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I'm looking at growing some aquarium grass to entertain my fish. The instructions that I read keep talking about CO2 injection.

Will my aquarium plants grow with out adding CO2? How do I add it?

VividD
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Coomie
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  • The CO2 in the air is enough for plants to grow well ; so you need filtering or aeration to get good contact with air. – blacksmith37 Aug 13 '18 at 20:11

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I have been able to grow many aquarium plants with lots of light and a good substrate. What worked best was an inch thick layer of clean sand. Light is the most common limiting factor.

I suspect the recommendations for CO2 are for an aquarium that is operating at close to capacity where the fish do not produce enough CO2 for the plants to absorb.

VividD
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kevinskio
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  • Wouldn't more fish create more CO2? – Coomie Aug 16 '18 at 02:29
  • @Coomie It's all about balance. Lots of fish, no plants and you have to have a superb filter system to keep the water clean and oxygenated. Lots of plants and no fish works fine but growth will be slow without any nitrogen from the fish. Then there is the tricky area where you have more fish making more nitrogenous waste than the plants can consume. You have to filter the water for nitrates but may still want to charge the plant growth with CO2 – kevinskio Aug 16 '18 at 10:44