[Redchigh]

Let me begin by saying I'm not "fluent" in chemistry, though I'm fascinated by it.
I've kept planted aquariums for many years, but never really experimented with CO2 supplementation.

I know sugars can be broken down (eventually) into CO2 and water, and that plants can assimilate some sugars, bypassing photosynthesis. Sugar dosing has been used in "reef" aquariums for many years to lower Nitrates and Phosphates, but I can't find hardly any data on it's use in planted aquariums.

I know that pressurised CO2 and Gluteraldihyde are used to encourage plant growth, but what about sucrose? Or glucose?

I have done experiments to test safety on fish- It seems as long as enough O2 is available and the dose isn't extreme, it's safe. I was using way too much (sort of on purpose), and although the water became milky with a bacteria bloom and the lighting was diminished, the plants grew at their 'normal' rate.

Me and a few others are going to run an experiment to find the right dose to maximise plant growth without the ill affects. I have a few questions you might be able to help me with.

1. The solutions will be in small jars of perhaps a quart, maybe less. Is there a simple "solution" I can give use to easily add drops to a solution of water to bring it to 10ppm? (Easily doubled to 20ppm, 40ppm, etc)

2. Should I use granulated sugar, raw sugar, corn syrup, or a combination?

3. Since final application is for aquariums, should the first round be in the dark, or does it matter? Or half in the dark and half in a lit area?

4. Using tests we already have (Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, kh, gh, ph) is there a method to track the use of the sugars to decide the dose frequency? (I know that sugar can break down into acids, so there will already be weekly ph tests, but I'm not sure what it actually tells me.

Any other advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[Arkcon]

I suspect more problems than benefits with your plan.  Most plant life is well adapted to absorbing the nutrients they need to photosynthesize, they may lack the ability to absorb nutritive sugars.  Because it isn't likely that sugars will endure in the environment without microbes consuming it.

[Redchigh]

I suspect more problems than benefits with your plan.  Most plant life is well adapted to absorbing the nutrients they need to photosynthesize, they may lack the ability to absorb nutritive sugars.  Because it isn't likely that sugars will endure in the environment without microbes consuming it.

That's true- Even if it's broken down, won't it still break down into CO2?

[Arkcon]

Some.  Some will be used to make other things -- like more bacteria, bacterial toxins, and biofilm.  Technically, all of those break down to CO2, but they can do a lot of damage until they get there.

[Redchigh]

While I can't find hardly any records about a similiar experiment or comparisons with current methods, I did find this:

The Late Jorgen Scheel (famous ichthyologist and killifish breeder) writes about using a low dose sugar solution in his Killiefish tanks in his landmark book, Rivulins of the Old World.1968, TFH Publication.

 "Most rivuline individuals take much food and it is often not to easy to keep down the concentration of waste products. Also, these fishes prefer food rich in proteins and their waste-products simply cannot be taken up by the plants because of the deficiency of CO2 and an artificial supply of this gas should be given. The usual system, with fermenting sugar-solution in a separate bottle for each tank, is not very practical for the killifish fancier. When much care is taken, another system might be used. Prepare a 5% solution of sugar in water (about 6 ounces of sugar to each gallon of water) and add 16 cc. of this solution to each four gallons of aquarium water (1 cc. to each liter). Best results are had when the sugar solution is stirred into the water and bad results are usually had when solid sugar is added directly to the aquarium. This method is very useful when the possible bad effects are understood and counteracted. First the sugar is converted to carbon dioxide and alcohol, which do little harm. The alcohol is converted into acetic acid and the oxygen needed for this process is taken from the sulfates, resulting in the production of the poisonous hydrogen sulfide gas, which is very harmful for fishes. I have used this system in fifty tanks for more than two years without killing a single fish. The sugar solution usually is added to the tank every two weeks."

Can you at least help me with the calculations for 5, 10, 20, and 35ppm of sugar/corn syrup/raw sugar per 12 ounces of water?

Thanks.

I realise it probably won't work, but you never know until you try.

[billnotgatez]

http://water.me.vccs.edu/courses/env211/lesson8_3.htm
The above is an interesting link
Maybe we can use it to calculate
I think that 1 cc of water is about 1 gram
1 cubic centimeter = 1 milliliter
I am guessing that if you make 100 ppm solution you can get the rest
I may work on the math later
@Redchigh maybe you could do it - why not try

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As a side note, I was thinking that if you added yeast as well as the sugar you would get carbon dioxide from the fermentation, but then ethanol would also be produced which would likely not be good for plants. And, I also remembered that most other microorganisms that eat sugar would also probably create compounds that would not be good for plants. I guess you could always hope for a benign substance as well as carbon dioxide.

 

[Redchigh]

small amounts of alcohol shouldnt be a problem, since people dose reef tanks with vodka.

Tetra Easybalance is mostly sucrose, and sold to supposedly "reduce water changes".

[billnotgatez]

I GOOGLE this converter up
ppm to grams calculator

http://www.unitconversion.org/concentration-solution/parts-per-million-ppm-to-grams-per-liter-conversion.html

part/million (ppm) 100 needs 0.0998859 gram/liter [g/L]

I did it the other way
http://www.unitconversion.org/concentration-solution/grams-per-liter-to-parts-per-million-ppm-conversion.html

gram/liter [g/L] .1 gives 100.1142303 part/million (ppm)

then there is this link
http://www.cleavebooks.co.uk/scol/ccconc.htm

GOOGLE and WIKI can be your friend

I am thinking you can get close enough to 100 ppm for your project by using 0.1 grams in 1 liter. Although you might choose making close to 1000 ppm by using 1 gram and then diluting down (1001.142303 ppm).