# Soda water in planted tank?



## sean117Ply (Jun 28, 2009)

It may sound stupid but would it work? It's only water with Co2 already added? So would it aid in adding co2 to the water in the aquarium?


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Plants need a slow and constant source of CO2. Adding carbonated water as a CO2 source would drastically lower* the pH and the CO2 would likely just be released into the air within a few hours.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

THe overall cost would be expensive too.


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

This has been asked before.... Soda water isn't actually that high in co2, to start. The co2 will always escape very quickly, too. 

_Though I don't think it would raise the pH at all.... Carbonated water is just water plus co2. So I am not seeing any way it would raise pH and it would "hypothetically" lower pH because of the co2. _

Carbonated water does not contain "carbonates" like calcium any more than the source water they are using. I've read that some facilities might use sodium bicarb to balance to a pH of 7, but when researching at a few bottles, I don't see this(and they'd say). Water and carbon dioxide are what make up carbonated soda water. 

To get any noticeable effect from this, it would require a constant stream of it and a constant overflow from the tank........


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

OverStocked said:


> _Though I don't think it would raise the pH at all.... Carbonated water is just water plus co2. So I am not seeing any way it would raise pH and it would "hypothetically" lower pH because of the co2. _


OOPS, sorry-- i meant lower. I'm obviously half asleep right now.
Corrected...


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

I doubt it would lower the pH much more than co2 injection. Think of it this way, we lower the pH with co2 all the time. It isn't even relevant. 

Now, you are adding neutral water that has co2 added to it, to your tank. So really, you're adding even less co2 than you'd be doing with a pressurized co2 system.


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## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

*WAIT!!! This is, in fact, how Takashi Amano first discovered the effects of CO2 on planted tanks! I read it in one of his books, can't remember which... 

But, he was out one night at a bar with a friend and saw some soda bottle water behind the bar; he bought three, if I remember correctly. It had (I thinks) 2%, maybe 3% NaCl, so he was very careful and did water changes accordingly, but he dumped the three bottles in one of his tanks and he saw pearling very quickly.

He even said that had he not discovered this method, he would have given up on this hobby a long time ago!*


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

Geniusdudekiran said:


> *WAIT!!! This is, in fact, how Takashi Amano first discovered the effects of CO2 on planted tanks! I read it in one of his books, can't remember which...
> 
> But, he was out one night at a bar with a friend and saw some soda bottle water behind the bar; he bought three, if I remember correctly. It had (I thinks) 2%, maybe 3% NaCl, so he was very careful and did water changes accordingly, but he dumped the three bottles in one of his tanks and he saw pearling very quickly.
> 
> He even said that had he not discovered this method, he would have given up on this hobby a long time ago!*


*BUT WAIT!*

This does not mean it is a long term solution in any way.... In fact, the bouncing co2 levels would cause more problems than benefits. 

No need to bold whole posts....


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## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

I know... I was just saying that that's what actually inspired Amano to keep going and start more beautiful and start his own wonderfully overpriced  company. Just a rudimentary solution. But he claimed to have it just right as to make plants pearl.but yeast co2 would probably work the same, if not not better...

PS I meant to bold just the "wait!" part, but realized afterwards and had to take off for school lol!


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## SeerKing (Jan 19, 2018)

Idk about anyone else but I put some tubing sealed with hot glue in a kombucha bottle cap and put cheap ice mountain carbonated water into the old kombutcha bottle leaving an inch for the gas space. And put a cheap diffuser on the end of the tube and place it in my 40g breeder. And it works for me. I have enough pressure too it’s not weak. The bottles are bigger bottles 32oz or larger I think and cost me 72 cents a bottle. Lasts about 2-3 days I think. Any way you don’t need to run co2 24/7 plants produce it naturally. All putting co2 in the tank will do is boost co2 levels and give the plants a little kick. Really having proper lighting and substrate and aration for oxygen is going to do a whole lot more than co2 will. Co2 generators are more like putting the cherry on to of the icing. You already have the sweet spot with icing aka, hp full spectrum lighting and nutrient rich substrate. The cherry is jut a finisher. For me dosing the plants with my diy carbonated ice mountain water bottles works!


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

SeerKing said:


> All putting co2 in the tank will do is boost co2 levels and give the plants a little kick. Really having proper lighting and substrate and aration for oxygen is going to do a whole lot more than co2 will. Co2 generators are more like putting the cherry on to of the icing. You already have the sweet spot with icing aka, hp full spectrum lighting and nutrient rich substrate. The cherry is jut a finisher. For me dosing the plants with my diy carbonated ice mountain water bottles works!


I disagree. 

CO2 is a necessity when you have high levels of light. Without CO2, you will only be encouraging algal growth.


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## SeerKing (Jan 19, 2018)

Darkblade48 said:


> SeerKing said:
> 
> 
> > All putting co2 in the tank will do is boost co2 levels and give the plants a little kick. Really having proper lighting and substrate and aration for oxygen is going to do a whole lot more than co2 will. Co2 generators are more like putting the cherry on to of the icing. You already have the sweet spot with icing aka, hp full spectrum lighting and nutrient rich substrate. The cherry is jut a finisher. For me dosing the plants with my diy carbonated ice mountain water bottles works!
> ...


