# Is it wise to have a C02 reactor in a sump?



## superpuma (19 Sep 2012)

Hi

   l'm new to the planted game and am about to convert one of my reef tanks to a planted tank. The reef tank of course has a sump, l will utilize the sump in the build for filtration. ls it wise to have my c02 reactor in the return section of the sump? The reactor will be close to the return pump and hopefully the return pump will disperse the c02 into the display.
  l just think having the reactor in the sump will mean unsightly equipment being out of sight.

   Appreciate any help.

     Mike


----------



## foxfish (19 Sep 2012)

Welcome to the forum...you need to give the sump some serious consideration!
If you search the forum you can find plenty of info but, basically ... sumps are great but, any water going over the overflow will effectively gas off your precious C02 - except that you will be using lots of C02 = get a big cylinder!
However there are benefits of course, you have lots of options but, without knowing the size of tank, filter, sump flow, pump size, lighting etc ......
Certainly one very efficient way is to use a needle wheel pump & inject the gas straight into the pump.


----------



## superpuma (20 Sep 2012)

Thanks for the advice.

  Ref losing c02 over an overflow.  Return pump is submurged and return to tank is submurged. So if the reactor sits close to the return pump l kinda hope that c02 picked up by it would go straight into the display.

  l can see l'm going to have to play and measure .

   Mike


----------



## foxfish (20 Sep 2012)

Getting gas into the display is easy - it is keeping it in there that is the issue!
Imagine a bottle of fizzy drink, if you poured that down the overflow & into the sump how much C02 (fizz) would you loose?
Anyway without more info I cant help you!


----------



## superpuma (20 Sep 2012)

As l say l'm new to this game, wasn't aware that keeping the c02 in place was the hard bit.

  Tank is an elos 120, 120 x 56 x 50cm ( say 330 litres ), lighting is a Giesemann Helios ( LED / T5 unit 40 white leds, 20 blue leds, and 4 x 54 watt t5's ), l contacted the manufacturer ref the light, it's basically for marine but with freshwater tubes it is fine for freshwater, l can time the leds and t5's independantly anyway.

  Return pump l have the choice of an eheim compact 3000 or 5000 litres per hour. Sump will contain eheim internal filters, a high capacity powerline for mech filtration and a couple of their biopower models for bio. l have a jbl c02 set up. Sump has 2 x chambers, capacity is around 100 litres,  filters in first chamber and return pump and possibly c02 reactor in 2nd. l have a tetra plant substrate.

   Thanks

     Mike


----------



## foxfish (20 Sep 2012)

OK Mike, lovely set up you have there, great dimensions for the tank!   
So here is the issue.... 330lt - we generally suggest 10 x the volume as a good turn over rate, & that will be a lot of water flowing over the weir!
There are several ways of dealing with this - one is to just get a really big bottle of C02 like a 10kg cylinder or use additional internal pumps (powerheads) to get the circulation required to distribute the gas.
The less water that goes over the weir the better, you dont need huge biological filtration as we carry out 50% water changes every week (hope you knew that?)
With lighting - a good way to look at it is - the less light required the better! That means just the right amount of light to match the plant growth without encouraging algae!! Colour is more about pleasing you than the plants but it is a very common mistake to use to much light!!  8) 
The success of your new venture really depends on your ability to distribute enough Co2 into every corner of the  tank & hold it there long enough for the plants to absorb it.
If you can get that to happen you will have a smooth ride & a stunning tank.
There are two main ways of getting the gas into the tank, one is to anatomise the C02 bubble into zillions of tiny bubbles that actually float around the tank & are in fact visible if you look very closely!!
This mist that fills the tank is a very efficient way to feed the plants & is very popular at the moment.
However in your case the in line atomisers available only come in 16mm hose size & this is going to restrict your flow but anyhow if you take this route, you would be better off using a needle wheel pump as they are the absolute way to get a very fine mist in a big tank.
The other method is via a reactor but you are going to need something pretty big & most likely a DIY model would be best!
I will leave you to think on that then....


----------



## superpuma (20 Sep 2012)

Thanks alot for all that good gen, now to do some more reading   .

     Mike


----------



## foxfish (20 Sep 2012)

Tom is one of the top aquarium planted tank experts on the planet, take a look at his needle wheel driven sump tank for inspiration - lots of C02 & lots of understanding!!... viewtopic.php?f=35&t=17797&start=370


----------

