Chris Ross

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• March 2, 2016, on A Rich Person's Guide to Aquarium Filtration:

  It's mentioned that planted aquariums require less surface agitation however not mentioned is the fact that plants USE oxygen when the lights are out. This is well known and I have first hand experience of this, fish happy during lit hours are at the surface gasping for air once the lights are out. You need to ensure that for a healthy balance of fish/plants you either have a extra aerator running when the lights are off or have significantly more surface agitation 24/7. This however has a knock on if you are dosing CO2 (if you are not running a solenoid to turn it off at night I hope you are not keeping any livestock). I found it best to up the CO2 until it hit optimum levels (30-40ppm) and maintain plenty of surface movement day and night. I have to refill my CO2 a bit more often but my local fire safety center fills them for less than ý10 and has supplied me a few old ones they've acquired for peanuts, end result I have 7 canisters which I get refilled all at once and last ages.