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Will this work?

470 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  mmelnick, 
M
I've switched over to saltwater tanks for the past few years and I don't ahve time for all the maintainance required with a reef tank. I'm about to sell off a lot of my salt water stuff and set up another planted tank in it's place.

I set up a 54 gal corner tank to be a reef tank. I made an overflow section in the back and it is drilled to be plumbed to a sump. I have decided to make it a planted tank instead because I just don't have time for another reef right now.

I just have a few questions before I get myself in over my head again.

Here's a pic:




I know that most of you guys don't run an overflow on your planted tanks. I've heard that it can be bad to have too much turbulance because the CO2 can disolve out or something like that. Is it a horrible idea to use a sump on a planted tank?

Also, I won't have a CO2 injection system for a while but I will dose ferts. Can I still achieve a heavilly planted tank without CO2 in such a deep tank? Can I get any carpeting ground cover to grow under high light without CO2?


Anything worng with my setup overall?

54 gal tank (about 30 gal after the back was tuned into an overflow)
2X T5 HO or a 4X T5 HO fixture
return pump from the sump and a 400GPH koralia for flow
deep soil based substrait
5 or 10 gal sump containing the heater and filtration media
lots of plants
lost of community type schooling fish


And thanks in advance. :proud: I'm sure you guys can catch some mistakes that I'm bound to make. I've been out of the freshwater game for so long that I've pretty much forgotten it all.
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F
I have the same tank with 4 t5ho and a desk lamp in the back corner. I think the answer depends on how much light you use and if you use presureized co2. the more light you have the more you need co2. Even if you decide to go hi light co2 route you could probably overcome the loss of co2 by adding more or limiting the drop in the overflow
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M
I won't have any CO2 at all though. That's my main concern. I think I'll have to have strong lighting to get to the bottom of such a deep tank, but also I won't be running CO2.

Will I still be able to get a thick planted tank with a setup like that? I want a thick ground cover (not picky about what kind, maybe DHG), some sort of leafy plant like anubias and crypts in the middle and tall plants in the back.

Should I find a way to seal up the holes for the overflow plumbing and forget about it?
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If your not adding co2 no reason to worry about the overflow it might actually help keep the co2 equalized with whats in the air. and yes the depth of the tank is a pita it why i went with 4 t5ho but without the co2 I'd have an algae farm. maybe with less light and different plants you could get by with just some excel
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K
I agree with fool if you aren't using any CO2 i would keep the sump in. L. Mauritiana sounds like it is up your alley for ground cover. I got some for my low tech tank and it is doing nicely giving i don't do much with that tank.
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kharma said:
I agree with fool if you aren't using any CO2 i would keep the sump in. L. Mauritiana sounds like it is up your alley for ground cover. I got some for my low tech tank and it is doing nicely giving i don't do much with that tank.
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Thanks, I'll look into the L. Mauritiana. :proud:

Do you have a pic of your tank?
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