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Re: seting up 125 gallon tank
Greg wrote:
> WET DRY... I wouldn't do that with a tropical planted aquarium. The
> wet/dry action would eliminate the benefits of CO2 (imho) and
I see this stated constantly. It really isn't the case. I have no
doubts that a wet/dry might dissipate CO2 a little faster than
some other methods, but the amount of CO2 lost doesn't have any
effect, except maybe the cost of a little wasted CO2, and CO2 is
VERY cheap. It's worth a little extra cost for the other benefits of
a wet/dry: sump space to get the heaters, probes, CO2 reactor
out of the tank.
Also, a wet/dry sump is great to dealing with evaporation. My tank
water level remains constant. My sump is a 29g tank. During normal
operation, it's got about 15 gallons of water in it, and the pumps
are fine down to about 5 gallons, so I've got 10 gallons worth of
evaporation that it can handle without needing to top off. That's
pretty useful here in Denver, CO.
And, wet/dry sump setups are very easy to maintain. I can change
out the filter pad in less than a minute. And the action of the
overflow box keeps the water surface perfectly clean.
> might "overprocess" the nitrite into nitrates (that the plants
> should be consuming instead)..
I'd love to see some more in-depth discussion about this. I tend
to run high nitrates, and I suppose there could be something going
on here related to the wet/dry. But several things don't make
sense:
1) Why wouldn't plants be able to use the nitrate? I know
that it takes a little more energy for plants to use nitrate instead
of ammonia, but is it enough to really make a difference? As for
processing nitrite into nitrate, I thought I read recently (from Tom
Barr?? maybe?) that plants don't use nitrite.
2) I don't have the traditional "wet/dry action" taking place
in my sump. I lowered the bio-ball compartment so that the bio-balls
are always fully submerged in the water. I still have the
drip-tray creating the trickle action.
Personally, I think my high nitrates are just because I feed my rainbows
a lot, and they can be pigs when they get large.
> nowhere NEAR the "amano/gadd/etc. experts" here..
You just made me spit coffee all over my monitor... Sorry, I definitely
don't qualify as an expert. Just an over-talkative person who likes to
pass along what others have told me.
--
Chuck Gadd