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I've got a 64 litre tank heavily stocked with 15 blackskirt/black neon/glowlight tetras and an Apisto. Filtration is provided by an internal power filter so the only method of getting oxygen into the tank is an air stone or surface disturbance. I have been using a ceramic diffuser to distribute one 2l diy co2 bottle and have a kh of 6 - my ph drops to 6.6 from 7.2 which gives me a co2 level of about 45ppm. I've noticed changes in behaviour of the fish, the apisto doesn't seem phased at all which is strange as I read larger fish show signs of co2 toxicity faster than smaller fish. My tetras on the other hand seem to get lethargic, or act strangely sporadicaly jerking and darting around, the black skirts seem to kind of bob in a 45 degree head up angle. Is this a sign of toxicity? I was concerned about low oxygen levels so I ran an airstone over night and by 10am it had completely gassed off the co2. i was hoping it would maybe lower it slightly. I have angled the output of the filter to ripple the surface as much as possible without breaking the surface. The fish aren't gasping at the surface or anything but I have definately noticed a change in behaviour. Being heavily stocked, is there a way of maximising oxygen without gassing off co2? Or is it a case of lowering the fish load / ditching the co2?
here is a pic of the tank - do you think this amount of plants should produce enough oxygen for the fish?
here is a pic of the tank - do you think this amount of plants should produce enough oxygen for the fish?
