# Driftwood instead of soil as the non-CO2 methods



## longlywalker (Dec 17, 2005)

After growing aquatic plants for more than 4 years with Walstad's method, I tore down my tank and started another experiment since February, and this time with driftwood but not bottom soils. It is well known that both bacterial and fungal decays of driftwood decorations in the tank produce CO2, and driftwood indeed plays an important role in the wetland ecosystems. I would like to know if driftwood or wood chips alone will provide enough CO2 to grow aquatic plants. I placed the driftwood or the wood chips in the filter basket instead of in the tank as the decorating materials. This is my non-CO2 tank with driftwood method and EI. In the past 16 weeks, many stem aquarium plants did quite well, as you can see in the picture. Interestingly, I failed to grow difficult plants such as _Rotala macrandra_, _Alternanthera reineckii_ and_ Isoetes taiwanenss_, and _Proserpinaca palustris_ is not so healthy. However in my previous setup with Walstad's method or soils, _Alternanthera reineckii_,_ Isoetes taiwanensis_ and _Proserpinaca palustris_ flourished for years.

My non-CO2 tank with Walstad's mothod:









My non-CO2 tank with driftwood methods:


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## fablau (Feb 7, 2009)

Very nice tanks! And very interesting idea of using just wood chips. Do you use wood chips as substrate also?


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## longlywalker (Dec 17, 2005)

fablau said:


> Very nice tanks! And very interesting idea of using just wood chips. Do you use wood chips as substrate also?


I was by no means the first one came up with the idea of using driftwood or wood chips as the carbon source. The Dutch aquarists did.

I did not use wood chips as substrate or buried them in the substrate. It would be hard to manipulate or trim the plants. The process of wood decomposition produces CO2 that is essential to the plants, and the wood decays much slower in anaerobic environment than those in aerobic environment.

Erich


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Very lovely set ups, and nice of you to share all info (good and bad) from your experiment. Amusingly I set up a sorta Waltsad bubble bowl but spent a few hours sifting the [censor] out of MGOPM to get out all the wood chips >.> guess I should have left some in. But too late now, with shrimp in the bowl, touching substrate is a no-no don't want to risk killing them from gas or soil breaking loose.


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## longlywalker (Dec 17, 2005)

AquaAurora said:


> Very lovely set ups, and nice of you to share all info (good and bad) from your experiment. Amusingly I set up a sorta Waltsad bubble bowl but spent a few hours sifting the [censor] out of MGOPM to get out all the wood chips >.> guess I should have left some in. But too late now, with shrimp in the bowl, touching substrate is a no-no don't want to risk killing them from gas or soil breaking loose.


Never too late. If you are using a filter, whatever type it its, just place the wood chips in the filter. That's it.

Erich


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

longlywalker said:


> Never too late. If you are using a filter, whatever type it its, just place the wood chips in the filter. That's it.
> 
> Erich


shrimp tank so sponge filter, the tiny tube the airline hose goes in won't hold wood chips, air bubbles would push them out.


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## aquarist (Aug 29, 2012)

This is interesting, I will have to do some research on this and see what it's all about.


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## fablau (Feb 7, 2009)

Very interesting indeed, I will try that in the future. Thank you for the clear explanation.


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

Nice tanks. I've experienced some CO2 production from the decomposition of wood chips and bark when I used an unsifted organic potting mix capped with sand as a substrate. It seemed to help the plants for the first year or so but as the organics broke down, the CO2 levels from decomposition began to drop and small pieces of wood started to poke up from the substrate. Your method is better since the wood is easily accessible to the filter. How big is your walstad tank? I think you're limited to small tanks with this method unless you use a large amount of wood chips in your filter.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Best to add CO2 if you want to add CO2. THINK about it. What is required for oxidation of reduced organic matter? O2. 

Best it keep the O2 high, and add the CO2, if that's the goal.

You can do the DIY CO2 thing for a few months, then remove it. 

Same type of thing as a soil sediment. 

Wood rots/oxidizes slower, as does peat.....but then it really does not add much CO2 either..........so.....


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## longlywalker (Dec 17, 2005)

AquaAurora said:


> shrimp tank so sponge filter, the tiny tube the airline hose goes in won't hold wood chips, air bubbles would push them out.


That's too bad. Maybe a small piece of driftwood as hardscape.

Erich


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## longlywalker (Dec 17, 2005)

aquarist said:


> This is interesting, I will have to do some research on this and see what it's all about.


I hope this one would help:
https://ediss.uni-goettingen.de/bitstream/handle/11858/00-1735-0000-0006-B26D-4/kretschmar.pdf?sequence=1

Erich


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## longlywalker (Dec 17, 2005)

Monster Fish said:


> Nice tanks. I've experienced some CO2 production from the decomposition of wood chips and bark when I used an unsifted organic potting mix capped with sand as a substrate. It seemed to help the plants for the first year or so but as the organics broke down, the CO2 levels from decomposition began to drop and small pieces of wood started to poke up from the substrate. Your method is better since the wood is easily accessible to the filter. How big is your walstad tank? I think you're limited to small tanks with this method unless you use a large amount of wood chips in your filter.


Mine is a 40 G tank, a bulb of T5HO 39 watt for the lighting. With the current experiment I would like to figure out to what extent will the driftwood provide CO2 to the plants. I indeed use a large amount of wood chips in the filter, however, _Rotala macrandra _still vanished. 

Erich


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## longlywalker (Dec 17, 2005)

plantbrain said:


> Best to add CO2 if you want to add CO2. THINK about it. What is required for oxidation of reduced organic matter? O2.
> 
> Best it keep the O2 high, and add the CO2, if that's the goal.
> 
> ...


I always believe that pressurized CO2 is the best way to grow plants in the tank. However, I would like to verify that driftwood is also an important source of inorganic carbon in our aquariums. Maybe we should not treat driftwood merely as a hardscape, especially in the low tech tank.

Erich


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## micheljq (Oct 24, 2012)

Hello, did you put a drop checker in the tank or another mean of measuring the co2 in the tank during this experiment?

Did the plants release visible oxygen bubbles?

Thank you for letting people know about this experiment, Michel.


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## Tiger15 (Jan 7, 2018)

This is a 3+ year old thread, so don't expect reply from the OP.

It's an interesting concept, but not new. In terrestrial gardening, it is well known that mulching with fresh wood chips can rob plants of nutrients, as decomposition of organic carbon demands N and P. So using wood chips as a carbon source is not as complete as using soil, requiring supplement of N and P unless fish waste is providing enough.


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## GrampsGrunge (Jun 18, 2012)

This is a nearly 4 year old thread and I don't know if he's still on this forum.

My experiences with Driftwod are mixed. As I was using them for mostly decor and wood fiber and food for a pair of Clown Pekoltias. The fact that Java Fern grew like crazy on them was a plus and that I could source them from the Willamette just a couple miles down a bike path from our house.



















This tank, grew some moderate light plants, in addition to a big Red Ruben Sword, Rotala Mac and Alternanthera reineckii. It's a 45 tall had a combined 24" T12's and a 100 watt, Phosphored Mercury Vapor light with 2 liter DIY CO2 bottle running 24/7


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