Planted Tank With Sump?

[ziggyboy]

As you may have noticed in my signature, I'm cycling a 220L/55G heavily planted tank with pressurized CO2. My cycling stalled halfway and discovered why: I wasn't getting enough oxygen in the filter. After increasing the surface agitation, my cycling slowly started to come alive again.

I'm planning on turning a small tank into a mechanical sump filter meant to sit between my tank and canister. That way I can aerate the sump well for my canister bacteria to have more than enough O2. This way I can have 0 agitation in my main tank.

The question is....would agitating the sump affect CO2 levels even with a totally still main tank?

 

[BHornsey]

Hi Ziggyboy,

Firstly, is this going to be a planted tank? If so, there's no need to cycle it. If it's planted now then the plants will take up the ammonia before your filter can chew through it. If it's not planted, plant it heavily now, give it a couple of days, then start adding fish slowly; maybe 6 small fish every week.

Secondly, you can use a sump on a planted tank but you need to take steps to prevent the CO2 gassing off. Mostly, CO2 is lost in the fall from the tank to the collection area and the disturbance as it mixes in the sump. If you have a canister, stick with it. Introducing a sump could give you more headaches.

Have a look at my journal in my signature. It describes the problems I had getting efficient CO2 use with my sump and how I 'cycled' the tank.