with estimated index and one tank with a good fertilisers from tropica or ADA?
Love the video, but your conclusion that the NO3- is coming from the substrate in tank 2 to stimulate growth is wrong IMO. It’s clear to me that the reason the NO3- level was undetectable in tank 2 is because it is being consumed from the water column by the plants.
Cool experiment and great info. I’ve debated on using CO2 but honestly haven’t tackled it because I’m afraid it’s too complex. How about a “CO2 for beginners” video?
Of course you need iron for all plant growth, but the main determining factor to bring out redness is = appropriate iron concentration + low nitrogen concentration. Considering your results this is exactly on par with expectations if that substrate is still a source of iron
Wow that was an interesting experiment. I'm trying plants for the first time, and using fertilizers. I wonder what way is more cost effective. Keep the great lessons coming.🐟🌿👍😄
I really want to do a planted tank but I don't really know where to start or how to start . I have 2 tanks but neither is planted and 1 is just a smaller quarantine tank if I ever get new fish.
Do you think CO2 would have the same effect on the growth rate and thickness of moss, as it's not planted in the substrate and would need to pull all of its nutrients from the water column (assuming you're not dosing anything into the water column)?
@@AQUAPROS Might be a cool idea to move the plants around into categories in the tank. One for stems, another for moss, another for plants like buce, another for grasses (vals), etc. You'd have an easier time comparing side by side, and less chances that some tall stems block all the light to your short plants
If you had started from cuttings in both tanks? It would have been even more lopsided..with probably some stem cuttings melting..while Co2 all root and grow. I gave up on expecting great growth out of the many plants that Co2 specialists enjoy as they instead, just sit in low tech tanks..then rot. I now stick to Anubias,Java fern and moss,Crypts,Swords,Val, and lucky with Bolbitis..but its very touchy in non CO2 Tanks. Mine took 8 months before it began to grow normal. Plus..all mentioned I know have not grown as large as they would on Co2..but look passable. At least,I'm spared pruning every week. YET,i wish I could..😉
Yes it is worth it. The initial cost is quite big but after that its the cheapiest "fertilizer" you can get. No idea whats the cost in other countries but in Poland I fill my tank once per about 7weeks for like 3bucks so go figure...meanwhile I pay 100bucks for 5liters of tropica specialiased although its still a good deal since 5liters lasts for about a year in my case.
@@BioTechproject27 I am aware of mixing the fertilizer on your own. I am not into cutting costs that much. I dont want to go Walter White mode on my aquarium.
This kind of content is what will simultaneously make the least money and be the most valuable.
I don't think you understand the youtube revenue cycle...
Truth! It’s a shame some once great content creators get caught up in views rather than content quality.
@@plantsandfish5512 Well, they got bills to pay you know...
Gave it a like and subscribed after reading that comment one year later ✅
Everyone: More growth!
Me: More work!
Exactly , I don't know why bother to put CO2, it's just more work.
@@airwolfnh Some people like this work cause they sell extra plants to sustain their hobby. Also many people don't use stem plants, which are those that require constant pruning.
And cleaning up all the algae (without co2) can be more work
@@KellyRoberts If u have tons of algae growth ur doing something wrong. My tanks never grow algae and my plants are healthy.
Neons in Tank 2:
Day 20 - Just another day in the woods...
Day 40 Guys... guys??!
Bill Kigathi 😂
I really like when you do experiment videos.
Given the small amount of aquarium focused lab research, and your degree feild; your one of the few content creators I'd trust to design a valid and descent experiment.
Also as a plant and soil scientist, and a small time hobbyist: A+
Keep it up.
Suggestions: a good future experiment might be analysis of the CEC capacity of your substrate.
CEC is a key concept in understanding Agricultural growth, but very few in the hobby seem to know this principle exists; despite being a corner stone of plant growth.
The test is pH dependent though... For pH7 your probably looking at an ammonium acetate, or barium chloride in an acidic pH.
Just an idea, if you're looking at future tests
I love when you bust out the Lab Coat😂
Blog post on this experiment: aquaproshq.com/blogs/aquarium-guides/aquarium-co2-guide
CO2 equipment ► geni.us/KnWPj
use code "aquapros" save 10%
Fritz Clarifier ► geni.us/7P7B
Please do a liquid carbon vs co2 next please! Please!
