# Testing API CO2 Booster



## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

I have a 10 gallon tank, with a divider making it two 5 gallon tanks, side by side. I made this modification so I could better test various things, with one of the 5 gallon tank being a "control". See https://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/substrates/145137-saf-t-sorb-vs-pool-filter.html

I'm just about finished with the test I referenced, so now I'm thinking about seeing if I can demonstrate how beneficial (or not) API CO2 Booster (or Seachem Excel) is for growing plants. I am thinking about putting Saf T Sorb in both tanks, no dirt, just the "gravel", with equal lighting on both tanks, and with identical plants in both tanks. I would do a weak version of Estimative Index dosing of NPK and Trace elements. Then one tank would get the manufacturer's recommended 0.5 ml of CO2 Booster every day - maybe 1.0 ml (to be determined). Has anyone seen such a test done by someone else?


----------



## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

I have not seen any such test, but am highly interested in what difference a CO2 supplement (e.g., Excel) makes vs. no supplement. From what I have read in forums, it seems many people dose 2x the recommendation, however?


----------



## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

It’ll be fun to see the result. I’m sure it’ll work but not as well as co2.


----------



## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Hoppy, I nominate you for First Scientist of APC.

Back when I wanted to tinker with things, I tried Excel in some of my Walstad tanks both as carbon supplement and as algaecide. I could never see any significant effect, so your test will be very interesting.


----------



## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

davemonkey said:


> I have not seen any such test, but am highly interested in what difference a CO2 supplement (e.g., Excel) makes vs. no supplement. From what I have read in forums, it seems many people dose 2x the recommendation, however?


When I was using Excel I used 2x dosing, and found it worked great! But, that could have been a placebo effect - if you expect something you do to work, it is easy to see it work. I'm inclined to do this test with 2x dosing, but there may be a good reason not to do so.


----------



## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Michael said:


> Hoppy, I nominate you for First Scientist of APC.
> 
> Back when I wanted to tinker with things, I tried Excel in some of my Walstad tanks both as carbon supplement and as algaecide. I could never see any significant effect, so your test will be very interesting.


Oh, no question, Diana Walstad is "First Scientist"! I would be happy just to be "Scientist".


----------



## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

I got the two tanks planted today. The massive air bubbles are because the cold tap water is warming up to room temperature. Both have had 1 ml of Prime to take care of the chlorine and chloramine in the tap water, and first dose of trace elements. The right hand one got 1 ml of CO2 Booster.


----------



## Weaveman (Dec 13, 2019)

Seeing simple tests like this with variables contolled makes me interested in the outcome and glad to see you doing it. I will be using sts (which I've used mixed with topsoil only in spots in buried plastic pans) for my next project instead of black sand (which I like the look of) after reading your last experiment.


----------



## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

hoppycalif said:


> Oh, no question, Diana Walstad is "First Scientist"! I would be happy just to be "Scientist".


Agreed! Would you accept the title "Mad Scientist"?


----------



## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Michael said:


> Agreed! Would you accept the title "Mad Scientist"?


Maybe "Happy Scientist", or "Ancient Scientist"???


----------



## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Since your avatar is a cartoon of Charles Darwin, I like "Ancient Scientist". For myself, I prefer "elder of the tribe", LOL.


----------



## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

I got my camera to work again today, so here is the two sided tank as of yesterday. Each half has one of the Rotala's from each side of the tank when I was testing STS vs Sand, and one of the hydrocotyl plants from each side of the tank, and a small cutting of another hydrocotyl in my big tank. So, the plants are essentially identical in the two halves of the tank.


----------



## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

It has been about 2 weeks since I started this test. So far I can see no difference in the two tanks. But, the growth of the plants is very slow, so it make take a month before "normal" growth is taking place. Today I added a small cutting of another stem plant in each tank, just in case this particular plant has a different growth rate.


----------



## ukamikazu (Jun 4, 2010)

Question: Have you considered weighing the plants? While apparent growth is the indicator we'd all like there are other forms of growth that indicate a healthy plant like tubers & bulbs increasing in size or lignification of stems all of which are most easily and sensibly measured by weight. Basically, is this plant making starch like it's supposed to?

For planted plants, this is clearly not ideal but for frequently found floating plants like hornwort, anacharis, cabomba or even duckweed, maybe those should be your model organisms?

Just my .02 dollars.


