Originally Posted by
Twistofer
I'm a newbie to this forum and Discus keeping, so please forgive my ignorance/stupidity.
I have 20 yrs with reef keeping/salt water. My understanding was that a sump not only increased the total volume to dilute waste and equalize the specific gravity, but also to remove nutrients which would otherwise create algae, etc problems. Essentially SW is "nutrient free" as compared with FW. With fresh water and discus systems, water quality is high, but there is need for a nutrient rich system to feed your planted aquarium.
Are those of you running a sump with protein skimmer bare-bottom tanks, where the excess nutrient load causes poorer water quality?
I am in the planning stages of a 125 gal planted discus tank, after dismantling my reef system (and cleaning/sterilizing it). In my reef system NO3 was kept at zero. My understanding is that I want around 3-5 NO3 in my new set-up. Thanks