I am actually thinking just to put mech filtration and plants only in the sump.. so no bio media since i already have them in my 3 canisters.. do you think it is a bad idea?
If you have enough biofiltration now, there is no need to add more.
for the plants i am thinking of photos, since its really cheap and i can find it easily here
Pothos is pretty standard, but no better than ivy, spider plants, lettuce, bok choi and a host of others.
I like having chambers. BUT, if you plan to just have mechanical filtration and pothos/plants with the intent to try to reduce nitrate you may be better off with no chamber. Throw in some socks and the rest exposed for plants.
Mmmm... i will consider the no chamber option..
How about just a chamber for mech, and the clean water + plants are in one big part of the sump? That way i will have a lot of rooms for the plants itself.
The mech chamber is just there just incase some waste get its way to the sump. 80-90% of the sump space will be for plants + clean water
You could look into a poret sump. You use sheets of foam wedged into place rather than baffles. The advantage is you could have mech before and after the plants, and replace the filter socks with foam sheets that are easier to clean. Mech before the plants will keep rotting material out of the roots, and mech after the plants will keep stray leaves and roots out of the pump.
