Indoor plants and your reef aquarium

[Logzor]

I have read that carbon dioxide levels in your homes air can effect the health of your aquarium.

I have also read that having lots of plants can increase indoor air quality by 80%.

Does anyone have any data to support that having lots of house plants near an aquarium can be beneficial?

 

[S_Stoney_S]

during the day yes the plants will photosynthesize and produce Oxygen as a product of this.

However during the night when plants respire (like us) they will use Oxygen and give off CO2.

So if you take the plants outside each night its fine

 

[Logzor]

Hmm. I was under the impression that plans put more oxygen in than they take out.

I was mainly trying to get at a relationship between indoor air quality and reef aquariums.

Sometimes you read that in indoor quality of peoples air is 4x worse than it is outside.

Any thoughts as to plants aiding the filtration of air and benefiting reef tanks?

 

[LockeOak]

The net result is an increase in O2, but they have to respire too. If they're photosynthetically active the net result should be more oxygen production than consumption. For the record I have several houseplants in my room with the tanks, including one floor plant that's pretty large. I don't have any data to back it up (I just like having plants in my room) but it may help slightly. They may also help with the aquarium smell, for some reason some people don't like it very much .

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Unless you have extremely heavy plant growth, the effect of plants in your home is minimal, and does not solve low tank pH problems.

Think of it this way: The carbon dioxide that you breathe out comes from breakdown of the food that you eat. Unless the plants add as much biomass each day as you eat, you cannot expect them to sequester more CO2 than you breath out. Maybe in a true greenhouse, but not otherwise.

Add gas cooking appliances on top of it, and it is near hopeless to control CO2 in the home short of bringing in fresh air.

In the tank, limewater is the best way to consume excess CO2.

This article has more:

Low pH: Causes and Cures
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.htm

 

[Logzor]

After doing some research I found that plants are best at taking out toxic chemicals from in-home air rather than replenishing oxygen levels (NASA study).

I imagine this would be helpful in new homes that have high levels of products that are off-gassing.

 

[B.C.theReefer]

I have several plants around my aquarium. My aquarium is also in front of a window and have the air intake from my skimmer coming in the window from outside. So I'm not really worried about CO2 levels. But the plants do seem to help keep the air fresh. Almost like an air purifier. Just my opinion though. No real proof to back it up. And I just like the way they look.

 

[Logzor]

I live in an apartment so I do not have a lot of window space. I have all my plants crammed into this wall-o-plants in my front window across from the aquarium.

The apartment is no more than 600 sq.ft. and I have about 6 large plants and 4 small plants that consume a 5x4 ft window.

I think it makes the air a bit more fresh, as far as helping my tank out, too difficult to say.

 

[painkiller1009]

Maybe set up a grow room with all the old halide set ups u have laying around. This can also help to offset the cost of the tank, and help with the smell of the tank. If ya like that skunky smell.