Admin please move if in the wrong folder I couldn't decide which to put it in :) 

I have a question that to enable me to move forward I need to understand cos I am old school ... well actually just really old lol I am having a hard time getting my head around all this carbon dioxide addition. I wonder if somebody would be kind enough to explain it to me please? If I put below the way my brain has worked it through and then would somebody please pick holes in it and explain the "new" way of thinking in the addition of CO2

My tank has heaps of live plants in it, its a 54ltr tank. I set it up in January of this year not lost any plants but in the first two weeks did loose two bamboo shrimp I had added think that was due to my water parameters being wonky I use RO plus minerals now on my water changes ... I have had to get rid of a few plants due to their fast growth everything seems to be turning into a jungle and going wild. My shrimps are doing well and breeding, am having to think about another additional tank as don't want this one to get too full and them not have enough room to have a good quality of life. 

I don't have CO2 bubbling into my tank like everybody else seems to have and am pondering what detrimental effects this may have that I cannot see. I have a standard air pump leading to one of those long aeriation blocks laid along the back of the tank. I have a filter system (internal) that does break the water at the top of the tank.

As the air I am pumping into the tank is just the air we breath which is obviously dependant on things like country, household environment, altitude blah blah blah lets just say on average its standardly 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen and the other bits argon, carbon dioxide and water vapour. I am not quite getting my head around adding extra carbon dioxide.

During the daytime plants exposed to broad spectrum daylight (which glass standardly refracts and doesn't allow to penetrate through things like windows and standard light bulbs and these LED lights also don't provide - something I have had to learn due to another species of animal I keep) the plants give off oxygen in day and at night time the plants reverse and give off carbon dioxide - photosynthesis. The water evaporation and the natural dispersal means that carbon will dissolve into the water and oxygen will be given off from it and visa versa. For me I learned at school (hundreds of years ago it feels like!) was plants use H2O plus the CO2 using the sunlight to covert it to C6H12O6 which is glucose to enable their ability to survive / grow / repair etc obviously adding other things that they take in such as nutrients etc and them being systemic.

Is the CO2 addition for the plants or for the shrimps benefits or both and what detriment am I causing to my little shrimpy buddies by not having it. Should I be hitting the panic button and going out and buying this item to add? I don't want them to suffer in any way and only want to do my best for them. Sooooo I need to ask questions and get my old brain cell up to speed. Hoping you peeps can help me please :) 

3 hours ago, DizzyBlue said:

Is the CO2 addition for the plants

The co2 is strictly for the plants only. Carbon is Used for the plants to grow.

Shrimps, like other living creatures need oxygen. Additional co2 does them no good, in fact, co2 will only cause additional pH swings that the shrimps won't like.

So if your plants are doing fine, don't add any co2.

 

Thanks for confirming it was for the plants much appreciated. Was panicked a tad in case I was being cruel to the shrimps without realising it due to not understanding the reason behind it.