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What is your lighting and co2 schedule. I know you have to turn on co2 before lights turn on and off before lights off. I have broken schedule of. Lights on for 3hrs Co2 4hrs in the morning and then lights on 5hrs co2 6hrs in the evening. Will that affect the co2 injected and growth of plants? Is it better to just do it straight like 8hrs in the evening. I want to hear your thoughts.

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[Econde]

What is your lighting and co2 schedule. I know you have to turn on co2 before lights turn on and off before lights off. I have broken schedule of. Lights on for 3hrs Co2 4hrs in the morning and then lights on 5hrs co2 6hrs in the evening. Will that affect the co2 injected and growth of plants? Is it better to just do it straight like 8hrs in the evening. I want to hear your thoughts.

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It shouldn't. I have my lights and co2 on timers.

My schedule looks like this :

CO2 3:30 AM-9:30 AM , 3:30 PM-9:30PM
Lights 5:00 AM-10:00 AM , 4:30 PM -10:00PM

You can do straight 8 hours, you can break it up like mine or you can run it 24/7. Some use PH controllers and hook their Co2 up to that, to reach a setpoint.

 

[Mark Fisher]

It shouldn't. I have my lights and co2 on timers.

My schedule looks like this :

CO2 3:30 AM-9:30 AM , 3:30 PM-9:30PM
Lights 5:00 AM-10:00 AM , 4:30 PM -10:00PM

You're aware that you are subjecting your fish to a 17:7 photoperiod? Why?

 

[monkeyruler90]

I like to run my CO2 at the same time my sunrise starts, it has a 90 min ramp cycle so I feel like it works to run them together
The main thing that I try and focus on is paying attention to the drop checker. how quickly does it change colors and what color does it stabilize on? I like mine pretty green/yellow and that means I need to pump up the CO2 without making the fish gasp.

The main thing that is important though is that CO2 is very cheap when you us pressurized and get 20lb containers, I pay about $15 that lasts me about 6-8 months when cranked high. I'd rather be wasteful and have excess CO2 in the water rather than not have enough and see algae take over.

ramp it up and let it run for a while before lights on

 

[Econde]

You're aware that you are subjecting your fish to a 17:7 photoperiod? Why?

Sorry can you please elaborate. It's about 11 hours of lighting. Half is ramp up lighting. I have a break in the middle when I'm not home.

 

[Mark Fisher]

My point is that fish need sleep, too. A 17:7 photoperiod may be a bit stressful for them. How about something a little more moderate, like 12:12? This is the typical photoperiod.

 

[Econde]

My point is that fish need sleep, too. A 17:7 photoperiod may be a bit stressful for them. How about something a little more moderate, like 12:12? This is the typical photoperiod.

Ah I'm not familiar with the light duration ratios/splits. Like I said there's a break in the middle and at night. Fish, shrimp and snails appear to be fine. I'll do some reading on that subject though, so thanks for pointing that out.

 

[bloomtanks]

Sorry can you please elaborate. It's about 11 hours of lighting. Half is ramp up lighting. I have a break in the middle when I'm not home.

That is not the natural day/night cycle most organisms are built for. While it might suit our personal schedules I think it stresses out the inhabitants in the tank.

 

[Econde]

That is not the natural day/night cycle most organisms are built for. While it might suit our personal schedules I think it stresses out the inhabitants in the tank.

But honestly. What's natural about our hobby?? We put aquatic life into a glass cage. Expect everything to thrive and scratch our heads when things don't go our way. I agree with you both that my light schedule is not 'natural'. But neither is our hobby.

 

[bloomtanks]

You are right. I love to provide my tank inhabitants the best conditions I believe in. It’s a personal choice I guess. There’s no absolute right or wrong way.


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[Econde]

You are right. I love to provide my tank inhabitants the best conditions I believe in. It’s a personal choice I guess. There’s no absolute right or wrong way.


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Yea definitely. I need to research more about light cycles. It never crossed my mind til it was brought up in this thread.

