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Filtration for a sump

Lawrence

Lawrence

Member
Joined
20 Feb 2015
Messages
31
Im finally getting to the point after over a year where im going to be getting my tank back in after christmas. I ran it as a marine tank before but now im going to be running it as tropical.
However ive got no idea what to put in the sump for filtrtion. The tank is a 2ft cube with a closed loop for flow. The water returns to the sump by 2 pipes into 2 sections in the sump. 1 takes most the water so im thinking filter floss or sponge under that to take most the solid waste out, then the second is just a trickle of water over the top to keep the weir silent so will be much lower flow. Both then flow into the main section of the sump which is mainly heater and return pump.
All ive got in mind at the moment is bio balls and some sort of ceramic media but i need advice on where is best to put it in the sump or if i should be using something else. Any advice would be really appreciated as ive not kept trops for over 10years so my ideas are probably abit old now.
 
This is the tank before i set it up as a marine tank. Hopefully you can see the sump layout.
 

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Just had a good read through, thank you. So which chamber should i put the toy soldiers in and which shoukd i put the smashed plates in lol
Im thinking soldiers in the high flow, plates in the low flow.
 
Sorry new to the forum. I dont get it. Im open to a pounding if im asking stupid questions though ha
Ive seen enough on the reef forum i was on lol
 
Well as least it is friendly banter.
We see an awful lot of ex reefers on this forum, some stay - most just ask a few questions and disappear- we don't want you to disappear!
The plants themselves will take care of a lot of the filtration & we carry out 50% weekly water changes so it is more important to get good flow from your filter rather than lots of fancy bio media.
The sump it self has lots of space but they can cause quite a lot of C02 loss as the water travels down the overflow and through the sump.
So (assuming you are going to use C02) you will use more gas than you would with a sealed canister filter but that might not be an issue if you have a good supply.
C02 is what really effects the plants health & growth rate more than anything else, we try to match the light (any colour) to the amount of C02 available to the plants. So a vey important factor is supplying the C02 evenly around the plant mass = 'flow'
Your cube tank & sump need carful consideration when setting everything up but it is quite possible :)
 
The closed loops can be individually adjusted and positioned at any angle so flow shouldnt be an issue. Ive also got my old tunze streams if i need more but i dont think i will. With just the closed loops i think i can top it out at about 25x turnover but can throttle it back to much less.
I was going to try without CO2 to begin with. Been doing a bit of reading about using aquatic compost in the tutorials. Thought id try that first but ive got everything needed to run CO2 if required and a big 2kg bottle full with all the regs. Id just need a diffuser. Do you run the tank ph control then or by bubble count?
Is it worth having any bio media to begin with until the plants take over?
 
Oh yes definitely need some bio media, PH controllers are not favoured by most folk although some do use them!
It is preferred by the majority to use a PH pen (or your controller display) to measure & achieve a one point ph drop by injecting the C02 about two hours before the lights come on. You then need to maintain that drop for the light duration. The problem with controllers is that the gas will come on and go off to maintain the level rather than stay on.
Low tech is about as far removed from a reef set up as it can get... very very laid back... very slow....
 
Thank you.
Low tech is what im thinking for now. Twin boys, 2years old, means i dont really have the time for too much maintenance hence the lack of a tank for over a year now. I took them to a fish shop in a garden center the other day and they loved them so much the misses said to get the small tank back in.
 
Thats the tutorial ive been reading. Been really helpfull is getting the basics covered to get set up. Its proved great so far. Going to start buying bits this week at a shop near me that has got a great planted tank running so im hoping to get some good advice there too.
 
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