🦐✔️
the lab coat sells it, i'm on board ;)
You need to talk to Olight about them giving you a decent flashlight lol. The little tiny one I got from them for my pocket edc is brighter than that thing!
I want to know what plant that is on the bottom of the tank
Fascinating stuff. I loved the graphs.
The second one was rivetting huh? 😘
AQUAPROS LOL! Sometimes no data means a lot!
Plants never would have established that well in the first place on the L tank without co2 likely resulting in algae/failure. Love co2! Keep up the work Mike!
I think I like the no co2. Less trimming that i would have to do. Yes I loved planted tanks. But I also having nothing but time. To sit and watch my plants grow. I already have a few different types of plants grow out my ears,lol.
Maybe the CO2 tank isn’t showing nitrates because they’re being taken up out of the water column by the plants that are enabled to grow quicker because of the CO2. Whereas with the non CO2 tank, the plant growth is stunted and as such there is excess nutrient in the water column. This could mean the substrate, while important, isn’t everything?
That was my conclusion 👍
Hobbyist nitrate test kits are also horrifically inaccurate. I wouldnt trust any value they give. Better off in the bin.
@@6RadaR6 the api drip kits work a treat for me if i see green on ammonia usually the fish reflect it
It’s 2023 and this the best vid I can find on co2. Hope the channel is kicking ass still, I will be subscribing
Thanks!
We all love you in that coat , you look 10¹⁰ times cooler ,I loved the series , great work !!
Thanks so much for this video! I’ve been looking for a side by side co2 comparison and have I have only ever found 1 old one. Definitely helpful to me. Would love to see this experiment again, but with different slower growing plants such as Anubis, java fern etc. Thanks man have a great day!
again, absolutely love these kinds of videos, regardless of the limitations (and great job with pointing them out in the first vid), this was still very interesting to see what the c02 did in a relatively straightforward way.
Out of curiosity, not really related, but do you still find the tetras to be pretty happy and still swimming around the tank with the c02? Sometimes i feel like tetras kinda like having the dense foliage but just wondering if you ever felt that way with tetras
Fantastic video. Finally, I got to sit in front of someone who explained the co2 story with raw data and informative conclusions. Thanks for this, great content.
I see a tank that requires a LOT less trimming to keep the scape nice. :-/
Well executed experiment! Thanks for taking the time to do it.
Hello there, i realise that the odds of you reading this is probably pretty small, but i have a couple suggestions for experiements that could be interesting.
It could be interesting to do an experiment with an air pump. I've always been told that adding an airstone to a planted tank, with or without co2 injection would drive co2 out of the water, that seems like a perfect subject for these tanks. Running them both with co2, and one with an airstone. I'd also think it would be interesting to run the experiment again with no co2 injection in either of the tanks. How would it impact plant growth, and mesurable co2 levels? The same experiment could also be run with no airstone, but with increased surface agitation from just the filter. That should be material for a few videos if you're as curious about the subject as me. Either way, it would be nice to have some semi scientific results to refer back to, whenever i see someone arguing about it.
I also think that there are a lot of potential tests for lighting, such as length of the photoperiod in relation to algae, strength of the lighting in relation to algae and fertilization and co2 injection, plants reaction to different color spectrums, etc. There is also a lot of potential for testing different filter media, as well as filter sizes and what type of media (sponge, ceramic, gravel/rock etc), as well as different brands, and how much of it, you use.
In short, i think this is a brilliant idea, i love these experiment tanks! I would also like to see a third tank added for control. :) In fact how about a whole setup more so you can run multiple experiments at once. XD Heck, how about 2 more testing setups, this could go far! :)
Anyway, i hope you read this, and take some of it to heart.
Kind regards from Denmark.
Not sure I want my plants growing that fast or full, but the difference is evident for those who do. The Fritz Clarifier is insanely great stuff!
Love this sort of experiment mate, well done!
Love your vids bro. Haven't seen enough from you lately
Thanks :)
Interesting experiment man. You should try comparing "liquid CO2" to no-CO2
It is liquid carbon
@@Ryan-xv3kc That's not entirely true... liquid co2 is not what causes plant melt, most liquid co2 do however contain glutaraldehyde and that is known to be sensitive to vals and anarcharis. With that said liquid co2 is used for plant nutrition not for algae control. Algae control is in itself a by product.