 

[W8INLINE]

I run my co2 from 5.30pm to 11.30pm and my lights from 6pm to midnight. The tank is in the basement in my office and there are no windows, so during the day its total darkness unless someone walks in to the room which is rare. The light is a fluval 3.0 and Im running just under 2 bubbles per second. Good plant growth, hairgrass filled in almost fully within a month and never really experienced any major algae. I was thinking of increasing the duration to 8 hours after 2=3 weeks and then maybe 9 or 10, but never touched it...if it aint broke don't fix it kind of thing

 

[[email protected]]

Thanks for sharing your schedules. I was asking because I have my co2 indicator at green to yellow green but I don't see any significant growth in my plants. I have rotala rotondifulia and glosso. I think my expectations were very high as i have setup a lowtech tank with just t5 bulbs and ferts but they grew faster than my high tech tank.

Tank: 7G / 27L 30x30x30
Filtration: hob 300HR/L & skimmer 250H/L
Substrate: Aquasolium
Lights: ONF Nano
On: 7am - 9am
On: 6pm - 10pm total of 6hrs/day
CO2: Sodastream 60L / 400g
Regulator: Fzone FZ-0100
On: 5am-8am
On 4pm- 9pm total (2hrs before lights on 1hr before lights off)
1.0 ph drop

Dosing: seachem (iron, potassium,flourish) DIY Tropica

Another issue i had is that my co2 psi was stable for about 2 weeks and 1 day psi just suddenly started dropping. I'm puzzled as there's no leak. Only thing i can think of is the sudden change of weather and it was in a bit of direct heat though there was curtain. Is it possible because of the heat may have caused the drop down? But yeah i have no luck with my first ever Co2 while my low tech tank is thriving.

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[sally.myers]

This is similar to what i did, thank you for sharing

 

[victorusaconte]

Thanks for sharing your schedules. I was asking because I have my co2 indicator at green to yellow green but I don't see any significant growth in my plants. I have rotala rotondifulia and glosso. I think my expectations were very high as i have setup a lowtech tank with just t5 bulbs and ferts but they grew faster than my high tech tank.

Tank: 7G / 27L 30x30x30
Filtration: hob 300HR/L & skimmer 250H/L
Substrate: Aquasolium
Lights: ONF Nano
On: 7am - 9am
On: 6pm - 10pm total of 6hrs/day
CO2: Sodastream 60L / 400g
Regulator: Fzone FZ-0100
On: 5am-8am
On 4pm- 9pm total (2hrs before lights on 1hr before lights off)
1.0 ph drop

Dosing: seachem (iron, potassium,flourish) DIY Tropica

Another issue i had is that my co2 psi was stable for about 2 weeks and 1 day psi just suddenly started dropping. I'm puzzled as there's no leak. Only thing i can think of is the sudden change of weather and it was in a bit of direct heat though there was curtain. Is it possible because of the heat may have caused the drop down? But yeah i have no luck with my first ever Co2 while my low tech tank is thriving.

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7g tank = compact ecossystem = rapidly changes = hard to maintain

Any changes in air circulation above the tank, heat created by light and other factors can, and will, change the entire chemistry of the water. However, its not a 7 headed snake.

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[DeepAsHadal]

you might keep an eye on your nitrate concentration if you haven't tested it. Reduced pressure can occur as the CO2 is depleted. I DIY CO2 and notice this.

 

[Felipe]

You're aware that you are subjecting your fish to a 17:7 photoperiod? Why?

How did you calculate 17:7? Is that 17 hours on and 7 hours off? Just asking because I'm a bit confused and trying to figure out my photoperiod as well. I counted 11 hours on and 13 hours off. I thought that was okay.

 

[Mark Fisher]

How did you calculate 17:7? Is that 17 hours on and 7 hours off? Just asking because I'm a bit confused and trying to figure out my photoperiod as well. I counted 11 hours on and 13 hours off. I thought that was okay.

I'm assuming his home isn't pitch dark between 10 am and 4:30 pm, so his fish are subject to light for 17 hours and dark for 7 hours.

If it is pitch dark between 10 am and 4:30 pm, then he is subjecting his fish to a 5:6.5:5.5:7 photoperiod, which is probably more stressful than 17:7.

 

[Felipe]

Ah, ok! Thanks. I didn't think of that. I run my light when I get home so I'm on the same boat. I have to cut back or light it up earlier!