# Anyone grow these plants in low tech?(no co2, medium light)



## strangewaters (May 13, 2015)

i think the swords will do fine. most will. i think co2 speeds things up plus youll be giving them alot of light. i just recently read that pygmys dont like a lot of light.....not sure how true that could be since i had an extra light above my pygmys and they been throwing new baby plants out all the time now


----------



## jcmv4792 (Jul 15, 2015)

strangewaters said:


> i think the swords will do fine. most will. i think co2 speeds things up plus youll be giving them alot of light. i just recently read that pygmys dont like a lot of light.....not sure how true that could be since i had an extra light above my pygmys and they been throwing new baby plants out all the time now


Do you use co2 in that tank? I'll be keeping this as low tech as possible(excel instead of co2) for the light I have(planted+)


----------



## strangewaters (May 13, 2015)

I do use a diy co2. But thats not whats going to make them grow better. Its the nutrients and all that good stuff. Co2 is basically candy for plants. The plants will be fine with out it. 

Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk


----------



## keymastr (May 25, 2015)

You can get by without co2 in many cases with good fertilizers and excel but be careful with too much light if you do not have co2. Depending on the depth of the tank a planted+ may be too much without at least DIY co2. You just have to be more careful about how long the lights are on and may have to raise them above the tank to avoid algae.


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

I've grown pygmy chain sword (narrow leaf, micro sword, and mini micro sword in medium light no co2, excel every other day. Soil based tank with cap.
Excel dosed to keep algae at bay.


----------



## BradH (May 15, 2008)

Micro sword lilaeopsis mauritiana will grow good with no co2 or excel.


----------



## jcmv4792 (Jul 15, 2015)

keymastr said:


> You can get by without co2 in many cases with good fertilizers and excel but be careful with too much light if you do not have co2. Depending on the depth of the tank a planted+ may be too much without at least DIY co2. You just have to be more careful about how long the lights are on and may have to raise them above the tank to avoid algae.


I have a 55 gallon(21" tall, about 3 inches of eco complete)


----------



## jcmv4792 (Jul 15, 2015)

So do these plants need at least medium lighting, or would very low light also stimulate growth/ keep them living.


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Pygmy chain sword definitely needs medium light, tried low and lost a good bit of it (same bulb but changed fixtures so cfl went from pointing down vertically to horizontally which 1/2s the par, had to switch back to previous fixture.


----------



## goodbytes (Aug 18, 2014)

I grow Broadleaf Hygro under low light no problem. I had no idea it was considered a higher light plant as it seems to grow faster than almost any other plant I have.


----------



## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

strangewaters said:


> I do use a diy co2. But thats not whats going to make them grow better. Its the nutrients and all that good stuff. Co2 is basically candy for plants. The plants will be fine with out it.
> 
> Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk


CO2 is not basically candy for the plants. It is basically carbohydrates for the plants! Carbon is the most needed of all of the nutrients, since plant mass is made up of carbon more than anything else other than oxygen and hydrogen (water). That carbon comes from CO2 (or Excel).


----------



## strangewaters (May 13, 2015)

Hoppy said:


> CO2 is not basically candy for the plants. It is basically carbohydrates for the plants! Carbon is the most needed of all of the nutrients, since plant mass is made up of carbon more than anything else other than oxygen and hydrogen (water). That carbon comes from CO2 (or Excel).


What is the negative of not introducing co2 other than what it gets from the surface. ?

Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk


----------



## Xiaozhuang (Feb 15, 2012)

strangewaters said:


> What is the negative of not introducing co2 other than what it gets from the surface. ?
> 
> Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk


Plants are about 40% carbon dry mass... For species that can scavenge low levels well, their growth in a low tech tank can be similar to that of a high tech tank, just slower. 

For many other species, CO2 injection doesn't only give faster growth, but better quality growth form & coloration. Thicker stems/leaves, brighter/richer colors, better density.

For example, you'll rarely see a low tech tank with such a color palette or density:


----------



## Oso Polar (Apr 22, 2015)

Light should be balanced with the amount of CO2. If you don't inject CO2 then you'll need to reduce the amount of light (or you risk getting tons of algae).

So, given amount of C02 and light is in balance, usually the only negative (or positive) effect will be slower plant growth (because you'll have less CO2 and less light). Some plants will show red color (a good amount of it) only under high light, so you'll not get it because you'll not have high light. Some plants, require lots of CO2 or/and lots of light just to grow well, so it'll be difficult to grow these at all.

BTW, I don't see it frequently mentioned but it seems that injection of CO2 somewhat reduces light requirements in plants or in general makes them more tolerable of less than ideal conditions (not enough light, too high temperature).


----------

