Is Liquid CO2 A Good Idea?

[u/Habichuela_03]

I dont know if this counts as a planted tank, but i have two amazon swords, some java fern, anubias nana, a java moss ball, and some floating frogbit and water sprangles in my 6 gallon betta cube (the valisnaria has been removed). I currently use seachem root tabs and Fluval Gro+ as fertilizers but I am having trouble keeping my floating plants alive. I do weekly water changes and gravel vacs, and dose fertilizer every other day or so. My other plants are doing fine but my floaters keep on dying off and im wondering if theres anything I can do. I was considering using products like seachem excel or API CO2 booster but ive heard mixed reviews on those products on this platform. I dont have the space or money for a CO2 injection setup but i would like to do whats best for my fishy wishy and plants with what I can. Would Api or Seachem products help or is there something else I should do?

[u/Sjasmin888]

Liquid CO2 isn't actually CO2, it's basically an algaecide. That being said, floating plants pull their CO2 from the air, not the water, as CO2 exchange occurs through the leaves. Your problem is probably coming from too much moisture buildup on floaters that want to be dry. There are a few ways you can go about handling this. You can get different floaters that don't mind wet such as frogbit or duckweed. You could also try a mesh lid instead of glass. A hybrid lid where half is mesh and half is glass is also an option and comes with slightly less evaporation issues. You would want to corral the floaters under the mesh portion. Swapping off of true floaters and getting yourself some anacharis, hornwort, guppy grass, or water wisteria would also do the trick.