@@Ryan-xv3kc Suppliers have 2 ways of growing plants. Either out of water or under water. You normally get plant melt if you submerge brought plants that have been grown out of water by the supplier. Melting is normally just the plant adapting.
Excellent! This should show lots of people how C02 helps with plant growth and an example of how much plants spurred on with growth with co2 consumes nutrients.
Hmmm… I thought I left a comment in this one cause this was a very cool experiment & I was waiting for the followup for what felt like forever.
I appreciate the time you put into this brother. Don’t ever feel you work was ever in vain in any way. ✊🏾
I have a few tanks that have CO2. I also found out do not go cheap on the regulator cause they will not last. Liked.
Great illustration!
I've definitely enjoyed this series! Mike is so funny and has so much personality! He makes science fun 😁👍 I have just started getting plants to grow in my own aquarium (low light) now I am interested in trying CO2 . I would like to increase my skill level a and try different plants! For now, I have everything growing beautifully, But I have that kind of mind that I want to experiment too!!😁 I really enjoyed the time lapse and the graphs, that was cool!! Thanks for sharing I really enjoyed the video! I hope you all have a very blessed day!!🙏💞🌱🐟🌱💯
Def go co2 you wont regret it. Really helps control algae, and you can use much higher light levels
All you need now is a white coat 😂
@@Daniel-my3hv 😂🤣😂🤣
Love the series dude.
I'd love to see some good information on efficiency of CO2 injection. I know direct contact of of CO2 bubbles to the plant is an important factor, but is there really a significant difference between a CO2 reactor and using the current diffusion method. Cory is pretty disdainful about different types of diffusion methods, essentially saying that they're all the same. I'd love to be able to see support or not for that
In my experience diffusion can be very wasteful, reactors with paddles and spirals with 'bell jars' have for me required less input of gas to achieve 30 ppm than those that just rely upon a ceramic disc creating so called micro bubbles.
@@williammcdowell6257 Certainly, but there have been studies that show direct contact on the plants with CO2 bubbles has a significant increase in growth (since that one tiny section is getting exposed to 100% CO2 as opposed to the 0.003% that you get with 30 ppm saturation) so there's some ambiguity as to what is actually most effective in terms of plant growth in relation to the inefficiency of CO2 vented to the atmosphere and whether that inefficiency might be worth it if it yields significantly better growth
@@christopherfassett9973 Interesting point which had never before occurred to me. Not at all sure that this would be easy to test. What I can say is that for a three foot, four tank, and five foot tank, I've found it much easier to hit the 30 ppm using a solenoid/timer controlled pressured system and a back up 24 hour per day yeast system, but also that with paddle reactors I used much less pressurised CO2. However, the biggest factor in efficient CO2 I have found is to make sure the water hardness is lowered to below 10 KH, my tap water is nearly twice this reading. For carpet plants I have always had to use a lot of light intensity, high punch e.g. 50 watts of LED at less than 2 feet 6 inches from the substrate, I know that lots of aquarists use less light. Lots of bright light, CO2, some low level nitrate, some added iron and perhaps potassium and I can grow almost anything. According to the books my speed of plant growth is always towards the max., that way less algae on old leaves. Plants, especially true aquatic plants must have surely evolved to cope with CO2 and other nutrients at what seem like very low doses to us? Still, I don't claim to know or be able to experiment to test your bubble idea.
I don't know how efficient this is, but I inject CO2 by putting the output into the intake of the internal power filters I commonly use in my tanks. Easy and not nearly as prone to failing as diffusers (I have not tried atomizers or reactors, but diffusers never worked well with my yeast reactors...maybe they work better for people with pressurized CO2).
Having kept both CO2 and no CO2 aquariums, I prefer no CO2 and so do the fish. Gets way too overgrown too fast. It's too much work when you have several tanks to maintain.
What makes you say the fish also prefer no CO2 🤔
@@ModMyRide my tank would become so overgrown with plants that the fish had little swimming space left, especially the Corydoras. And my rasboras would just cluster in the the free space available. I had no idea if some fish were still alive because I never saw them. Nearly every week, I was pulling out handful after handful of plant trimmings; it was crazy. I liked that at first until I was basically replanting and rescaping the tank over and over again because of the overgrowth. I've since switched to lower tech setups with mostly slower growing plants like crypts, anubias and java fern. I actually prefer the look of them more and my fish are more active now since they have more room to swim in.
