CO2 on with lights or before?

You want to get a "base" of CO2 in the water column so that when the lights come on the plants can go right to work converting it.

or just leave it on 24/7 (what I do) if you dont want to fool with it

my diy stays on 24/7/365

Mine comes on at the same time as my lights. I keep meaning to get another timer so it can come on half hour to an hour before, but haven't gotten around to it.

chicken said:

Mine comes on at the same time as my lights. I keep meaning to get another timer so it can come on half hour to an hour before, but haven't gotten around to it.

Click to expand...

How is your plant growth now with the CO2 coming on same time as lights?

Im asking b/c if everything is going well, good plant growth, no algae issues, why change?

I do agree with jmowbray but wonder how much of a difference 30 minutes to an hour would really make?

I've seen this question several times before, and each time there are a number of people who hypothesize that having a "stockpile" of CO2 ready and waiting when the lights come on could only help the plants. I don't, however, remember a single person stating that they have clearly seen a difference, much less providing any real evidence that a 30 minute offset changes a thing.

That being said, it's certainly possible that an offset could help. I can't imagine 30 minutes of CO2 without lighting could hurt much (though I suppose it's possible if you regularly push CO2 to the absolute limit). Until I see some evidence, from some legit side-by-side study, I'm gonna have to call this one a myth, or at best an unconfirmed hypothesis.

CO2 with lights. I don't want 2 more timers.

in my experiance it only takes 10-15 min to saturate the water, also i like giving my plants time to "wakeup", if you turn your lights on when all the leafs are closed they dont just snap open and go to full production at least mine dont.