I too disagree on your statement. And want to educate you a little. I have a Fluval Fresh and Plant 2.0 on my 40g breeder which I have on a timer from 1pm to 10pm. That’s on 10 hours a day daily. It’s on max strength and reaches the bottom of the tank with a really high par reading. I haven’t been dosing with co2 on this tank till a couple weeks ago and have had this tank up and running for about a year exact. It’s a heavily planted tank, and medium stocked tank with fish. And I have never had what they call an algae outbreak. Ever! Matter of fact I’m quite disappointed because I feel I don’t get enough algae for my tank. I’m not one of those newbs that hears everyone else complain about algae and then think it must be a bad horrible thing. I’ve been into fish keeping since I was a little boy with my father that was an old school hobbiest at it. Anyway. Algae is one of the major components and healthiest things for our tanks. It grows naturally in all bodies of water and is a must for a natural healthy complete self sustaining eco system. Algae is also a primary food source for both fish and micro organisms. Algae also keeps the water parameters stable and naturally self sustaining. Without algae our tanks and any body of water with live stock including fish type and plant type live stock and micro organisms live stock will reek havoc. And the eco system will crash. So when I see ppl always trying to destroy algae in there tanks i laugh because it’s like watching a child do something stupid. No offense I’m not calling anyone a child but trying to explain that most people are ignorant on the topic of algae growth. It’s a must. Have you ever seen under water in any pond, lake, even river? It’s filled with algae. Growing on rocks, sand, dirt, leaves plants, drift wood. You can’t have a stable healthy eco system/ environment without algae. It’s just impossible. The healthiest of eco systems have lots of algae. 
Anyway back to what we were talking about, I’ve always had very stable water parameters along with high intensity,full spectrum, high par lighting on 10 hours a day and never had an algae outbreak. I have some green algae’s and some hair green hair algae’s which from my experience is the best kind of algae’s but nothing that makes you cringe. I only began adding co2 for the extra kick of bloom for my plants. In the wild no body of water with a live eco system has a co2 system. But all bodies of water have algae. So with all do respect do some more research and don’t follow the hype.

I’m also not saying it’s the best co2 solution but if you don’t have the money to send $$$ hundreds of dollars at once on a co2 system but you definitely want co2 you could go my diy route it’s fast simple and for smaller tanks will work. Yeast and baking soda will work too just the pressure will be really low from my experience.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

SeerKing said:


> I too disagree on your statement. And want to educate you a little. I have a Fluval Fresh and Plant 2.0 on my 40g breeder which I have on a timer from 1pm to 10pm. That’s on 10 hours a day daily. It’s on max strength and reaches the bottom of the tank with a really high par reading. I haven’t been dosing with co2 on this tank till a couple weeks ago and have had this tank up and running for about a year exact. It’s a heavily planted tank, and medium stocked tank with fish. And I have never had what they call an algae outbreak. Ever! Matter of fact I’m quite disappointed because I feel I don’t get enough algae for my tank. I’m not one of those newbs that hears everyone else complain about algae and then think it must be a bad horrible thing. I’ve been into fish keeping since I was a little boy with my father that was an old school hobbiest at it. Anyway. Algae is one of the major components and healthiest things for our tanks. It grows naturally in all bodies of water and is a must for a natural healthy complete self sustaining eco system. Algae is also a primary food source for both fish and micro organisms. Algae also keeps the water parameters stable and naturally self sustaining. Without algae our tanks and any body of water with live stock including fish type and plant type live stock and micro organisms live stock will reek havoc. And the eco system will crash. So when I see ppl always trying to destroy algae in there tanks i laugh because it’s like watching a child do something stupid. No offense I’m not calling anyone a child but trying to explain that most people are ignorant on the topic of algae growth. It’s a must. Have you ever seen under water in any pond, lake, even river? It’s filled with algae. Growing on rocks, sand, dirt, leaves plants, drift wood. You can’t have a stable healthy eco system/ environment without algae. It’s just impossible. The healthiest of eco systems have lots of algae.
> Anyway back to what we were talking about, I’ve always had very stable water parameters along with high intensity,full spectrum, high par lighting on 10 hours a day and never had an algae outbreak. I have some green algae’s and some hair green hair algae’s which from my experience is the best kind of algae’s but nothing that makes you cringe. I only began adding co2 for the extra kick of bloom for my plants. In the wild no body of water with a live eco system has a co2 system. But all bodies of water have algae. So with all do respect do some more research and don’t follow the hype.
> 
> I’m also not saying it’s the best co2 solution but if you don’t have the money to send $$$ hundreds of dollars at once on a co2 system but you definitely want co2 you could go my diy route it’s fast simple and for smaller tanks will work. Yeast and baking soda will work too just the pressure will be really low from my experience.


Ah yes, the point of CO2 is to achieve the balance whereby algae outbreaks (in which I refer to as large, uncontrollable/unsightly growth) is prevented.

Certainly, attempting to sterilize an aquarium so that there is no algae is infeasible. They (aquariums) are living ecosystems, after all.

I am curious what PAR you are getting at the bottom of your aquarium. Could you provide specifications to your aquarium (dimensions) as well as the lighting system you are using? If you have high PAR without CO2 (unsure about whether you have a fertilization regimen or not), it is quite interesting that you have experienced no uncontrollable algae!


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