@@maxverafrank7061u added carbon liquid or somthing? My criptocoryne ar bad whitout co2 or carbon
BOTH OF THESE TANKS ARE GORGEOUS THO AM I RIGHT?
Really like this format! Please do more!
Would the fact that the plants were initially growing with co2 and then had the co2 removed have an affect on the experiment?
And what substrate did you use? Is that stratum? Is there potting soil underneath it? If there isn’t potting soil, do you think that would make a difference?
I feel like that could have definitely had an impact. Perhaps should be redone differently
Soil is brightwell, same in both. Initial conditions pre co2 experiment were very similar so I dont think the results from exp. 2 would be impacted too much.
I think also, the experiment began when he removed the CO2 from tank 1, so it may have had a little impact at the beginning, but over time, probably none.
I definitely think so. This experiment was really "What happens when you take c02 away from a c02 injected tank?" not "C02 vs non-C02". Plants need to adapt to new circumstances, and what that usually means, is structures that had adapted to the previous conditions dying off and new growth adapted to the current conditions. Id bet most of this 60 days would be compromised by that transition imo. I suspect if you ran it over a longer period, the tanks would look alot closer and when left tank had more "healthy growth" time - at least that's what my C02 vs no C02 tank experience has taught me.
@@sigh6140 @AQUAPROS Yeah, this experiment tested the response to the removal of CO2, not the effect of CO2. With many plants taking over a month to melt and regrow to adjust to a new tank, 1 month won't get you the true response to lack of CO2. To properly test what Mike is trying to test, you'd have to set up a steady state system and measure the inputs and outputs. If you start with the same thing and change conditions you're just measuring the systems response to changes, not the systems response to different environments.
The ideal experiment to measure the difference would be grow 2 tanks for several months, one with CO2 and one without. Keep them trimmed so they have about the same plant mass, and then you compare how much more plant mass is produced in the CO2 tank vs non-CO2 in the same period. The graphs showed that CO2 was not the limiting nutrient and to properly measure how much of an impact the CO2 is having you'd have to do an EI dosing method where everything is dosed in excess. If you want to get real saucy and quantitatively compare rather than just a qualitative comparison you can measure the degassing rate and the injection rate for a mass balance on the CO2 flux and calculate the efficiency of the physical system. Then dry out the steady-state excess plant trimmings and weigh them to measure how much carbon is fixed to get your overall conversion rate from injected CO2 to plant mass and your biological fixation rate. You should even be able to use that to estimate relative PAR in different tanks/lights without a PAR meter.
Love this series! Keep it coming 😁
You have to appreciate the effort on this video! Very great educational video!
I really liked this video, we need more comparison videos like this
Excellent content brother!
This'll help a lot of people new to the hobby such as me.thanks Mike
Can you do an experiment with the Walstad method?
Would be a fun comparison
Such a great video, this video deserve way more views.
What is the full plant list?
Check the first exp. Vid, i list em in that one 👍
JUST GOT CO2 LIKE 3 ISH WEEKS AGO I LOVE IT SO FAR THANKS THIS IS PERFECT VIDEO AS THERE ISNT MANY ON UA-cam OF THIS STUFF. AND A LOT ISNT GOOD QUALITY
Great content! Thank you for this. I'd love to see this same experiment done with fertilizers and no fertilizers. I always tell people that having co2 doesnt mean anything unless you have nutrients for the plant to use around the carbon scaffolding. The same is true of high lighting to some degree.... it's the blance of all 3 that produces best
Great video! Idea though, maybe do a liquid co2 vs pressurized in the future?
Great job. Huge respect ✊🏻
love the side by side comparison
As someone who's only just got CO2 connected up, with the very same glass CO2 drop checker shown here... this was just what I needed to reassure me that I'm doing the right thing. Regardless of where I am with my tanks though, it is suffice to say; amazing, insightful and well put together video. Thank you.
Interesting video. The benefit of the plants consuming even more Nitrate seems like a great reason to get a CO2 system especially if you have lots of fish. I didn’t know it can help that much.
