Appreciate the input.
Regarding light, I tried to turn it down on my last attempt. But in reality, the Twinstar 900S at 50-60% was probably way to much light. The stems did great, but my epiphytes did poorly/grew algae.
Ady's tank inspired me to try again(Re-education) and he ran 20-25% at the beginning. I'm going to try and copy that and see how I do. Plus, I have a controller now to tweak the dimming a little better.
In regards to CO2, I went through that thread about the Long term effects of co2 plus a few others. I guess the issue is if your not actually getting good CO2 distribution? That was my take away. For a lot of you, lack of CO2 would be apparent. But I don't know if I would be able to tell. I'm still trying to decide on equipment. Like you Darrel, I like the classic Eheims. I have two 2217 models, but not sure if I will run one or two. But I think I will need to get that dialed in before messing with the CO2 levels. I'm using an in-tank diffuser.