Planted Tank with Overflow..?

[IsaacMTSU]

I recently got a 90 gallon (48") aquarium for FREE and I really want to do another planted freshwater tank, but I'm not sure if the tank is really suited for that. It's really made to be a reef tank... it has a built in overflow that spans the entire back of the tank. It has two chambers on each side and two trickle-style chambers in the middle. I have a 400GPH mag-drive pump to circulate the tank and plenty of filter media and bio-balls, but will the overflow setup be suitable for a planted tank...?

 

[Bk718]

should be fine.. Though I would question it with regards to CO2 (if you plan to inject it)

 

[247Plants]

ya CO2 would be a no go because it would outgas as it passes through the overflow and splashes down into the sump. I would think it would take a ton of excel for that thing too.

I would go low to medium light plants. Use dwarf sag as the foreground. It will grow in lower light and fill the foreground and you have a big tank so it wont look too out of scale.

 

[Ozymandias]

defiantly go low light plants an d should work fine.

 

[Sploke]

I have a few tanks with overflows that are med planted with low-med light plants. Like everyone said, it can work fine, but I would consider other options if you want to do heavy planting and CO2.

 

[Star_Rider]

you can use CO2.. with an overflow.. use a stand pipe and seal the sump.

if it's designed correctly trapped CO2 will collect in the chamber of the sump.
in theory the trapped co2 will regenerate the CO2 in the water thru gas exchange(theory)

 

[Riiz]

Good idea Star_rider, but I wonder what will happen to the acrylic that is exposed to the CO2 gas constantly?

Seachem Excel might be a good option, the daily maintenance dose would be around 9-18ml day, the 2L bottle would last 3-6months.

 

[Star_Rider]

so far not much..the actual co2 gas ratio is relatively low...remember much of the co2 lost is at gas exchange at the water surface. the idea behind the sump system is to reduce the addtional loss of CO2 that might otherwise be caused by the extra surface area and water exposure from the fall.
additionally there is the same chance of acrylic failure in a std acrylic tank which would potentially have more CO2 than a sump.9since the co2 is diffused in the tank)
ideally you turn the co2 off at night to reduce chances of too much co2.

this system has been tried and tested for quite some time.. you may find more information at other planted forums.