Co2 and lighting

Question
QUESTION: I have been in the hobby of keeping fish for a very long time, but never ever dabbled with live plants.  They all died, and I just gave up.  I have had beautiful tanks with artificial plants, and have had great success.  Well, after some time, I decided to take the plunge into live plants again.  Bracing myself, I did some research and managed to set up a diy co2 system and now I am left with a whole bunch of questions.  I have heard many say that any disturbance on the surface of the water, ie airstones will get rid of co2 as quickly as you can put it in.  So how does an over the back filter correlate to this?  Is it the same?  My whisper 40 has a whisper 60 impeller, so I am really moving some water thru the filter.  I have 4 jungle vals, seem like they are dying, 2 tiger lotus, been eaten to stubs by the fish, 2 amazon swords, great root base, low leaf base as my fish are eating them.  1 Brazillian sword, in great shape, 3 ciiata crypts, 1 in really great shape, 2 small ones from the parent plant.  As for lighting, I have a 65 watt power compact with 10k and actinic blue.  Not sure if I really need the actinic blue, as that is mostly for saltwater reef systems. So may change the bulb.  My plants look sickly, and not sure what to do.  I have 2 to 3 inches of eco-complete for plants, not the cichlid bag, in the tank for the iron and other trace minerals.  How do you test co2 if I have enough or not enough?  It is being diffused thru a small glass tube that has a really hard porous pad on it that releases fine bubbles.  Any suggestions for a planted tank?

ANSWER: Adrian,
how big is this tank, depth?
water temp, type of fish in the tank etc..
We need to make sure that what you are trying to do can be done with what you are working with.
Don;t worry much at this point of the C02, we will deal with that after we determine where we are.
let me know.

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QUESTION: Tank size is a 37 gallon 30Lx24hx12d  water temp is around 78 degrees, I have 10 cardinals, 5 silver dollars (fed algae waffers) 1 red tailed shark, 2 dwarf gauramis, 1 gold gaurami, 3 marble hatchets, 3 otos, 2 albino corys, 5 rasboras, and one kuhli loach.  Any info will be greatly appreciated, as I would really love to have a planted tank.

Answer
There are plenty of sights that will give you the "specs" for use of Co2 in your size system.
I would leave the lights as is,they are just right for plant growth and for making the fish stand out as well.
I think perhaps your substrate may be too rich, in which case you could burn the roots of the plants.
Run the lights 8hrs daily and adjust for the best time as you see how the growth of the plants responds.
Keep temp around 76-78, PH 6.8-7.2 and you should be fine.
Let me know how it works out.