Sump

[Airborne 82nd]

If I can not have plants in the main tank would it help or even make sense to grow them in the sump to help with nitrate?

[mynameisnobody]

Sure, I’ve seen this done. I’ve seen African cichlid keepers convert their sumps into refugiums. I believe I saw one that was growing duckweed in there and would use it to feed his mbuna. It’s a neat idea if you have plantivores. You may be able to find YouTube videos on this. Good luck

[Biotope Biologist]

Yes I have a creek tank where the flow is too high for floating plants in the display so I have them in the sump, refugium style. Just put a plant light on em and they are good to go!

[mrPickles]

If your main goal is nitrate reduction, terrestrial plants do a much better job. Pothos do well in very low light so you wouldn’t need any additional light either. And they’re vining so you could use them as decoration by clipping them on your stand. 

[madmark285]

This is my current sump design. 

The filter socks go in the 4" PVC pipes, the water exits the fluidized bed chamber on top of the white panel with 2 blue lines. I need a sump with enough water capacity that it does not need to be top off for 2 weeks. So instead of the refugium which would use alot of space, I would just build a rectangular planter box ~2-3" tall filled with gravel and connected it to water exit. The water would flow thru the planter box then into the sump.  I would grow emersed plants.

Basically, the plant box would sit on top of the sump. 

My next sump for a 75 gallon Mbuna tank will be much simpler design and will have a planter box. I want to put crushed coral/dolomite in the box but will plants grow in crushed coral?

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/27/2024 at 7:29 PM, Airborne 82nd said:

If I can not have plants in the main tank would it help or even make sense to grow them in the sump to help with nitrate?

If you have a sump, absolutely.  I would just toss some moss in there.