[totally_vacant]

I just got my first CO2 system setup last night. It was great to see the CO2 levels go from "bad" to "perfect" in a matter of just a couple of hours. Hopefully the plants will respond as they should!

I have a question about when to run the CO2. Currently I have my lights (approx. 4 watts per gallon) running from 6 to 10 in the morning and again from 5 to 10 in the evening. During the day the tank is quite dark as it is away from any windows.

My question is, should I run the CO2 from 6 AM until 10 PM or should I run it from 6 to 10 and again from 5 to 10?

 

[hoppycalif]

What size tank do you have? You didn't ask this, but 4 watts per gallon is too much light for a standard shape tank bigger than 15-20 gallons. You also didn't ask about your lighting schedule, but plants will most likely do better without the long period of darkness in the middle of their day.

You only need CO2 during the times the lights are on, and to best avoid algae problems you should try to keep the concentration of CO2 in the water at the same level throughout the lights on time and from day to day. So, many of us turn on the CO2 an hour or so before the lights come on, then turn it off a bit before the lights go off.

 

[totally_vacant]

What size tank do you have? You didn't ask this, but 4 watts per gallon is too much light for a standard shape tank bigger than 15-20 gallons. You also didn't ask about your lighting schedule, but plants will most likely do better without the long period of darkness in the middle of their day.

Sorry - I have a 60 gallon tank, but it's a show tank so is very high (24"). I figure the extra light is good to penetrate the extra depth...