Im still new to planted aquariums, i may consider getting a CO2 system after watching this video as my plants grow but always seem to be struggling despite having good light, good substrate, adding liquid fertilizer 😬
Double check the PAR rating of your light first
When I want nitrate absorbed out of the tank, I add floating plants because they can take co2 from the air and they are very efficient at nitrate absorption
@@arthurheine5631 Also, a pothos with it's roots in the water will grow like gangbusters as it sucks the nitrates out of the water. Not always an option if you have house cats. But if you don't need to worry about pets getting poisoned, pothos are super easy to grow out of an aquarium or filter.
Does full spectrum lighting make a massive impact?
What is the light used? perhaps I missed it....
This was very informative. I have dosed CO2 passively in the pass and I could notice the difference between the other tank that was very similar to the dosed tank. I will be getting a CO2 Regulator for my next setup. What information have you gathered from the CO2 Controllers out there? Are they worth it. I noticed you never posted the PH levels of both tank. How much did the CO2 tank PH fluctuated? At any rate I enjoyed watching. I’ve watch you for years, because you are cutting edge. I did the Moons of Endor on round styrofoam balls. The bottom half of the Moons didn’t fair well. I loved it while it lasted. Thank you for sharing. I enjoyed watching.
I would love to see a test of the effectiveness of various filter media.
awesome experiment, how much does a basic co2 setup cost tho
Please try an experiment on passive co2 diffusion
When Mike busts out the lab coat, ~ish gets real folks...🤣
I’m glad to see this experiment come to its conclusion. This is very interesting. So allow me to propose a hypothetical; I plan on doing a plywood tank (huge 8’x4’) & was considering incorporating it into a home aquaponic system. If this tank were to be heavily planted & CO2 injected, would that increase the nitrate absorption by the tank plants to the point that it would severely limit the available nitrates for the hydroponic filtration of the plant side of things. This is a LONG term plan for a facility that has yet to be built but after following you for the past few years (& others) I’m wondering if this huge tank I plan should not get the heavily planted treatment I intend for it.
Cool experiment!
Thank you for this expariment, i have a few planted tanks that have been doing "good" (growth rate wise) with out any Co2 in part also cause im not very familiar with setting up and using a Co2 system so i been holding back in getting one.
This video explained alot for me about using Co2 and its benefits.
Thank you again.
The reason you have trouble detecting phosphate in the water column is because these active clay substrates are very good at adsorbing phosphates, effectively they act as a phosphate scrubber. Therefore you need to dose large quantities (>5 ppm etc) at a time to detect anything in the water. After a few months of (high) dosing, the substrate will saturate and you will start detecting phosphate in the water column. In my experience this kind of scrubbing effect of the substrate can aid the growth of GSA as you are experiencing in these tanks.
How did you get this study approved by the IRB? They keep telling me to "stop wasting their time" and to "respect the resources of the institution" whenever I send in my applications.
?
@@AquaLady153 Well it won't be funny if I explained it, but IRB= International Review Board, which basically has to approve certain types of studies to keep things safe and ethical. I was joking about how he made this seem like a real experiment by pretending I seriously did the same thing and was treated like an idiot.
But it's pretty niche, I guess
Less bonsai trees, more lab coat experiments! Great video.
Hey bro, I like your technical videos. Can you do a similar video with fertilisers like, one tank with estimated index and one tank with a good fertilisers from tropica or ADA?
can i get a list of plants in these tanks? i dont see the blog post mentioned
Do you still put use plant fertiliser with co2 diffuser
Had cloudiness not too long ago. And used a tank starter or kickstarter bio fluid. And I could not help be how well that worked.
What would happen if I put Co2 in my tank to make my plants a rich red, then take the Co2 out, would the plants still have the keep the rich red?
Can you keep the CO2 pumping in the water during the night time
Love the video, but your conclusion that the NO3- is coming from the substrate in tank 2 to stimulate growth is wrong IMO. It’s clear to me that the reason the NO3- level was undetectable in tank 2 is because it is being consumed from the water column by the plants.
I want to put co2 tablets in a glass with water and put it in my plant cloner done, would the c02 defuse into the dome? Kind regards Elliott
did you put fertilizer??
