sump info/question

[tiburone9162003]

need help with this...heres my filtration sys. sump... tell me if something else its needed for proper filtration,other then skimmer, i have a sock with carbon inside,plus that filter padding in between the drain n return...

 

[amnestia]

Looks fine, you can fit other bags of media in the chamber with the pump. Personally i would keep the carbon in a separate baggy. Looks like you can prob do a bit more flow or water in there as well, wouldn't hurt any.

[Lawnman]

That is a basic starter sump. How big is the display? Personally I would go bigger get the extra water volume. Changing out the floss pads AND cleaning the sock is gonna get old. I would go bigger and more baffles.

[tiburone9162003]

the DT its 55G. probably bout 45G now with sand n rocks...

i would really like to put some macro/algie n maybe few rocks n sand,but theres not much space for it...

if u see thats has big i can go with a sump ...

i was thinking on putting more water in the sump,but i hear that it might not be good to have the sock all the way sumerge in the water? i guess i could get a smaller sock.. i had the carbon bag outside the sock but i thought it would be better inside the sock cuz the water would hit it better that way,but dunno...

 

if u see on the back, on the drain section, i have small fire algie i think its call,but i dont think its growing,not sure if thats a good place to put it or maybe put it in the DT?

[nibor]

Have you chosen your skimmer? The skimmer will have a recommended water depth it is designed to work at. I would add another baffle in the drain side coming from the bottom up and the same height as the recommended water depth for the skimmer. That way the skimmer will always have the correct depth of water. I would also remove the carbon from the sock and just use the sock as a prefilter. If you have two you can exchange them every couple of days and clean the one just taken out.

 

Any macroalgae, I would move to the return side and add some mesh around the pump to stop it getting sucked in. With this layout, you can mark the water depth in the return section with a marker pen. Any evaporation loss will appear here and all you need to do is top off with RODI back to the marker line. The carbon, I would put into a filter sock or media bag and make it into a sausage shape to take the place of the floss. If you struggle to find a bag long enough, you can make one from a pair of your girlfriends/wifes tights. She may or may not approve.

 

Layout:

Drain > Prefilter > Skimmer > Chemical > Macro > Return.

 

Advantages:

The prefilter will be easy to clean

Your sump will hold more water.

The skimmer will have a constant water level.

You will have a better bubble trap.

Your carbon will not become clogged with suspended waste coming down the drain.

You get to play with womens under garments.

[ajmckay]

Layout:

Drain > Prefilter > Skimmer > Chemical > Macro > Return.

 

Advantages:

The prefilter will be easy to clean

Your sump will hold more water.

The skimmer will have a constant water level.

You will have a better bubble trap.

Your carbon will not become clogged with suspended waste coming down the drain.

You get to play with womens under garments.

 

+1 to nibor

[Jjordy]

careful putting carbon in the filterbag coming from your drainline that can lead to carbon in your sump if the flow makes it leak out if u have the money id get a phos reactor their cheap and u can put carbon and gfo in the chamber to take care of that chemical filtration.

[tiburone9162003]

can the skimmer go on the same chamber has the return pump?

 

theres some dirt/sand/bubbles lol ,always flying around the tank,i wonder if it has to do anything with the sump, maybe sock its not filtering good enough or somewhere in the sump its making small bubbles n pump sucking in n throwing then in the DT?

i hate having a limit space!!,i wish i could put a separate tank next to the sump for skimmer or maybe for refu, i would have to find a small but good enough skimmer to take care a 55G, right now i have a snail on the drain side cleanning the brownish algie i have there,i put it in lastnight n now it looks much better!

 

im gonna move the macro to the return side n i think i can cut in the middle one of those carbon mesh n cover the pump...

 

i was wondering what type of light i need to have in the sump,so the macro grows?

i have compacts right now, and if u see on the pic,it gives good lighting,but i havent see any growd on that macro...

[nibor]

can the skimmer go on the same chamber has the return pump?

 

This is not the best idea for two reasons.

 

1. This return section is the part of your system where the water level varies the most.

2. Your skimmer produces microbubbles and these will be pumped back to the display.

 

Have you considered an external skimmer? If space is a real concern, you could try this.

 

Add an external skimmer.

Add a T junction to the drain line and a gate or ball valve before the skimmer.

Adjust the valve to give 2x total system volume of flow to the skimmer, about 100-110 G/Hr for your setup.

Feed the output of the skimmer into the drain side of your sump.

Make a refugium in the drain section.

Add chemical media where described in my last post.

 

For lighting for your macroalgae, a daylight lamp from a home improvement store will be good enough. One of the 5100K spiral bulbs works quite well.

 

Check out http://www.melevsreef.com/ for loads of sump info.

 

For external skimmers, I like H&S and an A110-F2000 would be well matched to a 55G tank.