Also, since I've managed to kill every single invertebrate down to the last one by what I think was an accidental phosphate overdose which possibily raised the tank phosphates to about 3.0 [I killed 2 bamboo shrimp, about 100 MTS, ghost shrimp and other snails] part of me is contemplating trying my luck with DYI CO2

I have a 1gal system ready for use but in the past I managed to crash my pH and I panicked. Flourish Excel seems to do a good job though.