# plants that intake co2 at night?



## praline3001 (Dec 29, 2014)

In my indoor gardening hobby (non aquatic indoor plants) I know snake plants (Sansevieria trifasciata) and most bromeliads work opposite of other plants. They intake co2 and create oxygen only at night. There are also a few orchids that do this as well.

It is always a good plan to have at least 1 snake plant in your bedroom especially if you suffer from sleep disorders or allergies. Studies have shown 1 adult snake plant can create enough oxygen to sustain an adult in a sealed environment. Pretty cool plant!! Better yet the only thing that will survive a nuclear blast will be roaches and snake plants... and most likely my evil demon gourami. 

My brain storming / point / question being are there aquatic plants that do the same? Have there ever been studies done to test what time of day all aquatic plants take in co2?

I know everyone on here turns off their co2 at night since its common knowledge that aquatic plants don't use the co2 at night. What if there are aquatic plants who do use it? In this a properly done environment could have XX plants taking co2 during the day and YY plants taking in Co2 at night... making sure the 2 types are not competing for the co2. 

On a more "daily keeper" log it would mean running the co2 all the time but maybe on a lower dose?

In my little indoor gardens (and I have many) I will add snake plants as a background as they grow strait and tall but will add plants like peace lilly's in front of the snake plant. The peace lily is one of the best DAYTIME bad air filters and oxygen makers whereas the snake plant works only at night. This keeps my "grouping" from competing. 

Curious if this has been done for aquariums.


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## TropTrea (Jan 10, 2014)

This is an interesting note on the Sansevieria trifasciata. I would love to see some scientific study on how it produces O2 with out light. And how it can servive without a respiration cycle that most plants have in darkness. 

Os far as the C02 goes in tanks I have heard of individuals that control the level through pH sensors since high CO2 levels drop the pH and low CO2 levels can raise the pH. These individuals found that the CO2 would rarely come on at night indicating that there was no need for it. Therefore others timed there CO2 to only come on with there lights.

I remember seeing studies where they monitored the pH of planted aquariums to determine the O2 and CO2 cycle. Yes in every case I saw the CO2 level raised at night when plants went through a respiration period and went down during the daytime when photosynthesis occurred.

My only two thoughts on the Sansevieria trifasciata is that its lighting needs are so low that it is still in the photosynthesis phase in near darkness, or it has found some way of storing the energy from the light to use continue the photosynthesis process into the darkness.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

In water with low free [CO2] a common strategy of submersed plants is to use HCO 3 − , but some *species utilize a C4 photosynthetic system that surprisingly lacks the Kranz dual-cell compartmentation of most terrestrial C4 plants. Instead, the C4 and C3 cycles are in the same cell, with phosphoenolpyruvate *carboxylase (PEPC) and ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase (rubisco) sequestered in the cytosol and chloroplasts, respectively. Malate decarboxylation by NADP malic enzyme (NADP-ME) in the chloroplasts produces a chloroplastic CO2 concentrating mechanism (CCM). It occurs in the *submersed monocots Hydrilla verticillata and Egeria densa (Hydrocharitaceae), and in these species it is facultative because low [CO2] induces a metabolic shift in the leaves from C3 to single-cell C4 photosynthesis. *Submersed leaves of other species also perform single-cell C4 photosynthesis, including Sagittaria *subulata (Alismataceae), the grasses Orcuttia californica and O. viscida (Poaceae), and the sedge *Eleocharis acicularis. A marine macroalga (Udotea flabellum, Chlorophyta) and a diatom (Thalassiosira weissflogii) likewise show evidence of its occurrence, so it is not restricted to higher plants. The change from C3 to C4 photosynthetic gas exchange and pulse-chase characteristics is well documented in Hydrilla, along with enzyme kinetics and localization; high internal [CO2], and improved growth. *Multiple isoforms of PEPC, NADP-ME and pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase (PPDK) exist in Hydrilla and Egeria, but specific forms, including hvpepc4, hvme1 and hvppdk1are up-regulated in the C4 leaves of Hydrilla and encode proteins with C4 photosynthetic characteristics. Interestingly, the photosynthetic hvpepc4 differs from its terrestrial C4 counterparts in lacking a "C4-signature" serine near the carboxy terminus. The C3 leaf must maximize CO2 conductance to rubisco, but as the C4 system is induced, *chloroplast conductance is probably minimized to reduce leakage from the CCM. Further study of the facultative system of Hydrilla could determine if down-regulation of chloroplast-envelope aquaporins is involved in reducing CO2 conductance. Hydrilla and Egeria are in the ancient Hydrocharitaceae *family, and can give insights into early C4 photosynthesis, which likely originated in water prior to its advent on land.

http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-90-481-9407-0_5


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## praline3001 (Dec 29, 2014)

I was doing more reading last night. 
For Sanservieria, its a Crassulacean acid metabolisized plant. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crassulacean_acid_metabolism

If you read through here that wiki helped me in the right direction as there are aquatic plants that do the same: CAM photosynthesis is also found in aquatic species in at least 4 genera, including: Isoetes, Crassula, Littorella, Sagittaria, and possibly Vallisneria,[7] being found in a variety of species e.g. Isoetes howellii.

That is the part I am at now in my reading =)


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## praline3001 (Dec 29, 2014)

I am trying to figure out if/how this can be used in aquatic applications to better my planted tank. 
It would seem CAM photosynthesis is for the same reason I pointed out in my post, competition for co2 causes some plants to intake co2 at night.


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## CowBoYReX (Jan 27, 2014)

Very interesting post, I'm looking forward to read more here and on my own.


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## praline3001 (Dec 29, 2014)

CowBoYReX said:


> Very interesting post, I'm looking forward to read more here and on my own.


Yeah I can't find anything that would make this info work for the hobby just yet. The reason these aquatic plants work at night is because there is a lack of co2 during the day. I am thinking since the co2 is available during the day the plants will just uptake it during the day instead of at night.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

My interest is really plants that don’t need supplemental co2 since I run a number of tanks without adding any. With the addition of co2 most people seem to argue that the plants will revert to using it since it is less taxing on the plant. Very few plants (probably none) will not benefit from supplemental co2.
The natural atmospheric levels of co2 seem to have a peak in the early morning hours and o2 seems to peak in the mid afternoon. Most people are simply mimicking this by using a solenoid to turn the co2 off and on. Some advocate using an air stone at night.


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