Freshwater Sump

[guidedbyechoes]

From studying the marine sump I know how to set up most of the sump except one very important part. Besides a heater and UV lights, I don't know what to put in there really. I'm setting it up for my 55 gallon african cichlid tank. I end up cleaning a lot of poop out each week so I was hoping that the sump could help get rid of some excess nutrients if I were to use some plants but I really don't know what would work without the use of CO2. As an added bonus elodea (a.k.a. anacharis), cabomba, foxtail, parrot's feather, water lettuce and flowering rush have all been banned in aquarium trade in my state.

 

[ajs2294]

There isn't really anything that great you can put in a freshwater sump. Other than the greater water volume (which will be doing most of the work) I'd say your best off filling it full of biomedia such as bioballs. Plants may be difficult to keep in an under tank sump setup and aren't super effective at removing tons of waste. Maybe split it and try some plants along with some additional biomedia? Oh and CO2 really wouldn't work a sump ends up diffusing most of your CO2 anyway.

 

[guidedbyechoes]

I was thinking of something along the lines of that. I wanted to have some small crustaceans in the refugium area so I could use it to culture some live food. That was another reason I thought I needed plants.

 

[Bignose]

Plants may be difficult to keep in an under tank sump setup and aren't super effective at removing tons of waste.

May I ask why you would think this? The right plants (fast growing, and very near the surface or have shoots above the water to have good access to CO2) can be very excellent at taking up the nitrogenous waste. Duckweed is a good example. Floating, fast growing, doesn't need strong light, and virtually indestructible.

I suggest you look up "refugium" for suggestions. There are plenty of successful planted setups for freshwater.

 

[guidedbyechoes]

Plants may be difficult to keep in an under tank sump setup and aren't super effective at removing tons of waste.

May I ask why you would think this? The right plants (fast growing, and very near the surface or have shoots above the water to have good access to CO2) can be very excellent at taking up the nitrogenous waste. Duckweed is a good example. Floating, fast growing, doesn't need strong light, and virtually indestructible.

I suggest you look up "refugium" for suggestions. There are plenty of successful planted setups for freshwater.

Definite no on duckweed. I used it in a tank once and it took forever to get all of it out. Spread like wildfire in a hay field. I'm not opposed to plants that extend above the water line since I have an illuminare.