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I am thinking about it for a while now. The idea behind doing it is to use CO2 to bring the tank to where you want it to be regarding the aquascape, and then keeping it there (well, almost) instead of having to trim plants on a weekly basis. I'm not a big fan of trimming and I don't like the look of the tank right after trimming as I have to trim a lot or I will have to trim twice a week.

I just wondered if anyone has ever done that and can tell about their experience, or if anyone has any opinion about the consequences of doing it on the plants and tank (except of the obvious pH rise).

Anyone?

Untitled,

Well I understand where you're coming from. The same thing has gone thru my mind. It can be a lot of work.

The only thing I would say is bear in mind Co2 is not just faster growth. There's a lot of improvements in the look and health of the plants. Bigger more lush foliage etc. So you need to bear that in mind. If you can live with that fine. I loved the look of my tank before Co2.

There are other options though. I can't remember what light level you're running. But you can cut back to 2wpg with the co2. This will slow down growth a notch but you still get the benfits of the lush look from co2.

You can space out the trimming. I never do all my trimming in one shot anymore, it would take half a day. Now I will trim one plant today, another later. Maybe 15-20 mins everyday or couple of days.

The other thing I've done is gradually replace the faster growing stem plants with either non- stem or slower growers. After 1 year running the tank is well established and I know how to keep the n=balnce without having to use fast nutrient removers. I 'm using alot more rossette and grassy plants, as well as more things like anubias and apons. These all fill out the tank well but don't need trimming. Slower growing stem plants like Bacopa and Reineckii, Ludwigia also need trimming less then say Hygros or Ambulia.

Might be worth considering these options first.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Bensaf,

I currently have a little bit over 3WPG. I tried cutting down on lights, but the only thing that has happened was that the glossostigma started growing towards the lights within two days.

With the exception of the glosso and stargrass, my other plants are labelled as medium/slow growers. I think my Ludwigia inclinata var. verticillata ("Cuba", which is supposed to be a slow grower, is my fastest growing plant. It just can't get enough, but I love the way it looks so I wouldn't want to replace it. The second fastest growing plant is my Limnophilla aromatica, which is also classified as a slow grower. Both require weekly trimming to stop them from piercing the surface.

I also tried cutting on Tropica's Mastergrow. They say that adding or cutting the 50% of the recommended dose will make plants grow faster/slower. Well, the balance was disturbed and I got algae coming out, so I went back to the original dose.

I'm not going to change anything at the moment as I have added some new plants lately and I'm waiting for them to grow. Maybe I'll manage to improve my pruning skills, but I'll probably think about cutting down CO2 in the future.

Thanks for taking the time to answer.