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Sump plants as filtration



All,

I'm having to resort to frequent (2x/week, at minimum) to keep algae
somewhat under control, and have decided that I need to add more plants to
accomplish this.  Part of my problem (I think) is that I use a sump, and
therefore have minimal biological filtration.  While I have some room to add
more plants in my tank (and will be doing so after the Vancouver aquarium
stuff auction on the 14th-blatant plug), I am seriously considering
partitioning a part of my sump for use as an area for additional plants,
similar to the idea of an algal turf filter.  I would add a wet/dry, but
this somehow seems more natural and less complicated than other forms of
biological filtration, and I suspect it would be better long-term for water
quality.  While this topic has been visited before, I don't remember anyone
ever having looked seriously at it as an option.  I will be custom building
my own acrylic sump in the very near future, and am able to build pretty
much anything I want.  Basically, I'm looking to see if anyone has any
recommendations regarding sump design, lighting options (I'm probably going
to use two spare 13w PCs I have lying around), substrate options, and plant
selection.  Plants would need to be fast growing (to utilize a maximum
amount of nutrients), require minimal maitenece (trimming every week or so
would be no problem), and able to live in an environment that has a fair
amount of water movement (I currently have 350 gallons/hour flowing through
my 20 gallon sump).  Is this seen as a reasonable option?  Would simply
throwing a bunch of duckweed on the top of a sump work better with less
hassle?  Are there any reasons, other than the problems inherent to
introducing lighting to the same place as my pH and temp probes and CO2
reactor, that this is a hideously bad idea?  As always, any advice,
conversation, etc.is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Justin Collins