Do u have an episode on planting monte carlo
Where did you get the potted plants from??
Cool experiment and great info. I’ve debated on using CO2 but honestly haven’t tackled it because I’m afraid it’s too complex. How about a “CO2 for beginners” video?
Of course you need iron for all plant growth, but the main determining factor to bring out redness is = appropriate iron concentration + low nitrogen concentration. Considering your results this is exactly on par with expectations if that substrate is still a source of iron
The lab suit is back... yaaaaaaaas!!!
What’s the substrate you recommend?
I use Fluval stratum it grows plants well but lowers pH
Wow that was an interesting experiment. I'm trying plants for the first time, and using fertilizers. I wonder what way is more cost effective. Keep the great lessons coming.🐟🌿👍😄
Super helpful, thanx muchly
Nice comparison, thanks for share ur experiment and knownledge
I really want to do a planted tank but I don't really know where to start or how to start . I have 2 tanks but neither is planted and 1 is just a smaller quarantine tank if I ever get new fish.
I would never ever have a tank with no or few plants. Thats just sad to watch at imho.
What light are you using?
Its an old finnex 24/7 SE
Awesome experiment ❤️. But i dont understand why there were steps in tank 1's graph.
Do the plants consume the amonia before the bacteria, therefore little nitrates? Or do the plants feed on the nitrates that keep them low?
Very good question, i dont think anyone knows, id bet its a little of both! 🤷♂️
What substrate did you use?
What substrate is that?
Do you think CO2 would have the same effect on the growth rate and thickness of moss, as it's not planted in the substrate and would need to pull all of its nutrients from the water column (assuming you're not dosing anything into the water column)?
Ya thats a great question, I think CO2 help just about every plant in your tank, I think an experiment is def needed to find out!
@@AQUAPROS Might be a cool idea to move the plants around into categories in the tank. One for stems, another for moss, another for plants like buce, another for grasses (vals), etc. You'd have an easier time comparing side by side, and less chances that some tall stems block all the light to your short plants
@@AQUAPROS No doubt..Java? maybe not..others like Christmas? Just slow as glaciers.
Hi Mike, Can you do a side by side test of CO2 and Liquid CO2? If anyone is going to do this right, its you! Thanks!
🤔🤔🤔🥰
How long does a tank of Co2 last?
What size of tank? Paintball will last for a couple months, 5lb big boys will last 6 mo+
@@AQUAPROS I'm using a 5 gallon tank for my betta.
@@alfredoghost2306 good to know I tried growing the same plant he uses in my tree but it died really fast without the Co2.
@@AQUAPROS I have an old 3' brass fire extinguisher. Now a plant stand..could that be converted?
Thanks for the great help
If you had started from cuttings in both tanks? It would have been even more lopsided..with probably some stem cuttings melting..while Co2 all root and grow.
I gave up on expecting great growth out of the many plants that Co2 specialists enjoy as they instead, just sit in low tech tanks..then rot.
I now stick to Anubias,Java fern and moss,Crypts,Swords,Val, and lucky with Bolbitis..but its very touchy in non CO2 Tanks. Mine took 8 months before it began to grow normal. Plus..all mentioned I know have not grown as large as they would on Co2..but look passable.
At least,I'm spared pruning every week. YET,i wish I could..😉
what light is this and the size?
dumb question. so should i remove the air-stones i have going if i want plants
we need more experiment videos... please
Thank you very much for this experiment ❤️❤️
I wonder if the plant is redder because it's closer to the light?
What kind of carpet plants are you using?
S.repens
What plant is the red one ?
Please please please. Do a experiment on CO2 Tablets
Yes it is worth it. The initial cost is quite big but after that its the cheapiest "fertilizer" you can get. No idea whats the cost in other countries but in Poland I fill my tank once per about 7weeks for like 3bucks so go figure...meanwhile I pay 100bucks for 5liters of tropica specialiased although its still a good deal since 5liters lasts for about a year in my case.
buy the original chemicals and it will last you longer for less
@@BioTechproject27 I am aware of mixing the fertilizer on your own. I am not into cutting costs that much. I dont want to go Walter White mode on my aquarium.
Nice, the lab coats back!
Can you share names of the plants? I am planning to setup a non CO2 aquarium.