Planted FW tanks, substrate, pH and CO2 questions ..

Hey Tony, I have the same Red Sea co2 reactor and it does a very good job. But you have to keep it clean which means washinging it out every 3 weeks. Since you haven't done a water change for a while, i'm sure it's efficiency has been minimized.

Actually, a lot of plant people are moving over to sumps. You do have to crank up the co2 a bit but it should still be measureable (unlike your circumstance). Tom Barr (estimative index - plant guru) has a thread on his site going about his own tank with sump. It's been doing very well and he has no problems optimizing the co2 levels.

I would keep that Tunze turned on, just don't point it towards the water surface. You just want enough surface agitation to move a few circles around. With your overflow, there is no need to worry about any scum build up.

How is your drip plate setup? Is the water tumbling into a filter pad and then dispersed via a drip plate?

I read up on the phosban reactor and it is too small to run GFO on a 120 gallon system. Unless you want to trade both of them.

[cale262]

Originally Posted by Cugio

Tom Barr (estimative index - plant guru) has a thread on his site going about his own tank with sump. It's been doing very well and he has no problems optimizing co2

Correct me if I'm wrong but I seem to remember reading that Tom was having issues with co2 and corrected it by sealing his sump, making it mostly air tight utilizing plastic sheets and duct tape...which may be worth the effort if you are keeping the sump.

[cale262]

I totally agree with the black fluorite, really makes things pop...

Here's one on my planted system pics with the blackflorite sand on the left side...

Originally Posted by cale262

Correct me if I'm wrong but I seem to remember reading that Tom was having issues with co2 and corrected it by sealing his sump, making it mostly air tight utilizing plastic sheets and duct tape...which may be worth the effort if you are keeping the sump.

Just looked into it and yes you are correct. He sealed the wet/dry trickle part.

[Delphinus]

Got a link to that by any chance? I'd love to read up on that.

Awesome looking tank btw, I like the look of the two different substrates. I wouldn't have guessed it would look so congruent but it has a nice flow to it.

Those cherry shrimps - I'd love to try them but I fear they'd be clown loach food. Is this a baseless concern, should I try some?

Here is a link that explains the co2 to air loss. He is known as plantbrain here.

Here is his latest journal. Click on page #4 to see his sump.