[Jez]

Hey all, first post on here. Was looking for a 'newbie' section but as there doesn't appear to be one I figure i'll jump right in and post here.

I am currently looking for advice on converting my current reef tank to a planted tank.
Couple things I am stuck on are lighting and the use of Co2.

So tank size is 60x36x18 with an external coast to coast weir and a 'bean animal' overflow setup down to a 48x12x18 sump. Lighting wise I am looking at using T5s, possibly 2 banks of 4 tubes.
Generally will it be enough?

Also with the use of Co2, what is the consensus on overflow and sump setup to minimise degassing?

Cheers for any help you can give me.

 

[Jez]

Cheers for the reply mistergreen,
have been doing a fair bit of reading in the last day or so, specifically on the use of sumps on planted tanks.
So far I have gleaned that the biggest concern seems to be around the water agitation from the water travelling down the pipes into the sump and that a syphon is the least likely to facilitate the degassing problem.
Armed with this information I am fairly confident that the degassing issue will not as big a thing as i thought originally, overflow operates on a full syphon setup with the 5% that the syphon cant handle being looked after with a durso. Basically it means I have a silent overflow and very little surface agitation in the sump.

Anyone else got any input to potential problems with sump use??

 

[Jez]

Thanks for the link, was a good read. Like anything in aquariums then, some people swear by them and others would rather deal with poison than use one.

Will continue to read all the information I find and make a decision on setup eventually. Got 3 and 1/2 weeks to get organised and operational as I am adopting a mates native fish when he moves house.