co2 and trickle towers.

[gravereaper0]

Just thought about this. Water agitation releases the co2 out of the water. I plan on making a trickle tower sump out of a 20 gallon long and have an inline co2 atomizer on the return line. Is that an oxy-moron, or was the co2 in the water that's coming back down into the sump been already used up by the plants in the main tank?

 

[fort384]

This will most certainly result in off-gassing of CO2 and be counterproductive to what you are trying to do. It doesn't mean you can't do it... it just means you will have to inject more co2 than you would otherwise to keep levels up and consistent.

 

[gravereaper0]

Dang, that's what I was worried about. Is there a different style sump that would lessen the co2 loss? Plus if the co2 is escaping, don't I have to worry about filling up the room with it and not wake up one day?

 

[fort384]

Sumps and CO2 injection usually don't work too well together. I have seen it done, but not often. The least amount of surface disturbance is exposure to atmosphere is usually best for keeping CO2 levels high.

You are not releasing enough CO2 into the room to cause any concern, however. Even if you were to dump the entire cylinder at one time, you'd be fine... but we are talking about releasing the contents of the cylinder of weeks, if not months, depending on tank size and injection rate.

 

[gravereaper0]

How are planted + fish tanks usually filtered?

 

[fort384]

Either with a canister filter or an HOB. Preferably canister since it is really easy to control the return of the water back to the tank with minimal exposure to air/surface.

 

[Fresh2o]

If you are sticking with the sump, then look for media with very little void space. Lava rock, gravel, ceramics come to mind. Not bio balls or bio rings, etc. You can minimize agitation and splashing using sheets of foam.

 

[aqua_chem]

Plus if the co2 is escaping, don't I have to worry about filling up the room with it and not wake up one day?

Be careful not to confuse carbon dioxide aka 'that stuff that you breath out' and carbon monoxide aka 'the silent killer'.

 

[gravereaper0]

Oh gotcha, yea definitely had that mixed up. So I can still hold a sump but stay away from the trickle tower? And I already got 12 kilos of ceramic rings, guess i gotta return em. But I planned on fully submerging em, still no good?
Would seachem matrix be more suitable?

 

[Fresh2o]

Oh gotcha, yea definitely had that mixed up. So I can still hold a sump but stay away from the trickle tower? And I already got 12 kilos of ceramic rings, guess i gotta return em. But I planned on fully submerging em, still no good?
Would seachem matrix be more suitable?

Ceramic is good. In your case, submerged its better. Matrix would be fine. I believe the key is to avoid situations where water is splashing or running through a media where there is a lot of air-water contact. Now the gas off that occurs when the water comes from the overflow to the sump might be unavoidable but try not to use a spray bar. If using a drip tray, minimize the free fall distance from the tray to the media.

 

[gravereaper0]

Alright so I googled around and its unanimous, submerged media and no splashing. No biggie, ill just do it without the trickle tower and use beananimals style overflow. The pipes will be also fully submerged going into the sump and empty into filter socks filled with Polly fill. But now my question is, how will the water get re oxygenated for the fish? I know the plants do but I don't see that being enough in the beginning.

 

[fort384]

You'll be ok... There will be enough surface area between the sump and tank to facilitate gas exchange.

 

[gravereaper0]

Okie dokie. I think I'm ready to put together the shopping list for the final build. Only took 3+ months, lol