Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 32/1. (2012)

Zoology

Aquascaping as advanced environmental enrichment tool

Fig. 4: The carbon dioxide content from water during the experiment.

Fig. 5: The daily carbon dioxide content dynamic (mg C02/1)

Alkalinity is another important chemical water parameter for planted aquarium keeping.

Alkalinity actually represents a carbon dioxide “reservoir” for plants and it has been linked to a “bicarbonate battery” that stores COr During the day, plants draw on the “battery” and deplete the water of bicarbonates. Alkalinity goes down. At night, though, the “battery” is “recharged” with fresh CO, from the respiration of plants, fish and bacteria. Alkalinity goes back

Fig. 6: The Carbonate hardness (dH) dynamic during the experimental period

Fig. 7: The daily alkalinity dynamic (mg СаСОЗ/1)

Temperature effect.

Keeping an optimum and constant level of water temperature corresponding to plants and animals ecological requirements is another important way that has a decisive influence on plant metabolism, its growing and development.

The target temperature range, between 23.9 - 25.8°C constitutes an optimum level for the all vegetable species chosen for our experiments.

There is a moderate difference in temperature between day and night that is conducive to plant growing (a gap of 1.70°C).

At the same time, considering a number of maintained aquarium plants from temperate and subtropical zone, we induce a reducing of maximum water temperature during winter by

IOC.

However, the effect of water temperature on the plants physiology is strongly interconnected with other limitative factors, light and C02 content especially (fig. 8).

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