----------



## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

It looks like the stems in the right side of the tank look fuller, maybe even taller, than those on the left.


----------



## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

davemonkey said:


> It looks like the stems in the right side of the tank look fuller, maybe even taller, than those on the left.


Yes, it does look that way. Today I also pruned the tallest growing stem in each tank, and replanting it in the same tank. The differences are within the normal variations in growth of two plants, I think.



ukamikazu said:


> Question: Have you considered weighing the plants? While apparent growth is the indicator we'd all like there are other forms of growth that indicate a healthy plant like tubers & bulbs increasing in size or lignification of stems all of which are most easily and sensibly measured by weight. Basically, is this plant making starch like it's supposed to?
> 
> For planted plants, this is clearly not ideal but for frequently found floating plants like hornwort, anacharis, cabomba or even duckweed, maybe those should be your model organisms?
> 
> Just my .02 dollars.


I could do some weighing of the plants, or better, of the change in weight of the plants for each tank, but that would disturb the growing plants too much. I'm not at all interested in tiny, barely visible differences. If I am going to keep buying CO2 Booster I want to know that the effect of using it is obvious, and more like a 50% difference. Tiny differences can be caused by too many uncontrollable things that they mean nothing to me. For example, even though the plants are cuttings off of one plant, they are still not exactly alike. And, one tank gets a very tiny amount of daylight from a window, while the other doesn't - the light meter shows no difference in PAR readings.


----------



## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

One more week of growth. No question, the CO2 Booster tank, the right hand one, does have slightly more growth, but it isn't an obvious difference from the tank without the CO2 Booster. I think I will let this continue for another month, hoping the differences will become much more obvious.


----------



## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi @hobbycalif,

My experience has been if the limiting factor in my plant growth is a lack of carbon molecules I get good results from using a glutaraldehyde based product like Excel or AP! CO2 Booster. However, if the limiting factor is light or another nutrient (macro, secondary, or micro) then the improvement is marginal at best. I appreciate your thread. -Roy

10 gallon, no CO2 tank but with glut


----------



## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Thank you Roy! I have used Excel or equivalent for several years, and never doubted that it works well. But, this time I had a new bottle of API CO2 Booster, and had decided not to use it unless I had BBA problems, so this seemed like the time to prove that it does work well. It seems like every time I decide to prove something, I am proved to be wrong.

I have EI fert dosing, NPK and traces, on both halves of the tank, and the lighting is about 30 PAR, which is for sure enough, since those plants are growing well for me with about 20-25 PAR.

I'm thinking now about how to use this to prove I owe the IRS a lot of money.


----------



## Yorkie (Sep 8, 2014)

Hi Folks,

I find it very surprising that API name their product 'CO2 Booster'. That doesn't inspire confidence in their product, does it? Do they actually know what CO2 is? Do they not realize that CO2 is a gas unless pressurized? What's in their bottle will be some carbon compound but it's not likely to be carbon dioxide!

Yorkie


----------



## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Yorkie said:


> Hi Folks,
> 
> I find it very surprising that API name their product 'CO2 Booster'. That doesn't inspire confidence in their product, does it? Do they actually know what CO2 is? Do they not realize that CO2 is a gas unless pressurized? What's in their bottle will be some carbon compound but it's not likely to be carbon dioxide!
> 
> Yorkie


Yes, API knows what CO2 is, and that it is a gas. Nothing in their advertising even suggests that there is CO2 in their bottle. They are just copying Seachem's Excel.


----------



## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

hoppycalif said:


> It seems like every time I decide to prove something, I am proved to be wrong.
> 
> I'm thinking now about how to use this to prove I owe the IRS a lot of money.


HAHA! [smilie=b:


----------



## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

I am ready to conclude that API CO2 Booster is not going to make a big difference in how plants grow. It is obvious that it does cause some stem plants to grow a little faster, maybe 15-20% faster, but that is not significant to me. Two identical tanks can have close to that much variation in plant growth rates even if you do your best to treat both exactly the same. Since CO2 Booster is almost identical to Excel, I think it is safe to say Excel also has little effect on plant growth.

I'm stopping my experiment, and now playing around a bit with variations in KH.


----------



## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

This confirms my much less rigorous observations. I've tried Excel in several of my Walstad tanks, and did not see a difference in plant growth OR algae growth.


----------

